SYNTHESE FLOATING 2
Design statement that is as visually arresting now as it was at its introduction a long time ago
Christiaan Punter
Time constraits
Sadly, time constraints prohibit me writing lengthy reviews about everything that occupies me, and I have to prioritise. I have chosen to focus primarily on Next Gen Audio for this website. This Synthese review has been in draft form in my web program for over a year now and because the beautiful pictures already exist, I couldn't bring myself to delete the page, so I have opted to finally publish them, along with a short description.
Sound
The Synthese Floating 2 is a 3 way speaker with a woofer in the upper section and a large bass port in the bottom section. The pipe in the middle seems very heavy and could be made of metal. These speakers sound formidably spacious and have very deep bass. Positioning is difficult because the bass can easily overwhelm a room. Also they need an amplifier with firm grip. Power isn't much of an issue because they can't play extremely loud, but a high damping factor can contribute a lot. The sound is transparent and reasonably detailed, but there's some sort of charming colouration going on. They always sound romantically pleasant, harmonically rich and never agressive.
A word for those who wonder how they compare to the 800D's: the latter are much more powerful and sound a lot tighter and dynamic in the bass. However, the 800D's are much more analytical and can come across as less musical. The Syntheses can be very soothing while the 800D's are all about impressive neutrality. Tweeter dispersion interestingly is about equal: both designs throw a large soundstage, but don't have a very wide spread. Walk besides the speakers and much of the treble has diminished, so with both speakers its best to sit in front of them.
Short conclusion
Go for these speakers if you're looking for arresting looks but don't expect to be blown away with analytical precision. They are not about that. But they throw a huge soundstage and are effortlessly musical, not to mention having huge, full, deep bass that even in my large room rendered the subwoofers unneccesary.
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