2024 Golden Ear: AlsyVox Caravaggio XX Ribbon Loudspeaker

$258,421

This full-range four-way ribbon speaker from Spain is simply one of the world’s greatest loudspeakers. It has an uncanny ability to make reproduced music sound like the real thing, with a beautiful rendering of timbre, image tangibility, an expansive and detailed spatial presentation, and an ability to portray the physicality of instruments with lifelike transparency, resolution, and transient speed. The impression of an instrument or vocalist existing in your listening room—right there—is spooky. The way images float in space, completely detached from the loudspeakers, is unlike that of any dynamic loudspeaker. The instant the music starts, there’s a sudden frisson of excitement as this remarkable loudspeaker brings the music to life. What’s more, it does all this while belying the stereotype of ribbons being difficult to drive and lacking bottom-end oomph. With 94dB sensitivity and bass extension to 22Hz, the Caravaggio is remarkably easy to drive, will play loudly, and will deliver fabulous bass weight and low-end dynamic authority. Indeed, I drove it to satisfying listening levels with a 20W single-ended triode amplifier. In its combination of sound quality and technical performance, the Caravaggio is a sui generis creation. The only caveat is that you need to be able to position these big dipole panels well out into a room to realize their performance. But if you have the room and the budget, the Caravaggio will bring music to life with stunning realism. (350)