Product agent: Changye audio
Retail price: ¥16,500 yuan/pair
Remembering that more than 30 years ago, when everyone had a fever, they mainly used British bookshelf boxes, such as TANNOY Mercury, Monitor Audio 7, B&W DM601, AE 100i, KEF Coda 7, etc., if anyone can play with ProAc Response 2.5, B&W DM603, Mission 753 and other landing cases, it will definitely make the friends around them envious, as for ProAc Response 3.5 Such a slightly larger landing box is basically a fantasy-level equipment. Today, despite the significant improvement in living standards, floor-to-ceiling boxes from imported brands are still not readily available, and their prices are often much higher than those of the same range of bookshelf boxes, especially for some Hi-End brands. RECENTLY, HOWEVER, PENAUDIO HAS BROKEN THIS CONVENTION.
PENAUDIO Ambient One 书架箱
PENAUDIO speakers from Finland have always conquered the discerning ears with their elegant, airy, and lively qualities, from its famous Charisma to today's popular Cenya Signature. Of course, it may not be easy for those on a budget to own PENAUDIO's Hi-End, and PENAUDIO is obviously aware of this problem, so in 2023 it has launched a very affordable series - the Ambient series. The series consists of three models: Ambient One, Ambient Two, and Ambient Three, with the former being a bookshelf design and the latter two being floor-mounted. How good is the Ambient Two for today's review as a floor-standing case? ——The price of Ambient Two is only 16,500 yuan! As a landing box of European origin, it can be said that it is difficult to match such a price when looking around the market.
Basic Parameters ■ Type: 2.5-channel three-unit design floorstanding speaker ■ Unit size: 22mm tweeter, 168mm midrange driver, 168mm woofer ■ Frequency response range: 36 - 30000 Hz (48 - 30000 Hz, -3dB) ■ Sensitivity: 90dB ■ Impedance: 4Ω ■ Power recommendation: 25W-150W ■ Speaker size: 200 x 930 x 300 mm ■ Speaker weight: 20kg
Of course, due to cost constraints, it is not possible for the Ambient series to use the cabinet structure, drivers and crossovers of PENAUDIO's high-end models. WE KNOW THAT PENAUDIO IS BEST KNOWN FOR ITS "MULTI-LAYER STRUCTURAL PANEL" CABINETS, WHICH ARE THIN BIRCH PLYWOOD AND MDF STAGGERED TOGETHER ONE PIECE AT A TIME, WHICH ARE THEN PRESSURIZED AND BONDED. When making loudspeakers, they can be cut from the sides of the "multi-layer panels" one by one and applied to each plane of the cabinet. The entire process is done by hand, which is very time-consuming and costly. As a result, the cabinets in the Ambient series continue to use the same approach as most loudspeakers – MDF. In terms of units, the Excel series of SEAS is also not used. The Ambient Two is an enhanced version of the Ambient One bookshelf box: the Ambient One uses a 22mm silk soft dome and a 168mm (6.5 in) cone mid-woofer. On this basis, Ambient Two adds a woofer with the same mid-woofer, which is a 2.5-way inverted design, and finally obtains a frequency response of 48Hz-30kHz (-3dB), you must know that the fluctuation range is -3dB, instead of the industry standard ±3dB, the fluctuation amplitude of Ambient Two is half smaller, if you calculate it according to ±3dB, the extension index of Ambient Two at both ends will be even better.
▲ The Ambient Two uses two 168mm (6.5 in) cone mid-woofers
▲ Ambient Two背面的接线柱和大口径的倒相孔
测试时除了Ambient Two外,还有ATOLL IN200 Signature合并式放大器、ATOLL CD200 Signature激光唱机,测试软件为《2015原音精选》。
▲ 测试时除了Ambient Two外还有ATOLL IN200 Signature合并式放大器、ATOLL CD200 Signature激光唱机
First play Jacky Cheung's "How to Give You Up". The orchestration of this song is simple, with only one guitar. As soon as I started the sound, I noticed that the guitar sound was full of warmth and fullness, and in terms of the thickness of the midrange and the volume of the low end, the Ambient Two was significantly improved compared to the Ambient One. I used to play this song on other speakers, and some of the sounds would seem a little "dry", even some of the floor boxes. The Ambient Two is completely insulated from the thin and dry, taking Jacky Cheung's voice as an example, in addition to hearing the familiar slight rustling sound, I can really feel the "fleshy feeling" at the bottom of his throat; While the sound of the guitar is penetrating, the resonance of the cavity is also rich. My initial impression of the Ambient Two was that it was intimate, full-bodied, gentle and supple, and easy to drive. For example, when Jacky Cheung sings "But I can't wait for you, I want to forget and think of you again", I can easily sense that he actually sings in a very hard, even slightly hoarse way.
This is followed by Rossini's String Sonata No. 1 in G major, a version conducted by Marena with the Chamber Orchestra of San Martin, consisting of two violins, one cello and one double cello. The melody of this work is very beautiful, and the lingering notes flow like a stream, and you can't help but want to listen to it forever. The violin sound of Ambient Two is sweet, supple, and watery, and even thicker and warmer than some English boxes; The cello is singing, with a loose and moist tone, like a ribcage-resonant bass humming a full note. And I noticed that the Ambient Two has a lot of low-end volume, and it's easy to roll out. This makes the work sound more thick, and the cello is full of foreshadowing, making the frame of the work more three-dimensional and full, and more flesh and blood. In contrast, some of the low-frequency amplifications that are not full enough will focus the listener's attention on the violin and ignore the presence of the cello and double cello when interpreting the work.
In the 80s of the last century, it was used as the soundtrack for the "Marlboro" cigarette TV commercial, and the image of the cowboy riding a horse on the screen was perfectly matched with the majestic music, so "The Seven Heroes of the Wanderer" was also nicknamed "Marlboro" by enthusiasts in the Pearl River Delta area. At the end of the 80s, due to the lack of music resources in the mainland, there were very few large-scale dynamic symphonic works that could be used for testing equipment, so this audiophile disc produced in 1986 became one of the few designated test discs at that time (the other more commonly used test disc was "Red Shirt Boy", also produced by TELARC). Since the beginning of the new century, symphony CDs of various recordings have become more and more abundant, and this "Round-Up" has gradually been forgotten. The first time I listened to Seven Heroes at a fever demo was in 1990, and I remember using a TEAC ZD4500 CD player, an ONKYO A-819 integrated amplifier, and a TANNOY SGM 12X floor case. At that time, the demonstration was done in a small auditorium, with an area of about 200 square meters, and the system had to be turned on relatively loudly. At that time, I felt that the replay effect was stiff and nervous, but because the fever was still short and the equipment I had heard was limited, I didn't dare to jump to conclusions, thinking that it was a problem with TELARC recording. In retrospect, it was actually because the distortion of the amplifier and speaker was already too large in the case of high power output. Now playing this old 1986 recording by Ambient Two has a completely different effect: the overall timbre is warm and full, and the sound of the string section is sweet, smooth and slightly feminine; The sound of the brass group is thick and does not spike when it is high-pitched, and the French horn and tuba are low and solemn, with enough low-frequency foreshadowing, and the unique sense of majesty is naturally revealed; In percussion instruments, the timpani resonates prominently, and the resonance of the diaphragm can be felt when struck. This difference suggests that the Ambient Two are a fairly stocky pair of speakers in terms of midrange and low frequencies.
As a pair of original imported landing boxes, the PENAUDIO Ambient Two is too attractive at a price of 16,500 yuan. It has a warm, intimate sound and is not picky about amps and placements, and audiophiles who want to try a floor-standing case can start with it.