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EVERYONE WILL BE HAPPY // Lothar Brandt
The Swiss speaker manufacturer Piega is bringing a new generation of its tower speaker Premium 5 onto the market. On its own, this news may not exactly knock your socks off. But wait until you’ve heard this beauty.
Audio [ Test – Tower Speaker ]
he German hip-hop band Die Fantastischen Vier once rhymed together a bunch of snappy three-letter combinations. The song, called MFG – mit freundlichen Grüßen (roughly: kind regards, for closing a letter in German) – was also very popular in Switzerland, but it was missing the abbreviation LDR. This stands for Linear Drive Ribbon. This ribbon tweeter is a speciality of the Swiss speaker manufacturer Piega, and the second generation of this development graces the newly created Premium 5.2. After the test, HEM (the Home Electronics magazine), can now amend the FVS (Fanta Vier song) according to the slogan of a clothing discounter (hope they don't mind!): AWG – alle werden glücklich («everyone will be happy»). MFG to Horgen, Switzerland.
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Detailed Refinement There, on the banks of Lake Zurich, is where Piega lead developer Kurt Scheuch conceived this masterpiece. It did take him a full two years to produce the next stage in the evolution of the LDR – after all, the old ribbon with the technical designation LDR 2642 ensured the already legendary fine treble resolution of a number of Piega gems for no less than twenty years. When Scheuch announced the upgrade of the seemingly already perfect driver to the LDR 2642 MK II, Home Electronics naturally wasted no time in travelling to Horgen for a report – see edition 12/2011. Home electronics 11 / 2012
Audio [ Test – Tower Speaker ]
In contrast to a conventional dome tweeter, the Piega ribbon consists of a thin aluminium foil membrane only 20 millionths of a metre thick (20 µm). To induce it to vibrate with the electrical alternating voltage of the amplifier in order to produce sound, electrical conductors must be affixed to the membrane – and a magnetic drive must supply a sufficiently strong and, above all, homogeneous magnetic field. After that, it’s all quite simple – at least in theory: Music arrives in the form of alternating voltage, electricity flows, the membrane vibrates in time to the music. But in practice, the theory gives rise to complex dynamic and thermal problems. Scheuch solved these in the MK II with an even stronger neodymium magnet (N-48 versus N-35), with additional magnet rods mounted in the front panel that bundle the field lines, with a special textured embossing of the membrane material and an optimised layout of the flat coils functioning as conductors, which are applied to the membrane in an elaborate atomised spray etching process. The weight of the 26 x 42 millimetre membrane including conductors is just 7 milligrams (roughly one-thirtieth of a very light dome) with an excellent system efficiency of 100 decibels. Conscientious Design Of course, the frequency range above 3250 Hertz, where the LDR MK II plays its part in the Premium 5.2, is not all there is to music – bass and mid tones are also required. Here as well, Piega relies on three letters: MDS. The two bass-midrange cones of 13 centimetres in diameter are manufactured according to «Maximum Displacement Suspension». Despite large strokes – unavoidable at low frequencies with small diameters – the technology should ensure tight bass tones in conjunction with clean mid tones. The two-anda-half-way system gently separates out only the lower cone just before the midrange. Additional sound pressure support is provided by the bass reflex tube, which directs its bass tones out the rear with phase correction. A slim, roughly one-metre-tall aluminium column in the form of a half-ellipse prevents the housing from causing any resonating mischief
Home electronics 11 / 2012
The secret of the name: the Linear Drive Ribbon (LDR) tweeter has the dimensions 26 x 42 mm (2642) and is a second generation development (MK II).
thanks to its rounded shape that gently tapers toward the rear to prevent subversive resonance. Additional calming measures ensure that the aluminium column responds to a strong knock with at most a bone-dry «pock» rather than a buzzing «pliiiiinggg» or, worse yet, a sonorous «dong». Instead, the Piega delivers music with incomparable elegance. For instance, the system lends the legendary recording of Beethoven’s symphonies under René Leibovitz wonderful, highly differentiated tone qualities. The precise analysis never glides into ostentation, nor does the ribbon express the slightest tendency toward hissing. Even emphatically played concert pianos reveal their full vigour without introducing overly metallic aggressiveness. The formidable church choir sopranos of the grandiose Cantate Domino retained charm and grace in their arching strains. But the Premium 5.2 is certainly no soft focus lens: The speakers tracked the varied cymbal play of drummer Idris Muhammad in Ahmad Jamal’s band with precise audibility from the finest taps to the crispest crashes. The Piega system also clearly conveys that a hanging tom has a different volume level than a standing tom, not to mention a bass drum, by reproducing their impulses with furious accuracy.
Audio [ Test – Tower Speaker ]
The Swiss speakers even remained unimpressed as the double-bass player in Tierney Sutton’s marvellous ballad Alone Together drove his instrument ever deeper into the bass cellar. Where comparable boxes tend already toward buzzing or audible puffing from the bass reflex tube, the slim aluminium column stood like a rock against the waves of bass, swinging on convincingly even as the volume knob was twisted hard to the right. Brilliant Proof Like many good speakers, they gave an uncompromising rendition of the qualities of the sound system. In other words: the better the amplifier, the better the Premium 5.2 will sound. The jury immediately perceived increased spatial precision and vocal delicacy in the listening room from Händel’s enchanting Marian Cantatas under Reinhard Goebel when they plugged in a separate preamp / power amp combination instead of the somewhat aged standard integrated amplifier. Soloist Anne Sofie von Otter seemed to enhance her mezzo-soprano with considerably more lung volume, the exceptional Swedish vocalist plumbed her amazingly controlled inner dynamism for even finer nuances of expression. Anyone who already has excellent electronics at home will find that the Piega thanks him for it. Especially if he sets up the speakers relatively close to the wall (about 50 to 60 centimetres) and slightly turned toward the listening spot. In this way, the Piega shows its best side. This view becomes even better after a glance at the price sticker. The new Piega system offers simply sensational sound with regard to neutrality, fine and coarse dynamics and resolution. Except for maybe a few techno lovers demanding maximum bass and volume, truly everyone will be happy with the LDR MK II and MDS. Even price-performance maximisers. Which is what we set out to prove. Or, to use the Latin abbreviation: QED.
Home electronics 11 / 2012
The secret of success: the paper-thin, textured membrane is light as a feather, the driving magnets (rear) are of powerful neodymium.
STATS Manufacturer Model Info
Piega Premium 5.2 www. piega.ch
FEATURES Dimensions (H x W x D) Weight Design Tweeter Midrange/woofer Sensitivity Impedance Recommended amplifier power Bi-Wiring Variants Special features
102 x 19 x 22 cm 23 kg 2½-Wege-Bass-reflex LD-Bändchen 2642 MK II 2x 13 cm MDS (dB/1 W/1 m) 91 dB/W/m 4 Ohm 50 watts or more – Aluminium, optionally in black or white Perforated grill in black or optionally in silver; rounded housing
RATING + Neutral, harmonious, dynamic sound with astonishing bass + Highly differentiated sound qualities without ostentation + Excellent price-value ratio + Conveys all the strengths of the amplifier − Conveys all the weaknesses of the amplifier − Bass power limited by size
