We recently received our first demo and sample pair of the SoundKaos VOX 3a which is the flagship of their compact monitors.
What sets these little beauties apart from most monitors is something that personally I have been trying to fight without much luck over the years, let me explain...
Most front firing woofers plays bass which ripples in waves by causing acoustic inconsistencies such as bloat between the listener and the speakers, adding to that, any rear firing port further compounds the issue with still more boom, getting the best spot and position is often a nightmare, the penalty is that detail tends to get sucked-out, midrange suffers and getting a well focused image becomes a nightmare. The SoundKaos speakers dual side-firing woofers do not propagate low-frequencies forward but sideways cancelling any forward related acoustic issues suck as boom, you can also dial-in the amount of preferred bass with help from your side walls to taste. The small 11 cm full range front driver only handles mids and tops, and cuts-off at the right frequency to let the two side-woofers do the heavy-lifting (bass). The RAAL super-tweeter on top reflects-off the ceiling by creating a vast image and compliments the very sweet top-end of the whizzer-cone (centre area) of the tiny full range driver.
SoundKaos VOX 3a specs:
* Finished in real wood, not veneer.
* 11 cm custom bronze basket Alnico motor Enviée paper cone full-range driver
* Two side-firing back-to-back force-cancelling 13 cm Galm Audio custom woofers
* Upwards-firing ambient RAAL ribbon super tweeter
* Oiled or waxed finish
* Bandwidth 38 Hz - 35kHz
* 90 dB-efficient
* Size: 13.78H x 6.9W x 10.8D
Here's a brief summary of a recent HiFi Knights review:
“The way it had all information blended with muscle tissue and colour was superbly executed by my standards. Its delicate, sensual, smooth and profoundly believable voicing translated to emotionally loaded, deeply engaging, intimate and highly intense musical experience way beyond what regular listening sessions usually provide.
“Bass-Wise”… On this count it did what no other similar product known to me does, but the fact alone that its two petite Swiss boxes actually managed sonics reserved for specialist floorstanding loudspeakers is quite insane.
HiFi Knights”
I can confirm the following after having spend a tedious amount of time setting them right for our listening room. In brief... Outstanding focus, punch, speed, insane depth and air, organic, yet never forward. In short... massive, visceral, yet sweet. Taiko Japanese drums for instance sound jaw droopingly enormous, the VOX 3a don't flinch! You have to hear these just for the experience.
I am currently running our 40W ZOTL power amplifier on these babies with a LampizatOr Golden Gate MK2 DAC and the synergy is off the chart!
Anyone in Cape Town who wishes to hear these little marvels, feel free to PM me.
Some reviews:
Some pics of the SoundKaos VOX 3a speakers currently in our Cape Town demo room:
What sets these little beauties apart from most monitors is something that personally I have been trying to fight without much luck over the years, let me explain...
Most front firing woofers plays bass which ripples in waves by causing acoustic inconsistencies such as bloat between the listener and the speakers, adding to that, any rear firing port further compounds the issue with still more boom, getting the best spot and position is often a nightmare, the penalty is that detail tends to get sucked-out, midrange suffers and getting a well focused image becomes a nightmare. The SoundKaos speakers dual side-firing woofers do not propagate low-frequencies forward but sideways cancelling any forward related acoustic issues suck as boom, you can also dial-in the amount of preferred bass with help from your side walls to taste. The small 11 cm full range front driver only handles mids and tops, and cuts-off at the right frequency to let the two side-woofers do the heavy-lifting (bass). The RAAL super-tweeter on top reflects-off the ceiling by creating a vast image and compliments the very sweet top-end of the whizzer-cone (centre area) of the tiny full range driver.
SoundKaos VOX 3a specs:
* Finished in real wood, not veneer.
* 11 cm custom bronze basket Alnico motor Enviée paper cone full-range driver
* Two side-firing back-to-back force-cancelling 13 cm Galm Audio custom woofers
* Upwards-firing ambient RAAL ribbon super tweeter
* Oiled or waxed finish
* Bandwidth 38 Hz - 35kHz
* 90 dB-efficient
* Size: 13.78H x 6.9W x 10.8D
Here's a brief summary of a recent HiFi Knights review:
“The way it had all information blended with muscle tissue and colour was superbly executed by my standards. Its delicate, sensual, smooth and profoundly believable voicing translated to emotionally loaded, deeply engaging, intimate and highly intense musical experience way beyond what regular listening sessions usually provide.
“Bass-Wise”… On this count it did what no other similar product known to me does, but the fact alone that its two petite Swiss boxes actually managed sonics reserved for specialist floorstanding loudspeakers is quite insane.
HiFi Knights”
I can confirm the following after having spend a tedious amount of time setting them right for our listening room. In brief... Outstanding focus, punch, speed, insane depth and air, organic, yet never forward. In short... massive, visceral, yet sweet. Taiko Japanese drums for instance sound jaw droopingly enormous, the VOX 3a don't flinch! You have to hear these just for the experience.
I am currently running our 40W ZOTL power amplifier on these babies with a LampizatOr Golden Gate MK2 DAC and the synergy is off the chart!
Anyone in Cape Town who wishes to hear these little marvels, feel free to PM me.
Some reviews:
- 6moons review
- HiFi Knights
- Steve Huff (YouTube)
Some pics of the SoundKaos VOX 3a speakers currently in our Cape Town demo room:
Last edited:
