Songer Audio S2 Field Coil Loudspeakers | REVIEW

On the final day of the 2023 Pacific Audio Fest, I found myself wandering the halls looking to see if I missed anything worthwhile. I discovered an exhibit room I hadn’t yet noticed: Songer Audio and Whammerdyne. When I first saw the word Songer I thought it was a typo for Sonner Audio, but I was wrong–this was a new speaker company from a designer named Ken Songer. This is also the point where I admit that “Whammerdyne” was the word that finally lured me in–I’m a bit of a Thomas Pynchon fan.

Words and Photos by Marc Phillips

When I saw the system in the room, I was surprised and delighted. The room featured a fairly simple set-up that was focused on a massive 2A3 amp (Whammerdyne), and a couple of pairs of full-range high-efficiency speakers with whizzer cones (Songer). A low-powered SET with high-efficiency speakers? It’d been a while since I’ve spent serious seat time with such a system.

When I see/hear such a system, I usually have expectations. I know that the midrange will be stunning and realistic, but I also prepare myself for limitations at the frequency extremes. In addition, there’s that “beamy” quality full-range drivers have, which often translates into a microscopic sweet spot combined with a lack of off-axis coherence. But the Songer Audio and Whammerdyne system exhibited none of those shortcomings. Even with just 4.3 watts per channel, the Songer Audio S2 speakers ($49,000/pair USD with external power supplies) had plenty of deep, satisfying bass and plenty of detail, and they could go quite loud.

Yes, I requested “Chocolate Chip Trip,” and yes, it sounded quite amazing.

Before I left the room, Ken Songer approached me and we had a discussion about the Songer Audio speaker line. (The Songer Audio S1, which isn’t an open baffle design like the S2, is $37,000/pair.) He explained that his speakers aren’t just the usual high-efficiency designs–the secret to the S2’s stupendous musical delivery is field coil technology. As Ken later told me, “field coil technology is the best platform I’ve used for speaker design.”

I’ve heard field coil speakers in the past–the Shindo Labs Latour models and those big horn speakers from Classic Audio come to mind–and I’m always impressed. But the Songer Audio S2 loudspeakers seemed to go far beyond what I expected from a high-efficiency loudspeaker. There was plenty of bass. There was no beaminess. They sounded great from different vantage points in the room. Plus, these are easily one of the most beautiful speakers I’ve seen. I never imagined having them in for review, but Ken Songer also lives in Oregon and he volunteered to drop them off and set them up for me. I enthusiastically agreed, and we spent a wonderful day with him and his wife Kimberly.

The last few months with the Songer Audio S2 field coil loudspeakers has been a joy, especially with the Allnic Audio T-1500 Mk 2 integrated amplifier–which uses 300Bs and offers 10wpc. I often talk about “getting off the merry-go-round” in high-end audio, which refers to finding gear that makes you so happy that you’ll never read another review. For me, owning the Songer Audio and Allnic Audio system would suffice.

Inside the Songer Audio S2

I suppose the first question is, “What is a field coil?” Don’t be embarrassed about not knowing–I had to tell Ken Songer that I wasn’t that knowledgeable about this technology, either, and I needed a refresher. Ken replied, “Oh, I could write a book about field coil technology.”

In the simplest terms, a field coil uses a motor that creates a magnetic field. Most speakers use permanent magnets in the drivers–“permanent” means the magnetic field is always there, installed by nature. With a field coil design, however, the magnetic field is created by the motor. By using a motor, you can control the magnetic field and tailor it to the loudspeaker design. On the Songer Audio S2, the field coil is mounted inside a shiny metal enclosure attached to the main driver and powered by two small power supplies that plug into the wall. The power supplies also allow you to adjust the voltage going to the speakers, which affects the sound. As Ken explained the day after he dropped off the speakers:

“A good way of thinking about field coils, and one that cuts through much of what I was saying yesterday, is that it is highly self-damping – hundreds if not thousands of times more so than even strong permanent magnets. The cash value of that is extremely accurate modulation of the voice coil and cones – much higher than any permanent magnet is capable of. Next, the ability to adjust the voltage to the field coil magnet alters the T/S parameters of the driver. Lower voltage, let’s say 10 volts, will produce a warmer, fuller sound.  At 12 volts you’ll get a more immediate and forward presentation in the midrange and treble, and may sharpen up the imaging a little as well.”

That explains the use of field coil technology in the Songer Audio S2 as a “platform.” But as that implies, Ken Songer had plenty of other ideas while designing these speakers, such as the choice to go open baffle:

“The other important thing with the S2 is the back wave, as it is with any dipole. The distance from the front wall is important because it determines the wavelengths that are reinforced in the room, so you’ll want to play around with that, for sure. The other important consideration is the reflectivity of the front wall surface behind the speaker. I noticed you had some sound absorbing panels resting against the wall – it might be worthwhile to experiment with that as well. Removing them should deliver a brighter presentation, whereas adding more absorption will warm up the sound, of course.  It’s that rear firing whizzer that is most in play, there – it likes reflective surfaces, which allow it to bring more treble energy into the room.”

Technically, the Songer Audio S2 is endlessly intriguing. Aesthetically, it’s a knockout. Ken uses thick kiln-dried hardwoods for the baffles–I almost said “enclosures” but that would be inaccurate. The S2s, at 150 pounds each, are heavier than they look, mostly because of that beautiful wood. Again, I’ll let Ken elaborate:

“The construction quality and materials of the S2 are without compromise. The front baffles are constructed of 1.7 inch thick solid hardwood. To further eliminate distortion and resonance, the field coil driver is “magnet mounted” via the electromagnet housing to a 2.5 inch thick hardwood and glass-filled nylon support. This allows it to be all but entirely suspended in space, where it cannot transfer vibration to the front baffle.

“The field coil driver has been modified for this design, leveraging the acoustic transparency of the driver suspension. It incorporates a novel, rear-firing whizzer which contributes to superb overall tonal balance and energy. As simply another part of the point source driver, the rear whizzer does not suffer from multi-way phase or timing issues. That benefit translates into a wonderful sense of live musical performance, with outstanding imaging and soundstage depth.

“Below 130Hz, the Type D field coil is assisted by an Acoustic Elegance LO15 woofer for extremely accurate overall bass response. It is “port constrained” in the front, and employs an open, folded baffle design in the back. These design features lower free resonance, increase efficiency, and reduce wave cancellations for rich overall bass performance. Dual binding posts offer the option to run bridged passively, or to bi-amp for large listening spaces.”

The Songer Audio S2 is high-efficiency, of course, but it’s not one of those horn speakers with efficiency ratings in the triple digit range. 93dB works with a 2A3 DHT, as I heard with the Whammerdyne, but I’m not so sure with my old 2wpc Yamamoto Sound Craft A-08 45 power amplifier. (It seemed to crave a speaker with a 96-98 dB sensitivity rating at the very least.) With the 300B tubes on the Allnic Audio T-1500, however, I had plenty of bass, power, and dynamics.

The PS1 power supplies are made for Songer Audio by Whammerdyne. They are nicely finished–they look just like little power amplifiers from any other high-end audio manufacturer. They plug directly into the wall, so you can experiment with high-end power cords if you so desire. The umbilical between the PS1 and the speakers come as standard–they are six feet in length and are terminated with XLRs.

“The PS1 is a very tightly regulated, very low impedance power supply. It is specifically designed as a high noise rejection type, such that AC line noise and harmonic noise is not transferred to the DC regulated output powering the field coil. This unique feature damps any induced motor voice coil modulated signal from the field coil, shunting this AC induced audio signal at the power supply. The result is “locked down” pure DC power to the driver, with no overlying AC audio signal.”

You can adjust the voltage for the PS1s from 9 to 12.5 volts. Yes, this does change the sound of the Songer Audio S2s, mostly in the size and shape of the soundstage. While I found the S2s relatively easy to place in my room–surprising because all of the variables involved–but I wound up settling around 12 volts for the duration of their stay. But I feel the allure of being able to customize the sound of the Songers over time–who needs another pair of speakers when you have this much flexibility?

Set-Up

Here’s how I know the Songer Audio S2 loudspeakers were an incredible match with the Allnic Audio T-1500 integrated amplifier. Once we had the speakers in place and music was flowing into the room, Ken sat down in the listening chair to take a listen. He instantly uttered “oh,” as if totally surprised by the synergy. I sat down and instantly thought, “This review is going to be so much fun.”

I know I’m going on and on about the synergy between the two components, but perhaps this is the point where I mention that the Allnic sounded excellent with other speakers (such as the Alexandria Audio The Monitors), and the Songer Audio S2s sounded brilliant with my Pureaudio Duo2 power amplifier, set in pure class A operation with 25 wpc. But Songer + Allnic? It took me quite a while to settle down for some serious, objective listening, but when I did I was swept off my feet. The sound of these two components working together was magical, which is notable for someone like me who is so critical of magical thinking.

As far as speaker cables go, I was torn between my two current favorites–the Ansuz D2s and the ArgentPurs. While I detected slight differences between the two–they both still sounded like nothing at all– the charming personalities of the Allnic and the Songer seemed to win out with each choice. With an amp/speaker combo like this, you don’t want to choose a cable that has editorial aspirations.

Songer Audio S2 Sound

I know, I’ve already said a lot about the sound of the Songer Audio S2. It’s seductive, bewitching and mesmerizing, which usually suggests a euphonic tilt to the proceedings. The S2s were indeed warm, as I like it, and yet they still preserved the detail in the recordings, which I also like. When I first started exploring SETs and high-efficiency speakers around twenty years ago, I had to make a decision about the sound I truly wanted from my hi-fi. Was I willing to give up musical information at the frequency extremes in order to bask in that glow, that immediacy, in the midrange? When you’ve spent too many years in small apartments in big cities, you can easily deal with a bass-shy sound as long as everything else is there.

When I started listening deeply to the Songer Audio S2 loudspeakers, I immediately noticed the strong, full and textured bass in the lowest octaves. The S2 specs state the frequency response at 30Hz-20kHz, plus or minus 6dB. This is usually the point where I say something like, “it seemed like a lot more,” but that was reserved for the days back in that Portland apartment when I could really use the wall boundaries to augment the bass performance. In my new digs, the room is huge. I usually pull the speakers out from the back wall (which is covered with windows) to the point where the room quietly exits from the equation. So I can’t boost the bass as I used to–speakers need to be more honest before I celebrate their wide frequency ranges.

I’m not saying that the Songer Audio S2s sounded like they could go down to 20Hz, but I really didn’t care. The S2s were seamless from top to bottom, which shouldn’t be a surprise for full range drivers–except for one thing. The distance from top to bottom was much further than I expected, which also contributed to a very dynamic presentation.

That reinforced my first impression of the Songer Audio S2 loudspeakers back in Seattle last summer. All of the idiosyncrasies of high-efficiency designs had simply vanished. They performed at a level of any other ultra hi-fi speaker at its price point, no matter the design. They was only one clue that the S2s were uncommon in their approach–the sweet spot itself.

I mentioned that Ken Songer was really surprised at how his speakers and the Allnic amp sounded in my listening room. I figured it out when I took a seat right after him. The dispersion characteristics of these speakers aren’t that unusual–the speakers sounded superb from anywhere in the room. But when you sit down and take a listen, you’re immediately amazed at the difference. It’s a short distance from “these sound really nice” to “holy crap!” Everything snaps into focus. Everything I wanted to hear, I did. It almost seemed secondary to me that I was getting that tremendous, soothing warmth I need. It was there, but I heard so much more than a pleasing tonality.

Listening Sessions

When I see those words above, “listening sessions,” I can’t help but smile. My listening sessions with the Songer Audio S2 field coil loudspeakers were as satisfying and rewarding as with any transducer I’ve heard, no matter the design and the tech behind it. Have you ever found a seasoning for food that’s so delicious that you start adding it to everything? That’s the underlying feeling I had while listening to the Songer Audio S2 loudspeakers.

Once the Songer Audio S2 and the Allnic Audio T-1500 Mk. II settled in, I was compelled to search out all of my favorite recordings–which reminded me that I really haven’t properly organized my music collection after my move last summer. One of my favorite LPs from the last few years is Nina Simone’s Little Girl Blue, the Analogue Productions 45rpm reissue, but it does present a certain challenge to my brain. The sound quality is stunning and captures the honest and unique presence of her voice better than anything else I’ve heard, but I’m always slightly perplexed by the immense space between her voice and her piano, as if someone else is playing for her. Some speakers make this idiosyncrasy unbearable, while others make me forget.

With the Songer Audio S2 and the Allnic Audio T-1500, her voice and her piano become part of the same organic space, brought together by a similar tone and delivery that eliminates the sense of two different recordings pushed together as one. I’ve never heard Little Girl Blue sound more lovely and united.

Lately I’ve been obsessed with the original soundtrack to Oppenheimer by Ludwig Göransson. It’s both huge and minimalist–the main theme revolves around three notes that merely change in key. This music is meant to echo the main component of quantum theory described in the film, that matter is most filled with empty spaces. The Songer Audio S2 was almost didactic in this respect–it explained quantum mechanics to me through music, by drawing out all the dynamic contrasts and how they fill up those empty spaces. There’s a feverish tone to this beautiful music as well, a building of tension that tracks the progress of The Manhattan Project and leaves behind a haunting residue that says, “What have we done? What do we do now?”

I’ve said this before, but great music and a great audio system will prompt you to think about things you haven’t thought of before. Your mind floats for a while and then, out of nowhere, you start to assemble ideas that are purely in the moment, ideas that could not be realized without the musical inspiration. I had those experiences again and again with the Songer Audio S2s, and I’m grateful they came to visit when they did.

Songer Audio S2 Conclusions

I don’t have very many criticisms of the Songer Audio S2 field coil loudspeakers. Perhaps there’s the issue of price, that these are expensive transducers that I probably won’t be able to afford any time soon. That’s a little frustrating since the other piece of this puzzle, the $9,600 Allnic Audio T-1500 Mk. II integrated, is totally within my reach.

But my new house and my larger listening room have finally given me the opportunity to review the big stuff, the glamorous stuff, and I’m sure this won’t be the first time I lament the inability to send someone like Ken Songer a check so that I can continue to bask in this sort of sound quality. There’s always that part of me that constantly thinks about getting off the musical merry-go-round, and if I wasn’t a reviewer this is the way I would go. I remember that Yamamoto Sound Craft A-08 45 amplifier with the 2wpc, and how I sold it because I wouldn’t be able to review a wide range of speakers with it. That was a mistake, of course.

The heart wants what the heart wants, I suppose. In the last few weeks I’ve had a number of people in the industry ask me about the Songer Audio S2s, telling me how they heard them once and thought they were stupendously good. I was once one of them, wondering, and now I know the answer to the question: are they any good?

That yes, of course, would be a tremendous understatement. Highly, highly recommended.