Visit to Arke Audio to Hear Prototype Solo Speakers

On Thursday, I travelled North to visit Jason in his lovely home in the Peak District to hear the latest prototype of his new Solo stand-mount speakers. The Solos have two drivers, inverted compared to most with a 1" tweeter sitting below an 8" mid/woofer. The tweeter used ultra-thin carbon (Graphene). The enclosure is large (27L) although the front profile wasn't too wide. I like the simple finish of the prototype with a black front and birch ply sides. Jason's listening room is larger than his previous one and has a vaulted ceiling to add extra volume.

I took some music on a USB key that he transferred to his Eversolo A6 streamer. The music we played from my music was:

Metallica - Enter Sandman [Metallica] 24/96
Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer [So] 24/48
New Order - This Time Of Night [Low Life (Definitive)] 24/96
Fleetwood Mac - Dreams [Rumours (Studio Master)] 24/96
David Sylvian - Taking The Veil 16/44.1
Talk Talk - The Rainbow [Spirit Of Eden] 24/96
Eurythmics - Somebody Told Me [Sweet Dreams] 24/96
Yello - Limbo [40 Years] 24/48
Anais Mitchell - Any Way The Wind Blows [Xoa] 16/44.1

We also played a couple of tracks chosen by Jason:

Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing [Dire Straits] 16/44.1
Mark Knopfler and Mary Black [Sorry but I can't remember the name of the track]

Impressions:

I have always liked stand-mounted speakers and have owned many high-quality ones. Compared to my current Penaudio Cenyas, the Solos are bigger sounding, more dynamic, output greater detail, and go slightly deeper in the bass. They are a significant step up from the Cenyas. They weren't as brutal as studio monitors but they were honest. Detail was excellent with the notes in The Rainbow gently decaying into silence and no compression on the more complex sections. Their best trait was the ability to let you listen to the music rather than concentrate on individual parts. I quickly realised I was listening to some very special speakers.

We also played some tracks via the top half of the Vaders, the full Vaders, and the Solos with a subwoofer. It's hard to compare directly because the speakers were positioned in different spots in the room, which impacts the response. I understand why folks like the Vaders, as I do, but I preferred the Solos, especially with the sub which widened the sound stage a little.

Having a pair of Solos, reduced to 22L, with the same drivers is very appealing, especially as I now have Jason's old sub