Opinion 1

As an introduction to today’s meeting, I would like to allow myself a reflection on something seemingly diverting from the main topic of our portal, namely appearances. We seem to know from a very early age that appearances are deceiving, but in the times of more and more perfect (more perfidious) AI, deepfakes flooding the Internet, or even automatic beauty filters – factory-enabled on many smartphones, we more and more often catch ourselves on the fact that the seemingly obvious quote from the eighteenth century „New Athens” by Benedykt Chmielowski, as if „A horse is a horse, of course” is very painfully starting to diverge from the reality around us. To put it bluntly, not only did we live in a time when the slogan „Trust no one” appearing in „X-Files” (an explanation for underage readers – it was a cult SF series broadcast in the years 1993 – 2002) became the basis of existence, but it is even worse, because not only can we not believe others, but in fact we should also have a lack of trust in … ourselves. Am I exaggerating? Not at all, because, as I have already mentioned, believing in what we see can turn out to be, if not disastrous, then usually painfully disappointing for us. Fortunately, history also knows cases when the above-mentioned misleading appearances become the reason for a pleasant surprise, i.e. the motif of „kinder surprise”, „ugly duckling”, or Italian/Spanish cuisine comes into play, where the dishes significantly differ in appearance from the patterns promoted by French masters of the frying pan, but taste … insanely, usually outclassing molecular freaks and other complicated „dinner plate installations”.
What do I try to allude to? To classic bookshelf monitors. After all, everyone can see what they are like. Well, in the vast majority of cases, two drivers per box and the topic is closed. If the manufacturer wants to go crazy, he either adds an additional driver, evolving to a two-and-a-half, or three-way form, or replaces the classic bass-reflex with a passive radiator / opts for a closed design. Generally, if he is up to something, in 99% of cases it can be seen with the naked eye. The remaining percentage is managed by, recalcitrantly escaping simple pigeonholing, clinical cases in the style of the five-driver Neat Ultimatum MFS (now XLS), where, despite the declared two-way operation, we have … three tweeters and two (one hidden inside the cabinet) bass-midrange drivers working in an isobaric configuration, the three-way ELAC Concentro S 503 with an exponential tube imitation surrounding the JET 5 tweeter and the130 mm midrange AS-XR AL, which we hosted almost three years ago, and the, based on a similar solution, TAD CR1 TX-EB and … of our today’s guests. As it turns out, provided by Sopot based … I mean, Gdańsk (the guys are in the process of moving) AudioSolutions Virtuoso B are not quite what they seem. If you are wondering what dark secret they hide, there is nothing else left for me to do but invite you to continue reading.

Strictly high-end and in addition such beautifully looking monitors are visiting us so rarely, that we can confidently consider today’s publication as a quite understandable excuse to celebrate. Especially that instead of the standard painting, the visiting pair received a phenomenal Martino Copper color, in which it looks simply stunning. If we add to this the characteristic, tapering shape of the cabinets, perfectly matched design and factory-assembled stands, plus extraordinary care for safe transport in the form of armored boxes visible in the unboxing teaser, then we can be absolutely confident about a positive first impression, which, as we know, can be done only once, but also about any subsequent impressions of happy buyers. And this is just an innocent prelude to further fun and by no means the peak of creative capabilities of Gediminas Gaidelis – the founder, owner and chief designer of the brand, who has the top Vantage series on offer for the most demanding customers.
But let us get back to the point, i.e. to „our” (I wish) Virtuoso B and let us focus on the details, because there is a lot to talk about. As you can see in the photos above, the slightly convex fronts are decorated with a pair of drivers ordered from SB Acoustics – a 16.5 cm midrange with a Hard Pulp paper membrane, and a 30 mm silk dome tweeter placed just below it. Both drivers are surrounded by small exponential tubes. According to the company’s tradition, the side walls of the bodies are „broken” more or less in the middle of their length, so that their front part slightly increases the width of the columns, while the rear part converges towards the narrow back, giving the whole a slightly coffin-like cross-section. On the back wall, on the other hand, there is a large bass-reflex outlet and double connection terminals, placed in a shallow milling on an aluminum escutcheon. The cabinets are connected to proprietary stands, but not completely tight, because between the base of the speakers and the supporting platform there is a several-centimeter long expansion joint, revealing the presence of stabilizing legs and a pin connecting the whole, but also a not so small … surprise. It turns out that the Virtuoso B are not two-driver, two-way design, but a three-way three-driver design, thanks to the 19 cm woofer with a Hard Pulp cone mounted in their base. Since we have looked a little deeper, let me continue the anatomical thread and thus mention that the boxes of the tested monitors are a proprietary box-in-a-box solution, i.e. de facto two enclosures – one (light and rigid) in the other (heavy – acting as a mass damper) bonded with a thin 0.1-0.15mm layer of flexible polyurethane glue. As if that was not enough, there is an extensive structure of skeletal stiffeners and uneven wall thickness on the cross-section of the cabinet, which very effectively eliminate the formation of possible resonances, and together with the above-mentioned shape of the cabinets, also fight against standing waves.
From the electrical side, we are dealing with a three-way system operating in the 30-30000 Hz band, with crossover frequencies set at 500 Hz and 7000 Hz, which makes it clear that the above-mentioned midrange driver has no chance of boredom, because it works in a surprisingly wide band. The sensitivity declared by the manufacturer is 91.5 dB, which, with 4 Ω of rated impedance, should not be a major problem for amplifiers of an adequate class.
Coming back to the stands for a moment, I can only praise the perfect color consistency with the monitors carried on their shoulders and the stability achieved thanks to the wide, finely profiled lower platforms. At this point, I will allow myself a small digression of a functional nature, because although a single loudspeaker weighs 23 kg and together with the stand increases its weight to 37 kg, so even connecting heavy and rigid wiring should not make much of an impression on them, I dare to say that since the Virtuoso reach the end user combined with the stands from the factory, it would be possible to think about the option of moving the connection terminals to the stands bases, thus eliminating the “braids” hanging behind the setup.

I will not hide the fact that when I started listening to them, I was wondering how the Virtuoso B, belonging to the higher series, would sound against the background of my (after all, for my 50-year anniversary I can get a little something), a notch lower-born, but noticeably more powerful, floorstanding Figaro L2. Of course, I did not expect a comparable volume and power of sound, because at least in this respect the laws of physics cannot be deceived, but other aspects remained one big unknown. And to be honest, I was not disappointed, because from the first notes, which were a very unobvious combination of progressive metalcore with… J-pop, „PALEHELL” by Paledusk, the Lithuanian stand-mounts not only immediately dematerialized on the extremely spacious and well-arranged stage they created, but also offered dynamics and sound range worthy of many floor standers. I am writing this not without satisfaction, because the repertoire served by the Fukuoka quartet, to put it mildly, is not only not the easiest, but also has little to do with delicacy itself. It consists of group roars, hellishly fast riffs and truly epic drum parts richly embellished with electronics. It does not sound like a test material dedicated to monitors, in fact, I dare say that most exhibitors and manufacturers of even powerful floor standers would prefer to avoid this type of extremes. Meanwhile, the extremely resolving treble of the Virtuoso rendered the whistles and wheezes drilling into the synapses with extraordinary expression, the wonderfully communicative midrange left no doubt about the phrases spit out at the speed of a machine gun, and the bass only crowned the work of destruction, mercilessly kicking us in the guts. And here is a technical note. Well, the lowest components of the „copper boxes” are exceptional and at the same time, at least for casual listeners, quite unobvious, because not only do they not try to remind you of their presence all the time, but they sound exactly when they need to and with perfectly matched power, but they also offer such resolution and pacing, that I would not be surprised if some owners of often more expensive floor standers and not very spacious living rooms, would start to consider changing to them after a listening session with them (the AudioSolutions, not the rooms). Here, the differentiation of electronic modulations, or percussive blasts and plucks of bass strings is at a truly studio level, with the only difference being, that we are still dealing with coherent music and not isolated individual sounds. And although at first, it may seem that the Lithuanians focus on quality over quantity, it is enough that the source material has a sufficiently low frequency, and there is no shortage of such frequencies, whether on the club „are you listening?” by Winterburn, or „airing” the exhibition halls (I warmly greet Marten’s team) during the last Munich High End „Hymns in Dissonance” by Whitechapel, and we will see for ourselves that they do not lack any energy or volume.
However, realizing that the percentage of potential buyers of the above-mentioned monitors who like similar extremes oscillates around zero, I returned to the more civilized climates straight from the prog-metal frontiers in the style of „Blood” by OSI. Yes, yes, Jim Matheos’ guitar, present there in a variety of ways – from almost garage thrash to sweet and smooth phrases, plus Kevin Moore’s keyboards that are difficult not to recognize, and his, usually processed vocals (there are also singing distinguished guests – Mikael Akerfeldt and Tim Bowness) are a great test of the abilities of both the system and the speakers themselves in terms of the ability to instantly change the structure and timbre of the reproduced sounds. Let us add that the Virtuoso passed the test with flying colors, because in the blink of an eye they were able to go from roughness to smoothness and back again, presenting the perfect coherence of the reproduced frequency range, and thus confirming the fully conscious application of individual drivers. Following this trail and at the same time closing the topic of the range of dynamics and the adequacy of timbres to the instruments served, I could not deny myself the pleasure of reaching for a great symphony in a truly masterful performance by The Philadelphia Orchestra, i.e. the latest remasters „Stokowski: Gran Galà, vol. I” and „Stokowski: Gran Galà, vol. II”. And what? Everything is in the best possible order, starting from the exemplary order on the stage occupied by the Philadelphians, through the virtual sources defined with a truly laser-like precision, to the aforementioned coherence of the whole performance. I am not even mentioning the heart-pounding tutti, because if AudioSolutions coped with the joyful work of Whitechapel, then even the classic, even so numerous, performance apparatus could not force them to even slightly compress. And yes, another feature of the tested monitors, that is extremely pleasing to my ears, is the ability to play both at evening and night volume levels, oscillating around a whisper, as well as stadium-like doses of decibels. So, if only our amplification can also boast of such features, we can confidently talk about full versatility.

Inevitably, approaching the finale, there is nothing else left for me to do but say, that the AudioSolutions Virtuoso B are in a class of their own, and if you are only looking for small speakers for a room of about twenty square meters, and at the same time the price level of the above-mentioned TADs is a bit too abstract, then listening to the Virtuoso B seems to be a mere formality. In addition, along with them, as if for free, you will receive something else. Well, I am well aware that it will be difficult for you to take your eyes off them, because what can I say, they are beautiful, but if you only close your eyes during the session, in most cases you will be able to get the impression that someone has automagically replaced them with quite large floor 0standers.

Marcin Olszewski

Opinion 2

Over many years of testing bookshelf speakers, I know one thing, some pretend to be much larger than they actually are, while others, taking into account their technical limitations without chasing performance above all, focus on showing the maximum realism of the reproduced music. And while it would seem that thanks to the large scale of the sound, the representatives of the first group would provide a lot of fun, in fact it is the second group that should arouse such emotions. The reason is the artificial coloration and boost of the bass by those playing competitively, which may seem phenomenal, but it is at least an averaging, if not a degradation of the quality of the sound. A small loudspeaker means sometimes an impulse appearing only momentarily or stronger bass, appearing only at the moment of occurrence, but the way of presenting the whole musical event is simply unattainable for floor standing speakers. Unfortunately, if the stand mount unit bombards us with a lower range inadequate to the size of the case, it is an obvious fraud and usually due to the monotony of this sound band, we get a qualitative boredom. If you understand this seemingly natural, but unfortunately for many people unacceptable rule, only then there is a chance to thoroughly understand what this type of loudspeaker is about. And when you mature emotionally, you also can fall in love with them, even when having a room that can easily accommodate large floor standing speakers. What is the purpose of the above discussion? Naturally an introduction to today’s test session. A session of a set of stand mount speakers with dedicated stands in the form of AudioSolutions Virutoso B from Lithuania, supplied by Premium Sound from the Tricity. Do you want to know how they fared? If so, I invite you to read a few verses about their performances during several days of test fun.

What do we know about Virtuoso B? This is, of course, a continuation of the construction of loudspeakers, that uses a double enclosure to minimize harmful vibrations. It is about a flexible connection of its main module, located inside, with an external chassis, the integration of which can be seen on the side walls of the enclosures. Such an approach gives two important aspects, in the form of the aforementioned rigidity, which minimizes vibrations of the structure and its weight, which automatically increases its resistance to harmful artifacts. When it comes to the exterior, we are dealing with a solution of combining a wide front and a narrower back, first with slightly diverging sides, and then at the point where the outer and inner cabinet is joined, with the side walls coming together towards the back. The effect is pleasing to the eye and provides the right size of the box for the right quality of the lowest register range. What is very interesting, and at first glance invisible, is the use of 3 drivers. Two – tweeter and midrange – mounted in waveguides giving the effect of cool illumination of the sound are located on the fascia, while the woofer is in the lower part of the speaker, separated from the base of the stand by appropriate feet. On the surface, it seems to be a two-way design, but in fact there are three ways. Outlining a few pieces of information about the rear panel, finished with elegant carbon, two issues seem to be important, i.e. the large bass-reflex port oriented in the center of this area and under it in a slight recess. a set of double WBT connection terminals. In terms of operating parameters, the manufacturer assures that the sensitivity of the speakers is at the level of 91.5 dB, and their impedance is 4 Ohms. Such nicely looking ‘ladies’ from Lithuania are permanently coupled with the company’s proprietary stands and stably packed in special plywood boxes.

How did the speakers sound? Naturally, I will refer to the argument from the editorial, because for me good sound of this type of construction, is the version number two, i.e. without artificially boosting the bass range. And I must say, that the Virtuoso B with their sound, perfectly fit into the aesthetics of the correct approach to the subject of coherent presentation of the entire sound band with a focus on maximizing the quality of events created on the virtual stage. A wide, deep and undisturbed stage – I am alluding to a level unattainable even for the best floor standing speakers – while visualizing even the smallest nuances of a given recording. The speakers disappeared completely, and I could feel the taste of being at a recording session not even behind the control room’s glass, but in the concert hall. And it did not matter if my eyes were closed or open, because small boxes with a well-tuned, i.e. evenly presenting a full band, crossover spontaneously dematerialize in the room. There is only one catch, they cannot pretend to be bigger than they are, by pushing out powerful bass, because boosting this range with a kind of rumble, present only at two points of the room, causes them to involuntarily reveal their location. Fortunately, our heroines are the result of experience gained by many years of construction work, which is why the projection of music with their help was phenomenal. Of course, I often felt that there could be a bit more bass, when compared to my black towers, but when it comes to a deterioration in the quality of sound, a well-delivered impulse, coherent with the rest of the sound spectrum, plus a slightly lighter, but still appropriate murmur, works completely fine for me. And the reason for that was the quality of this slightly smaller, but still important to provide the basis for a given song, frequency range. Although it is generally believed that more is better, this does not always work when dealing with music at the highest level of quality. And certainly, when it comes to high-end equipment. Yes, yes, the AudioSolutions Virtuoso B in my opinion are in this league, which they proved with very good sonic results in all kinds of music. Of course, with the correction for their size and thus the design limitations, but not only nothing ever bothered me, but they often positively surprised me with a how nicely they wriggled out of any difficult situation.
And the first difficult situation was Yello’s album „Touch”. These are mostly strong descents of the lower band with solid modulation. And I have to say, that when I put this disc into the player, I was full of fears about what would come out of it, but already the first track showed, that although large speakers with more bass can make a greater effect of a positive „wow”, but these little ones managed to sound very well anyway. They did manage this, because they accentuated the initiations of a given bass passage well, and then, giving ground to the lowest registers slightly, they skillfully entered the higher registers, so that they could show bass-wrenching impulses without the effect of the so-called mud pool. Of course, this may not be entirely to the liking of beginner music lovers, but an educated person knows that the bass is not a magma stream pouring on the floor, but a collection of a wide spectrum of information, which the Virtuoso have shown perfectly.
Another, not only positive, but purely great record situation was Cassandra Wilson’s music „Blue Light 'Til Down”. This is, of course, music for individuals who love to lose themselves in women’s vocals. In addition, it was phenomenally arranged and engineered, which was only theoretically grist to the mill of the speakers tested today. Why theoretically? The reason, of course, is the production, which strongly cherishes the solid presentation of the lower register. And if it is artificially boosted, it will immediately come out poorly. Fortunately, our heroines are a serious contender and not only did nothing like that happen, but also thanks to the ability of the monitors to disappear from the room, I was almost alone with the singer. Together with the smallest vocal flavors, which, being an audiophile, was for me a real morsel of sound on this album.

Are the tested bookshelf speakers so universal that they will make every music lover fall in love with them? Unfortunately, their size is very determining for the potential interested party. And it does not matter if they sound great or not, they will just be too small for many of you, because you like to get punched appropriately. However, if you do not have a very large room and you know what it means to have such small speakers play perfectly, the first sounds will show that this is an excellent product, and for such money it will be difficult for the competition to keep up with them. I am not saying that it cannot be done, but with this statement I want to emphasize their quality. So, if bookshelf speakers are in your circle of interest, the AudioSolutions Virtuoso B should definitely be on your listening list. Visually, they look very nice, they are a 3-way design, a rarity for speakers of this size and, most importantly, they offer mature sound. What „mature” means, of course, I did explain in the above description of the test session.

Jacek Pazio

System used in this test:
Source:
– CD Player/DAC: Gryphon Ethos
– streamer: Lumin U2 Mini + switch Quantum Science Audio (QSA) Red-Silver
– Preamplifier: Gryphon Audio Pandora
– Power amplifier: Gryphon Audio Apex Stereo
– Loudspeakers: Gauder Akustik Berlina RC-11 Black Edition
– Speaker cables: Furutech Nanoflux-NCF Speaker Cable
IC RCA: Hijiri Million „Kiwami”, Vermouth Audio Reference
IC XLR: Hijiri Milion „Kiwami”; Furutech DAS-4.1; Furutech Project V1
Digital IC: Furutech Project V1 D XLR
Ethernet cable: NxLT LAN FLAME
USB cable: ZenSati Silenzio
Power cables: Hijiri Takumi Maestro, Furutech Project-V1, Furutech NanoFlux NCF, Furutech DPS-4.1 + FI-E50 NCF(R)/ FI-50(R), Hijiri Nagomi, Vermouth Audio Reference Power Cord, Acrolink 8N-PC8100 Performante, Synergistic Research Galileo SX AC
– Table: BASE AUDIO 2
Accessories: Quantum Science Audio Red fuse; QSA Silver fuse; Synergistic Research Orange fuse; antivibration platform by SOLID TECH; Harmonix AC Enacom Improved for 100-240V
– Power distribution board: POWER BASE HIGH END, Furutech NCF Power Vault-E
– Acoustic treatments by Artnovion
Analog stage:
– Drive: Clearaudio Concept
– Cartridge: Dynavector DV20X2H
– Phonostage: Sensor 2 mk II
– Eccentricity Detection Stabilizer: DS Audio ES-001
– Tape recorder: Studer A80

Polish distributor: Premium Sound
Manufacturer: AudioSolutions
Price: 74 990 PLN (pair) basic config.; 82 489 PLN (pair) reviewed ver. (Martino Copper)

Specifications
– Sensitivity: 91,5 dB @ 2,83 V 1 m
– Nominal power handling: 130 W rms
– Maximum unclipped power handling: 260 W;
– Impedance: nominal 4 Ω
– Crossover frequency: 500 Hz; 7000 Hz
– Frequency response (in-room environment): 30-30000 Hz
– Drivers:
– 3cm silk dome tweeter,
– 16.5cm Hard Pulp paper cone mid,
– 19cm Hard Pulp cone bass driver firing down
– Dimensions (H x W x D): 450 x 297 x 478 mm
– Dimensions with stand (H x W x D) : 1225 x 391 x 547 mm
– Weight without stand: 23 kg/each
– Weight with stand: 37 kg/each
– Shipping weight: 60 kg/each