Hotwired: Loud praise for high quality

Paragon floor standing speaker.

The coincidence of Music Month and the retro fashion-like talk of reviving the Buy New Zealand-made campaign makes it a sound idea to be looking at some great locally made hi-fi speakers.

Auckland audio engineer Chris Ball, who has been designing and handmaking stereo speakers for 30 years, has added models designed for home theatre use, including active subwoofers.

The quality of sound and detail of Image Loudspeakers belie the fact that the company, and its market, is small. They receive high praise for their finish and accurate performance.

Speakers can be made in your choice of wood veneer and colour. Other advantages include great backup service and value for money.

Nevertheless, handcrafted speakers are not cheap.

This month Image put out two designs, one small and affordable for most and one for purists. Their two-way bookshelf model, Petite Performa, looks conventional but produces an unexpectedly realistic sound.

Extensive internal damping overcomes any cabinet coloration of sound typically associated with small speakers.

The tweeters are very high-spec frequency-matched pairs from Israeli manufacturer Morel, and the 17cm bass mid drivers are made by SEAS in Norway.

Petite Performa speakers are 41cm high and the front ported design means they can be stand-mounted or set against a wall. They are available in your choice of veneer and cost $1800 a pair.

The Paragon floor-standing loudspeakers have the same tweeter and midrange driver but differ from their little brothers and other Image models in the design of the mid-treble enclosure.

This head unit is separated from the bass enclosure to avoid any soundwave interaction. A tapered baffle widens sound dispersion and helps produce a precise stereo image and instrument position focus.

The enclosure front angles back to give mid and treble drivers the same phase response and perfect coherency at their crossover point.

Paragon speakers have two 21cm bass drivers by Danish company Peerless. These work in tandem below 250Hz, extending the Paragon's bass response down to a subwoofer-like low of 35Hz.

Paragon speakers are available on an order-only basis in high-grade leather cabinets with full-gloss lacquer side panels. A pair costs $12,000.