Meanwhile, I had become so attuned to the enormous speed, the meticulous transparency and  the loudspeaker vanishing entirely from the sonic image that I decided to part with the LumenWhite. The Goebel Aeon explicitly outperformed it in all the criteria aforementioned and sounded - yes, I know, I'm repeating myself - much more homogeneous and, despite all the detail resolution, neither a bit analytical nor somewhat chilly: In more than ten years also the developments in loudspeaker technology didn't stop at their gates. By the way, the DiamondLight surprisingly found a buyer in Japan after I had placed an advertisement in the German Audio-Markt. But let's switch back to Goebel High End's Aeon. It allowed me - and sometimes also a colleague - to perceive things during the test runs that you necessarily don't want to become aware of. For example, when testing the SOtM switch, it left no doubt that an analogue power supply connected to the clock of the switch would ever yield a sonic advantage. The fact that both the quality of the power cable used to connect to the power supply of the clock and also its polarity were audible, I first bashfully kept to myself. When testing the peripheral companions of the Ansuz Switch, I finally dared to publish my experiences. "The high resolution of a system certainly isn’t a blessing at all. Sometimes you get to hear more than you want to," is what Roland Dietl likes to say on these occasions. But if you're really out for knowing how components sound or react to external influences, there is nothing better than having an extremely high resolution at one's disposal - provided that the extremely transparent system doesn't sound too analytical or even technical. And that's indeed not what my system in synergy with the Epoque Aeon is supposed to do.

Oliver Goebel and I briefly undertook some experiments with the Basotect® absorber panels in the area behind the loudspeakers, but eventually even removed the two panels, each of the size of an LP. On the one hand, it would be quite unfair in upcoming loudspeaker reviews if my room was fine-tuned to match the Goebel speakers, and on the other hand - and that's much more important - even such small amounts of absorption material seize a quite valuable part of the Aeon Fine's spontaneous response and openness. And it's precisely the ability to reproduce transients almost as genuine as real instruments that fascinates me about the bending wave driver in conjunction with the fast, small woofers. I did already mention that the Aeon reaches an extremely high level in what previously used to be my most important discipline, a broad spatial imaging entirely detaching from the drivers. But there are a few other top-class speakers that are able to perform this way as well. Ultimately, it's the rendering of the transients that makes the Goebel Aeon unique to me.

Nevertheless there still exists a narrow frequency band where the Goebel speakers interact with my room, culminating in a slight coloration. My colleague Helmut Baumgartner, who had already given me some advice on how to optimize loudspeakers, recommended to experiment a little with the set-up, since the tiled floor with the underfloor heating underneath would be anything but advantageous for the sound. With this in mind, the principle of decoupling instead of coupling would probably be the method of choice. A series of experiments followed: with the finite elemente Carbofibre° HD, corkboards and a combination of both. The cork, applied with or without Carbofibre°, got the Aeon tamed in the presence range and let you indulge lots of bass - but also tended to let the imaginary stage shrink a lot. The Aeons simply seemed to be slowed down. Thereafter Oliver Goebel mentioned that his Hong Kong distributor uses to recommend the Revopods of the British manufacturer Arya Audio for the placement of his loudspeakers. Two weeks later, two sets of these damping feet arrived to my listening room. They sound slightly different depending on whether they are put to direct contact with the speaker's plinth or if there is a silicone ring or disk in between. But that's another story. Thanks to the Revopods, I am now entirely happy with the Epoque Aeon Fine. But that doesn't necessarily mean that the attempts at optimization didn't continue: Screws to connect the plinth with the Revopods and Ansuz' Darkz feet have already been ordered...

I have now lived with the Goebel High End Epoque Aeon Fine for more than a year and a half, and I have come to appreciate it so much both as a working tool and as a piece of enjoyment that I don't want to part with it anymore and therefore bought it a few months ago. Conception, realization, craftmanship and the acoustic achievements in almost all disciplines reside on an extremely high level. Only the homogeneous performance, as well as the expansion and three-dimensionality of the spatial imaging once again stand positively out from this. A loudspeaker to make dreams come true!

Link do recenzji: Epoque Aeon Fine – Hifistatement

Waarom klinkt de Epoque Fine nou realistischer? Wél, de Göbel bending wave driver heeft theoretisch gezien geen bewegend membraan. Het membraan dient alleen als voortplantingsmedium voor de golven. De snelheid van de golven over het membraan zijn manipuleerbaar. Ook het frequentiebereik van de bending wave driver is groot. Göbel manipuleert de snelheid van de golven en het frequentiebereik. Zo'n bending wave driver kan daardoor een snellere stijgtijd hebben. Zeker ten opzichte van de woofers in het systeem. Theoretisch gezien werkt een bending wave driver niet met een bewegend membraan. Je hebt dus alleen te maken met de snelheid van de golven zelf. Nou is het hele verhaal nog iets genuanceerder dan wat hier beschreven is, maar het is voorstelbaar dat een bending wave driver lijkt op een superdriver die de zogenaamde leading edge pakt binnen het totale systeem. Luisterend naar de weergave in een ruimte die aan de luisterruimte grenst, geeft Göbel's bending wave driver een behoorlijk realistisch beeld van hoe stemmen en instrumenten klinken. Het lijkt dus alsof er een echt instrument speelt in de aanpalende ruimte. Het talent van de bending wave driver om erg realistisch te klinken vraagt om een zeer nauwkeurige match met de versterking en de bron. Het is namelijk mogelijk om in een combinatie een veel te 'helder' signaal te sturen, waardoor de bending wave driver te fel en haast agressief gaat klinken. Die fout werd tijdens de luistersessie veroorzaakt door de eerdergenoemde converter. Na vervanging was het probleem dus uit de wereld. Wellicht is de bending wave driver niet helemaal te vergelijken met een supertweeter, maar u weet in ieder geval dat het effect daarvan niet direct gerelateerd is aan het verder doorlopende frequentiebereik, maar dat deze snellere driver het zogenaamde scherpe punt van de blokgolf (de leading edge) voor haar rekening neemt. We interpreteren dat geluid als zijnde beter gelokaliseerd en realistischer. Verder opvallend aan de Epoque Fine is de gigantische drive waarmee het laag uit kan halen. Het geluid blijft perfect in balans, maar de power van het laag is fenomenaal. Met de verschillende subwoofers is het natuurlijk mogelijk om die kracht nog groter te doen zijn, maar dat is niet de bedoeling. Een subwoofer dient om het frequentiegebied dat door de hoofdluidsprekers niet of te zwak wordt weergegeven, aan te vullen. Dus idealiter werkt de Epoque Baforce in het gebied tussen de 10 en 30 Hz. De subwoofers zijn nauwkeurig in te regelen met de Epoque Baforce controller. Dat kan op het gehoor, maar ook door te gaan meten.

De luidsprekersystemen van Göbel zijn gebaseerd op een doorontwikkeling van de zogenaamde bending wave driver. Die neemt het volledige frequentiebereik tussen 170 en 31.000 Hz voor haar rekening. Dat resulteert in een homogeen geluid zonder fase-problemen. Vanuit de specifieke techniek klinkt een bending wave driver ook erg realistisch. Göbel combineert die driver in het kleinste model (Epoque Fine) met 6 laag-drivers per kant, waarvan steeds twee drivers actief zijn. Het frequentiebereik begint derhalve rond 28 Hz. Opvallend is de enorme drive en power die het laag heeft, terwijl het toch in balans blijft met de rest van het spectrum. De systemen van Göbel zijn uit te breiden met één of meerdere subwoofers. Die vullen dan het gebied tussen de 10 Hz en 30 Hz in. De kleine Epoque Fine combineert dan idealiter met een tweetal Epoque Baforce Fine woofers en de grotere Epoque Reference vormt de ideale set met een tweetal Epoque Baforce Reference subwoofers. Die laatsten zijn echte line-arrays en kunnen dus ideaal matchen in een akoestische omgeving. 

Link do recenzji: Epoque Aeon Fine – Music Emotion

The DiamondLight certainly does have a very slight advantage in when it comes to the depth of an imaginary soundstage: It seems to extend a bit further back behind the speaker than the Epoque Fine. To squeeze a little more out of this discipline with his creations, Oliver Göbel advises replacing the cables between the phono preamplifier, preamplifier and the power amplifier with the Lacorde out of his production. He is right: The Fine acknowledged the change to the company's own cables with a slightly larger soundstage and a bit brighter sound keeping totally in balance with the vividly colorful upper bass. I think it's only fair to accommodate the Fine a little by creating an environment in which it can demonstrate all of its advantages. After all, I have constantly optimized my stereo system over the years so the Lumens can now operate in a nearly ideal environment. Indeed, the Epoque Fine demands more accommodating than I was willing to grant it. It insists that it be driven by the trusted mono amplifiers that Oliver Göbel used in their development: The equally powerful as expensive, Analog Domain Audio The Athene with an impressive 4000 watts into 4 ohms. How the Fine got me to heave the imposing, more than 70 kg amplifiers up to my listening room located on the third fl oor? With a minimum impedance of well below 2 ohms, Jonas Hellborg’s deep bass playing on “Elegant Punk” sent one of my two very loyal Brinkmann monos off to the happy hunting grounds. Granted, we listened really, really loud. But this is not the fi ne art, my dear Fine! However, anyone who is willing to invest in one of these two Epoque models should also have no problem buying a power amp capable of stable operation in less than two ohms.

I confess, I really do not regret that I was forced to change my usual listening test environment. By doing this it became pointless to keep making comparisons to the Lumen. I was simply able to spend more enjoyable listening without falling into the unfortunate trap of obvious nitpicking. And since I've already listened to the most important test recordings while setting up the equipment properly, I was able to do without those well known test discs and rather enjoy my own new recordings from the hard disc player or nearly forgotten treasures from the ECM catalog: Even weeks later, I am inspired by the extremely tight, coherent, and therefore immensely "natural" sound reproduction. I know of no other speaker that plays music with such homogeneity. What already was briefly evident using the Brinkmann Monos, the Analog Domains really demonstrate: the thrilling fi ne dynamics that the bending wave drivers are capable of. It is obvious that they require powerful partners with an efficiency of only 85 decibels per watt and meter. The Fine is on the highest level in terms of richness of detail and transparency. It’s a real shame that only very few music lovers will have the chance to enjoy such perfect sound reproduction!

With his patented bending wave driver, Oliver Göbel has created an incredibly attractive loudspeaker. I have not previously experienced such a coherent, completely seamless coverage of the entire frequency range. Another specialty of Fine is its thrilling, yet unspectacular fi ne dynamics. In all other hifi disciplines it also reached the highest level, aside from efficiency: It requires fast amplifi ers with high stability. A new bright shining star in high-end heaven!

Link do recenzji: Epoque Fine – Hifistatement