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Reviewer:
Srajan Ebaen
Financial Interests: click here
Source: 2TB iMac 27" quad-core with 16GB of RAM (AIFF) running OSX 10.8.2 and PureMusic 1.94g in hybrid memory play with pre-allocated RAM, Audirvana 1.4 in direct/integer mode, Metrum Hex, SOtM dX-USB HD with Super-clock upgrade & mBPS-d2s, AURALiC Vega, Apple iPod Classic 160 AIFF-loaded, Cambridge Audio iD100, Pure i20
Preamplifier: Nagra Jazz, Bent Audio Tap-X, Esoteric C-03, TruLife Audio Athena, Burson Conductor
Power amplifier: FirstWatt S1 monos, SIT2, F5, F6; Job 225, Bakoon AMP-12R, Clones 25i [on loan]
Loudspeakers: Boenicke B10, German Physiks HRS-120, AudioSolutions 200, Zu Audio Submission
Desktop: Wyred4Sound mINT, Gallo Strada 2 + TR-3D
Cables: Complete Zu Event loom, KingRex uArt split USB cable optionally with Bakoon BPS-02 uninterruptible battery supply
Powerline conditioning: GigaWatt PF-2 & Vibex Two 1R DC filter on amps, Vibex Three 11R on front-end components
Equipment rack:
Artesania Exoteryc double-wide three tier with optional glass shelf, Rajasthani hardwood rack for amps
Sundry accessories: Extensive use of Acoustic System Resonators, noise filters and phase inverters
Room size: 5m x 11.5m W x D, 2.6m ceiling with exposed wooden cross beams every 60cm, plaster over brick walls, suspended wood floor with Tatami-type throw rugs. The listening space opens into the second storey via a staircase and the kitchen/dining room are behind the main listening chair. The latter is thus positioned in the middle of this open floor plan without the usual nearby back wall.
Review component retail: starting at €6.600/pr

Tune Audio Prime at Munich HighEnd 2013 [scroll down the page].

Religious beliefs can be wickedly contrarious. Here's one surprising dualism. Abstain from sex, alcohol and fancy foods in this life. To better yourself toward sainthood, drive all your animal instincts into temporary submission if not transcendence. Then indulge those same repressed appetites to the fullest in heaven. For eternity. Swim in rivers of wine, feast on never-ending banquets and frolic with buxom beauties at your every command. That is, should you arrive in the proper version of a popular Hindu or Muslim paradise. Instead you could also find yourself on a lone cloud with a freshly tuned harp but no score, all earthly appetites and desires vanished mysteriously save for the strange urge to sing incessantly. So pick your beliefs wisely. And study up on improvising music. Just in case.


The same could be said for the widebander faith whose core command insists that one driver is best and all crossovers are evil. To play something other than wispy hosannas tends to mean various forms of rear horns and transmission lines to have the response get down to Rock'n'Roll levels whilst still missing modern demands for ambient infrasonics. That such loading tends to mean large enclosures to meaningfully party is par for this course [Arcadian Audio's 2m+ tall Pnoe horn at right]. Depending on driver size, the aversion to any corrective or surgical low-pass filtering also means that the response turns frisky and ragged somewhere between 2.000-8.000Hz. But this sacrifice of smoothness is gladly made at the altar of immediacy, speed or whatever other qualities the designer imagines would be compromised by a filter. Think Voxativ though their latest Pi does offer an optional filter to address exactly that.

Tune Audio Anima/Pulse horn trio with TotalDAC source and Engstrom&Engstrom monos at HighEnd Munich 2013.

Occasionally someone refuses to swim in the otherworldly wine or pick afterlife's low-hanging fruit. For satisfaction in this world they declare that yes, having one driver span the broadest possible bandwidth to avoid a crossover anywhere near where human hearing is keenest is a brilliant idea indeed. But they also admit that if such a driver does useful bass, it'll need help on top. Or vice versa. Think Ocellia, Rethm, Zu. Now the very few step out of the faith even more. They add a low-pass filter to their widebander to eliminate its ragged region popularly called Lowther shout elsewhere. Snip. This gets us to Martin Gateley's superbly executed Swiss soundkaos Wave 40. And today's Prime from Manolis Proestakis of Athens. In Tune Audio's case previous clashes with the horned one are an open display. Manolis and his ex concert pianist turned piano teacher wife Masa Josilo love big multi-way horns; and having a much-played concert grand gives them an ongoing reference to live sound.


Whilst the smaller Marvel horn goes places their big Anima won't—never mind its giant Pulse sub companion—Manolis was well aware that will 'n' way can only compensate so much with limited space and funds on hand (setup with Anima in bedroom next). What if someone loved the Tune Audio sound but needed smaller still?


Introduced this year, the Prime is a compact two-way. Conventional 1st-order high/low-pass filters insert between its two Fostex drivers, a down-firing bass horn sits behind the deeply furcated 6.5" widebander. The cab is Baltic birch ply, internal wiring high-purity OFC copper in waxed cotton. The filters sit at the bottom away from magnetic fields. The Alnico-powered compression tweeter is flush-mounted for mechanical time alignment.


Impedance is 8Ω, the filters hinge at 6.300Hz and sensitivity is 93dB. Recommended listening distance is two meters or more, minimum speaker spacing 1.5m. Dimensions are 116 x 28 x 48cm HxWxD, weight is 33kg. Finish options include various wood veneers and lacquers. No response figures are given. Prior experience suggests that this type driver loaded into a thrice-folded line should make from 40-50Hz*. The efficiency spec welcomes 300B and 10-watt Jfet single-endeds alike. Zu's big Submission could extend reach to <20Hz. Party time widebander style?
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* The Fostex FE168EZ's resonant frequency is 51Hz. Its trademark cone geometry with that raised five-pointed star and sculpted phase plug is called a hyperbolic paraboloid. The yellowish cone itself is made of banana plant fiber. The surround sports twisted tangential edging and the motor is a 120mm ferrite core. The BL factor is 8 Tesla.