So, there are a bunch of loudspeakers out there that really do that “life style” thing well. Anthony Gallo Acoustics, for example, makes some sweet little globes called A’Diva — and not only do they sound great, they just vanish into the room. Not hard, because, well, they’re tiny.
Guess what isn’t tiny. Sound Lab Milennium-1x loudspeakers ($25,170/pair)! No, they’re not tiny at all. In fact, they might be the opposite of tiny — they’re about 6’6″ tall and 3’4″ wide. If that doesn’t mean anything, it’s also the size of an NFL lineman. Huge.
Specifications
- Frequency response: 28 Hz to ultrasonics
- Radiating area: 2350 square inches
- Horizontal dispersion: 45 degrees (full spectrum)
- Vertical dispersion: Projected field of panel height
- Impedance (nominal): 8 ohms
- Sensitivity: 89 dB/1W/1m
- Height x Width x Depth: 80″ x 39 3/4″ x 9 1/2″ (24″ at base)
- Weight (per speaker): 176 pounds
- Finishes: Medium oak is standard, (many other finishes available)
The Sound Lab are ESL, so if you’re thinking “Quad” or “King Sound”, you’d be in the same neighborhood I was walking in these. One glance and I literally burst out laughing. Get five of these, and a tarp, and you have a yurt. Okay, enough with the jokes about the size, but seriously, it’s the first and last thing you’ll notice about them. As for sound, the size is where things go all positive — that’s a lot of radiating area, which mean, if you want bass, you can have bass. Read that again — this is an ESL and yes, it has real bass. That’s a lot of air being moved around you. So, while the bass was outstanding (for a panel), the images were a bit oversized — everything felt bigger than life. Is that bad? Not really — it felt like walking into an instant (amplified) concert. Immersive. Totally immersive.
Shown with Atma-Sphere MA-1 OTL monoblocks, and a matching MP-1 preamp. Disc spinning came courtesy of a AMR CD-77.1 CD player. The Dr Feickert Blackbird turntable was fitted with a Kuzma 4Point tonearm and a Shelter Harmony MC cartridge.
Signal cables came from Teo Audio, including set of ParaHelios RCA interconnects from the AMR to the Atma-Sphere pre, Teo Audio Standard Mk II balanced interconnects from the preamp to the amps, and a set of Teo Audio ParaHelios speaker cables. ASI Liveline power cords were used throughout, except on the amps, which carried Clarity Cable Vortex cords. ASI resonators were also used throughout the room.
