DENVER (PTA) — I love big panel speakers. They play the room unlike any other loudspeakers I know of. However, the most common (and annoying) myth about them is that panel speakers have trouble producing real bass without a ton of power. Alsyvox and Omega Audio Concepts joined forces at the Rocky Mountain International Audio Fest 2019 to shake-up these misconceptions.

The Story

In recent years Alsyvox has had many great showings around the audio show circuit. Most of these were personally missed due to the fact that I like to choose what rooms I cover at shows after all others on our writing team have expressed their own interests. Subsequently, the low draft status of my own choosing puts me at the disadvantage, as Alsyvox was never available for me to experience and write about until now. Luckily for me, this go round Alsyvox’s new Botticelli X panels being held in a larger room than I’ve previously seen.

I say I’m lucky about the Alsyvox Botticelli X ($87,000 pr USD) being in a larger room as in previous instances I felt the previous model Botticelli (standard version) were a bit much for the smaller spaces I’d previously heard them in. Don’t get me wrong, they sounded lifelike and thrilling, but a little throttled by the room size. The Botticelli and Botticelli X are by company terms considered to be the “middle” sized offering in the Alsyvox product line-up. However, I do not consider them small or even mid-sized in the least, especially when it comes to how they play.

The Botticelli X is a full-range true three-way ribbon design, with distinctly higher crossover points than conventional loudspeakers (750Hz, 6000kHz), and in this new upgraded range, the ability to opt for dual-outboard crossovers which bypass the stock internal ones. Also of note about the Botticelli platform is that these are high sensitivity speakers at 94db. Making amplifier options more diverse than other panel speakers on the market.

It is possible to upgrade existing Botticelli loudspeakers to Botticelli X status by purchasing the two external passive crossovers. Each crossover is made out of CNC machined aluminum billets and uses an exclusive patent pending topology designed by Omega Audio Concepts. The crossover umbilical connection between the speaker and external crossover is made using Omega Audio Concepts’s AC NANO Extra cabling.

Powering the whole affair, were a table full of Omega Audio Concepts DNA mono amplifiers, DNA CD Player, DNA Digital-to-Analog Converter, and NANO Extra silver plated copper cables.

In a static display were a few samples of the Omega’s The Element(s) series of cables, and literature. I can’t be certain if any of the cables in the system were from The Element(s) series as it was quite busy behind the equipment as you can see by the photos.

The Sound

Essentially the Alsyvox Botticelli as just a single panel speaker. But how it plays the room so authoritatively. You’d be convinced that there were dynamic-driver sub-woofers somewhere in the building. This is one of the largest exhibit rooms in the Gaylord Rockies Hotel, and it seems like the Botticelli and Omega Audio Concepts components and cables were seeing little in any sense of struggle. The traditional three-way crossover points found on most traditional speakers are moved upwards with the Botticelli panels. I am urged to credit these crossover points for the more full-range slam of the Botticelli X speakers, but I can’t be sure. Being a generous stack of Omega Audio Concepts electronics at play, the power and silent background delivery of this pairing were top of the class.