Stenheim Speakers. Thoughts?

[Mike]

For those who have heard them, what are your thoughts?


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[TommyC]

Warm, refined, transparent.
Very heavy for their size.

[MPW]

My only experience with them was at AXPONA 2019. The Stenheim Alumine Five, VTL, Nordost room was in my top five. I thought the sound was outstanding in a very small room. Heard Cecilia Bartoli on vinyl and it was nothing short of moving. Their sub technology looks pretty interesting as well.

[XV-1]

I have heard them at the HK hifi show a couple of times. They sounded good, but nothing grabbed me. the Avalon room killed them imo.

[KeithR]

Had a recent audition of the Fives - came out thinking Harbeth in an aluminum box but with more dynamics and transparency. Maybe not quite the sound stage of the other aluminum speakers.

[Golum]

As they are relatively close to my place I heard them on several occasions in their demo room (Alumine two, Alumine 5) with different electronics (Nagra, DarTzeel) with different sources being TT, Nagra DAC, Lampi Pacific and they always performed marvelous - super musical, with great timbre, fantastic staging, non fatiguing, engaging,...
They are easy to drive, so thus no need for monster amps (has to do something with the fact that JPP was with Nagra for many years )...If I could sum up, speaker which if funds would allow, would be top pick for me personally (Alumine 5).

Florians (CHP) favourite speaker - Reference Ultime - psssstttt..

[Jerry Seh]

Ultime .... One very good friend of mine ... here owns them .. psst!

[Ritmo]

I listened to them at AXPONA this year. They seemed fine in the VTL room but I only listened to a couple of songs. Not enough to form an opinion.

[Dth31]

Before I share my experience, please keep in mind that it was at a show (recent LA show) with music and in a system I was totally unfamiliar with (CH Precision). Also keep in mind that, in general, I find most SS equipment to be at least a little bit harsh and fatiguing, and that my wife agreed with my impression. I’ve been hesitant to share because other’s experiences appear to have been quite different from mine. I may get crucified, but I think it’s important to share experiences, so here goes...

The first song was unaccompanied chorale music. It was so harsh it literally hurt our ears and not just a little. We almost left midway thru the song it was so uncomfortable. The 2nd and 3rd songs were very different from the first. No harshness at all with generous warmth, although the sonics still seemed off somehow. It literally sounded like a totally different system, which surprised the heck out of me.

My guess is that the speakers were not to blame and just passing on what was sent by the upstream sources, electronics and cables. But I can say for sure that this was the least musically enjoyable system I heard at the show, by far, at least on that first song.

[Mike]

Thanks for the feedback. I’m always thinking about brands. I have heard these speakers sound incredible with VAC. But I’ve heard them sound less than stellar with other gear (Einstein for example). Speakers are the toughest to nail down. I’m very happy with my selection now because they’re all so different. But you know....always thinking about stuff. Too bad Quad’s QC isn’t up to snuff today. Would love a nice panel speaker. Maybe. Don’t know. I’ve been impressed with the Muraudio SP1’s. Definitely a consideration.

[FDPDK]

I think Golum states it very accurate.
I have heard the Alumine 5 on several occasions with PS Audio gear , and they do to my ear performs really good
Have yet to hear the new Alumine Three with Soulution , ( heard it at a small show local show ) and they are probably impressive , but due to listening to the Ultime they lost out as the Ultime is really something. Precise , musical , engaging was toe tapping with all songs , despite not being in the sweet spot , revealing , and bass is very good.
So if money was no issue i would take the Alumine 5 .

[bart]

My impressions of their standmounts (Brussels Hifi Show '17).
Show conditions, so you can also blame the set-up of course.



Stenheim - Aries cerat




I heard the same electronics with the Magico S1 last year.
Great!
This is fantastic gear.

This time, some standmounters from Stenheim transduced the sound.






I strongly advise you all to run to the nearest dealers and get yourselves a pair.
NOT!!
No no no.
Awful. Really.
We heard a ton of speakers costing 4-10 less that sounded much better.


My buddy Jacques described his experience like this:

The Award for “Yet Another Bubble Burst” goes to the Stenheim Alumine 2 bookshelf speaker. What a disappointment. This was so bad it was embarrassing. I hope the opportunity presents itself to audition this speaker in a different setting with different gear, for now this Brand is moving to the “all hype, overpriced no substance” purgatory.

[Mike]

My impressions of their standmounts (Brussels Hifi Show '17).
Show conditions, so you can also blame the set-up of course.



Stenheim - Aries cerat




I heard the same electronics with the Magico S1 last year.
Great!
This is fantastic gear.

This time, some standmounters from Stenheim transduced the sound.






I strongly advise you all to run to the nearest dealers and get yourselves a pair.
NOT!!
No no no.
Awful. Really.
We heard a ton of speakers costing 4-10 less that sounded much better.


My buddy Jacques described his experience like this:

The Award for “Yet Another Bubble Burst” goes to the Stenheim Alumine 2 bookshelf speaker. What a disappointment. This was so bad it was embarrassing. I hope the opportunity presents itself to audition this speaker in a different setting with different gear, for now this Brand is moving to the “all hype, overpriced no substance” purgatory.

Interesting. Very interesting. Thanks for the feedback.

[Golum]

As they are relatively close to my place I heard them on several occasions in their demo room (Alumine two, Alumine 5) with different electronics (Nagra, DarTzeel) with different sources being TT, Nagra DAC, Lampi Pacific and they always performed marvelous - super musical, with great timbre, fantastic staging, non fatiguing, engaging,...
They are easy to drive, so thus no need for monster amps (has to do something with the fact that JPP was with Nagra for many years )...If I could sum up, speaker which if funds would allow, would be top pick for me personally (Alumine 5).

Florians (CHP) favourite speaker - Reference Ultime - psssstttt..

Just to lean on what I said regarding CHP - last few minutes of Framer video at CHP demo room - bunch of speakers in the room...
https://youtu.be/OsOv-NJgphk

[UltraFast69]

I think Golum states it very accurate.
I have heard the Alumine 5 on several occasions with PS Audio gear , and they do to my ear performs really good
Have yet to hear the new Alumine Three with Soulution , ( heard it at a small show local show ) and they are probably impressive , but due to listening to the Ultime they lost out as the Ultime is really something. Precise , musical , engaging was toe tapping with all songs , despite not being in the sweet spot , revealing , and bass is very good.
So if money was no issue i would take the Alumine 5 .

Money is never an issue in Hi Fi


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[Dth31]

Details on the CHPrecision Stenheim room at the LAAudio show.

https://parttimeaudiophile.com/2019/...h-e-show-2019/

[SimpleSimonSays]

I heard the Alumine Two SE at the Montreal audio show last march and It was, for me, the best room at the show. Soulution 330 integrated, Brinkmann Nyquist DAC and Wolf Audio server.

I am not a bass freak by any means but the low end was really surprising/amazing for such a somewhat small stand mount. But what they did best was extreme transparency in a completely smooth manner. There was details galore yet without any harshness and/or brightness. My kind of sound!

Was it the Stenheim or the Soulution or the Brinkmann or all of the above? I don't know but I went back four times and every time I was more impressed than the last one.

Really good sound in an audio show is hard to achieve so kudos to that room. Unusually though many rooms sounded great this year. To my ears at least.

[joeinid]

Welcome to the forum, thank you for joining.

[SimpleSimonSays]

Welcome to the forum, thank you for joining.

Bonjour!