The 16th floor at this year’s AXPONA high-end audio show featured some truly unusual speakers. In room 1603, BAYZ Audio displayed their Counterpoint 2.0 speakers, an omnidirectional offering that is sure to turn heads.
The BAYZ Audio speakers are handmade in Hungary, and designed by firm founder Zoltan Bay. Bay’s designs feature the Bay Radial Speaker (BRS), which is the heart of this transducer. There are two 9” Egyptian papyrus cone woofers arrayed axially with the BRS tweeter, a cylindrical electrostatic structure. This axial design is then mounted longitudinally, which allows for the super-cool omnidirectional dispersion of the speaker.
Words and Photos by Matthew Partrick
This vertical mount of a cylindrical driver system in the BAYZ Audio loudspeakers is similar to what MBL speakers display, and with the same awesome effect. The enclosure is a concentric cylinder, similar to a trombone. The distributor referred to it as “Zoltan Bay’s awesome carabiner.” The technical specifications are listed at 24 Hz-22kHz, 94 dB, and 4 Ohms. Room source and power were provided by VAC.
The unconventional design of BAYZ Audio may strain to blend into your home, but it sure does the off-axis thing well. The room was enveloped by sound, and there simply was no sweet spot, no head-in-a-vise effect at all. I was surprised that the woofers reached down to 24 Hz, but the super-stiff carbon fiber enclosure has a Nautilus-like effect that ensures the low end of the BAYZ Audio design is well-represented.
The BAYZ Audio speakers suffered from a too-small room, but their brilliance shone despite these imposed limitations. The shown model in carbon fiber retails for about $160,000, with matte finish coming in at $100,000 and gloss of your choice at $130,000. BAYZ Audio also offers the slightly
smaller Courante 2.0 which features the same driver starting at $40,000 for matte, $50,000 for
gloss, and $60,000 for carbon fiber. If you have the room and the dough, these should be high on your list, especially if you have unconventional tastes in interior design or are related to Darth Vader.
If you would like to hear even more coverage from AXPONA 2023, you can listen our recap report and highlights from our audiophile-oriented show The Occasional Podcast. You can stream the episode direct from the embed below, or from your favorite podcast platform including iTunes, Android, Google, Deezer, Spotify, iHeartRadio and more.
Also don’t forget to check out our collaboration to commemorate the event with our solid bronze record weight available only for a limited run. This 800 grams of solid bronze features the PTA roundel on the top with also acts as a 45 adapter. You can purchase direct from the PTA Approved Store here on the site.
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