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Peak Consult Dragon Legacy English ver.

Link do zapowiedzi (en): Peak Consult Dragon Legacy

Opinion 1

With some regret, as due to the consistent actions of the distributor, with this encounter we reached the end of the offering on our market, but also with true joy, because this is kind of a novelty, and second from top model of a brand, which was recently only a hear-say in our country. And I can tell you one thing – it was worth to go through all the degrees of initiation – all the cheaper models in the portfolio – before encountering the tested model. The reason for that is of course getting fully acquainted with the way our beloved music is presented. And in this case, this is always directed towards extracting the beauty of it. Beauty based on vividness, saturation and unobtrusive transparency, what makes us sure, that when we buy something from this brand, we will always reach the heart of emotions hidden in the music. Obviously the refinement of approach to showing that result, is proportionate to the position of the speakers in the price list, but the most important aspect, the general approach to sound, is similar in the whole range. But what am I talking about? About the Danish loudspeaker manufacture, Peak Consult, from whose catalog, due to the efforts of their distributor in Poland, the company Quality Audio, we received the speakers Peak Consult Dragon Legacy, a model that was only recently brought to worldwide market.

The construction of the Danish beauties bases on integration of five modules with drivers – on top and bottom we see a bass section, moving towards the center we have two midrange sections, and finally in the middle a single tweeter section. An important aspect of the whole is the fact, that those are not boring rectangular pieces, but due to clever cutting we get something in the shape of a hourglass, at the same time fighting standing waves. This also means, that although the speakers have a hefty weight – 225kg each, and a significant height – about 170cm, they do not overwhelm when placed in a room. This setup has also allowed the constructors to adjust the distance of radiation of the individual drivers, by bending the outmost parts of the cabinet inwards and pushing the middle to the back. But this is by far not all what was made to create the best possible working environment for the speakers, as the front baffle of the Dragons, similar to other representatives of the family, is covered with leather, which is not only giving them some visual distinction, but also reduces unwanted distortion. Also the diffraction of the waves is lessened by using appropriately angling each section of the cabinet fascia. Regarding the construction of the cabinet itself, it is, which is a standard for this manufacturer, made from four layers of materials with high damping factor. This results in the thickness of the wall reaching 46mm. The sides and the top of the speakers are finished with sheets of solid walnut with black, vertical ribs breaking the monotony. The back panel is also covered with leather, just like the front. And please believe me, the photographs do not make justice to the looks, it really looks great “in person”.
Moving to writing a few sentences about technicalities, we need to mention, that we deal here with a construction tuned with bass-reflex ports, venting to the back of the bass sections. The set of terminals for connecting to the amplifier we have mounted on the bottom part of the bottom bass section. The whole is placed on aluminum legs with oval, flat feet, that extend the support area for the heavy and big speakers. The drivers were, according to the manufacturer, designed in conjunction with another loudspeaker company, Fink Audio-Consulting from Essen, Germany. So we have here 28cm woofers, with membranes made from impregnated paper and foam, using 75mm long throw voice coils. The 15cm midrange speakers have a rubber suspension and membranes made from polypropylene and paper mix. Finally, the tweeter, has a textile membrane and is placed in a wave guide. Finishing the description of the cabinet, another important information is, that the fine-tuning of the phase coherence of the individual drivers (as supplementation of their placement in the cabinet) is made in the cross-over, which is made from the best components available today. Does this sound banal? Rest assured, this is just the most basic description, as I do not want to expand the text beyond reason, and the rest you can find on the manufacturer’s website, its know-how aside. And in fact the things that are not mentioned, those nuances you do not find in the official descriptions, are the most important for the final result. Which ones? I do not know. But I will try to describe what is the effect of those in the next paragraph.

So how did the tested Danish towers fare? Without further ado I will tell you – they were splendid. First of all – a big speaker means an appropriately big sound, close to real scenic setup. Secondly – the sound is always full of energy, enclosed in the reproduced music and appropriately dosed. And thirdly – keeping all the ranges in check we avoid the effect of the music being strained, which results in a very relaxing presentation, even if we deal with music full with artistic madness. Yes, the saying “bigger can do better” cannot be denied in well designed speakers. But they need to be well designed, just like our tested speaker, visualizing the music with all the packaged expression, energy and refinement, and not intimidating the listener with an undefined amount of cacophonic effects. The Dragon avoided the latter completely during the dozen days they spent at my home. If I could condense the time of the test to once sentence – if that would at all be possible – I would say, that this time was like sonic Olympics. One time it was full of spirituality, enjoying baroque music with emphasis on Claudio Monteverdi presented by John Potter in “Care-charming sleep”. Another time the individual sounds were placed in silence and seemingly never ending, when exploring the repertoire of the Polish group RGG “Szymanowski”. And in a different moment full of madness, darkness and scenic aggression when listening to Black Sabbath on the self-titled disc. Each time I have got a differently formulated package of sensations, adequate to the played genre. Most interestingly, everything happened while keeping the sound esthetics known from all other Peak Consult speakers. Like I mentioned before, this meant a sound full of saturation, vividness and well controlled energy, directed towards nice roundness. How is it possible that the Dragons did not fail with harder music? This is a result of that, what I wrote earlier – bigger can do better. It was the elimination of the impression of the sound being strained, nice leading of the bass, even when it was a little upped in terms of amount, and finally the impetus of the sound on the level of live events made the Peak feel like a fish in the water not only in quieter repertoire, but also in the more adventurous ones. It worked so well, that it was really hard to stop listening in the nights during the week, when I needed to get up early for work, but you also wanted to turn the volume up, not minding the late hours, just to be closer to the virtual stage. You think that you have something like that at home? I think you might not, because in case of really big, well driven by an amplifier, loudspeakers, increasing the volume the sound does not get louder, but seems to be growing. What does this mean? When we have smaller speakers, when upping the volume, we also increase the amount of distortion, resulting from strain. With big speakers, we just increase the amount of energy. The effect is, that when listening to small speakers loud we do not have a chance to understand what someone sitting next to you is saying, but when listening to speakers in the likes of the Peak Consult Dragon Legacy, we have absolutely no issue conversing regardless of the amount of decibels generated. This is why, when dealing with calm material – like John Potter and RGG – they could easily extract the second bottom of that music, something found only with the best reproductions at home, the soothing spirit of melancholy. On the other side of the barricade however, with rock rebellion, minimization of distortion combined with the ability to show music from it’s nicer side, imprinted in those speaker’s DNA, resulted in a show of not only phenomenal kick, but also absolute freedom of filling the room with a feast of sonic cavalcades, called to life by raging rockmen, once melodic, other times painful, but always full of expression. Those were truly Olympic games, full of surprising twists and turns. But not only in the sense of creating the most overwhelming amount of decibels, but the quality of sound regardless of their amount. I assure you, this is something only the best can master, and the tested speakers are absolutely amongst them. This was so phenomenal, that it will remain in my memory for a long, long time. This was kind of surprising, because knowing the lower models from the catalog of this manufacturer, I did not expect, that the Dragon turn out to be a true wolf in a sheep’s skin. Beautiful and nice on the outside – both visual and sound wise – but absolutely ruthless when needed. Kudos to them.

Reaching the end of the meeting with the Peak Consult Dragon Legacy, time came to determine the target group for them. Unfortunately, for a very prosaic, and to the ground reason, it will be very small. And with this I mean the price, which is vastly limiting the potential interest group, albeit absolutely compensated for by the sound. But let us not kid ourselves, the price is quite prohibitive. But if your life makes a twist and allows you to reach this level of technical and quality advancement, as presented by the tested Danish speakers, I see absolutely no counterindications for anybody to reach to them as your holy grail. Why? We get the momentum and calmness in one, regardless of repertoire and regardless of the volume we play it at. And this makes only our own idea of the sound, sometimes coming from a wrong impression of how music should sound, stand between us and the Peak Consult. But it will not be our or their fault, but just incoherence of characters, so common between various specimens of homo sapiens. But this is life.

Jacek Pazio

Opinion 2

I will claim that most of us know the saying “as the twig is bent, so grows the tree” and was read to aloud in his or hers youth. And as such, it is hard to find any flaw in this saying and action, or any side effects. Reading, or being read to, enhances your horizons, and in the relationship between the parent and the child increases the bond between them. Similar to the behaviors observed at home and then repeated outside. This much about the theory, written while wearing pink glasses, because while all signs on heaven and earth indicate, that for us, the thin red line between us and the twilight zone was drawn by the brothers Grimm fairytales, then in Denmark, they used “Divine Comedy” by Dante Alighieri or if not, then completely uncensored Viking mythology with very juicy descriptions of the actions of Thor, Loki, Sigurd, Brunhilde or the inevitability of Ragnarök mixed with tales of “exploratory” expeditions of their bearded ancestors. But how did I come to those suspicions? Well, it was from looking at our audiophile market. Please have a look at the Gryphon portfolio, where you have the Diablo or Mephisto. Or at Peak Consult, which tempts you with the floor-standing El Diablo. And it is the second manufacturer we are going to have another look at, as due to the kindness of their Polish distributor, Quality Audio, we got to test the Peak Consult Dragon Legacy, which debuted during the last High End in Munich. So if you are interested, and as it is commonly known, curiosity is the first step to hell, what the team from Middelfart, located at the Lillebælt, came up with when they had no restrictions imposed by the accountants, then please be invited to read on.

Like we have already shown during the unboxing session, the size and weight of the Dragon Legacy, which we feel in our backs till today, is quite different to their brethren that visited our official SoundRebels listening room before. While the Sonora and the El Diablo could be described as rather compact, when treating this category quite loosely, then the 175cm high and weighing 225kg (each) speakers really cannot be regarded as that. Fortunately instead of overwhelming obelisks we get a very nicely looking, tailored constructions, catching your eyes with satin black leather on front and back, but mostly with the warmth of the walnut rungs covering the sides, plinths and tops.
On the front baffle you see symmetrically placed drivers, constructed just for this project. The top and bottom is occupied with large, 28cm woofers, with 75mm coils and sandwich membranes from impregnated paper and foam, and the tweeter placed in the middle, inside a waveguide is flanked by two midrange drivers, with 15cm diameter, rubber suspension with low hysteresis and symmetrical magnetic drives with copper rings. The double wire terminals are located in the back, close to the ground, while the bass sections are supported by two bass-reflex ports, one for each woofer.
Moving on to the technicalities, you need to smile a bit about the Scandinavian humor, which is visible in the value given for the, usually not so controversial parameter of frequency response. It is well known that most manufacturers measure it in such a way that the result is as desired, and even while the method of measurement does not raise any objections, every room has different acoustic characteristics, which influences the final result greatly, so while the result is as is, life often paints a different picture. This is why Wilfried Ehrenholz and Karl-Heinz Fink (yes, yes, the guy that was present during the Audio Video Show 2018 and was behind the KIM) follow with “impressive” frequency response in the footsteps of Dr. Roland Gauder, who constructs loudspeakers with “sufficient” efficiency and “acceptable” impedance. But despite the slightly humorous briefness, the German-Danish cooperation does tell something to the public. So, lifting the veil of mystery a little, let us mention the almost armored cabinet, where the 46mm thick side walls are made from a four layer sandwich with high damping factor, while the thickness of the connections of the five segments reaches 82mm. On the outside there are 14mm thick prongs from solid Italian walnut. Additionally, the cross-overs are placed in dedicated, sand-filled chambers, isolating the sensitive components, and the whole construction is supported on six adjustable feet, mounted on massive legs.

In case of our tested speakers we are dealing with almost the flagship product (this title goes to the 188cm tall Dragon Legend), and in a way a new hand of cards in Peak Consult, it seems justified, to check, how much in its sound is similar to what was presented by its smaller brethren during their reviews, meaning refinement and elegance presented in a slightly moody fashion, and how much of the vividness and vivacity known from constructions signed by Karl-Heinz Fink. This was so justified, that once the Dragon Legacy settled down after their travel and got connected to our system, instead of playing some slow things, the pole position of my playlist was taken by the album “Sermons of the Sinner” from KK’s Priest, full with mad tempos and based on sharp guitar riffs. It is a kind of shadow cabinet to Judas Priest, half of the latter’s lineup operating in similar climates. It is classic – heavy, fast and sharp, but at the same time melodic, although it is not a material, that would come even close to being an audiophile reference. It is just a piece of fiery metal, destined to give wild pleasure and provoke pushing the pedal to the metal (pun intended) if we happen to play it while driving. To put it short – this is the kind of music that can disqualify any high-end setup through, on one hand showing the crudeness and flatness of the played material, and on the other giving the tools to anybody, who would like to kick a legend costing gazillion coins, you know where. But a theory remains just a theory, because the Peak Consult Dragon Legacy showed their strength and decided not to take any prisoners. Instead of quieting down the metal expression, something that was done by their smaller brethren, in a delicate way, but still, this time their went for the freedom and breath of the sound, which resulted in much better expression and openness. The ruthlessly beaten cymbals were shone at with additional lights, the guitar riffs have bitten more rabidly, and the screaming Tim “Ripper” Owens showed, that age is just a number. Seemingly there are no such high registers in his voice, as Halford is (was?) famous for, but you must admit, that he is perfect for the new band. Interestingly the Peak Consult managed also the space, because instead of the stereotypical wall of sound, they showed true multiple planes. Of course, it was far from a complex stage, something that you could notice when playing the beautifully recorded, prog-rock “Delusion Rain” by Mystery or the classic “Quena Barroca” by Rodrigo Sosa. The latter recording should be mentioned for at least one reason, the amount of air in the recording, an aspect that was maybe reproduced by the smaller Peak, but without the same kind of pietism and realism as the tested speakers, which were not only creating the with and depth of the stage, but also its height, while not forgetting about all the required tastes, like reverb. You could feel, that the expression of the repertoire is not only boosted by adding rollerblades, but got some serious wings, what makes the Danish floor-standers suck you in the vortex of things happening on the sound stage more, that any swamp. The contours of the virtual sounds sources are drawn with a strong and steady line, but without being thickened, or artificially sharpened, so we have phenomenal resolution, and yet the granulation does not interfere with the coherence of the played music. As a result, the Dragon leave the interpretation of what they are playing to the listener, so we will be de facto responsible for determining if we will approach the material as a whole, or extract any details. This is also a tip, that this aspect can be manipulated by the rest of the sound path, with an accent on the best possible amplification. It cannot be denied, that the Peak consume watts and amperes like a sponge, so without a classy amplifier you will not get far. But if we do have such a power station, then the final effect can addict from the first notes, and subsequent listening can only deepen that. They can punch, and at the same time, the lowest registers are well differentiated, while reaching to the deepest realms of Helheim, and if needed by the repertoire, they can immediately transform in being very tactful and refined, disappearing from the scene like classy monitors.

As a final summary I will write only that the Peak Consult Dragon Legacy maybe are not the best speakers ever constructed, and maybe in some aspects are worse than the Dragon Legend Ultimate Edition, but as we could not listen to the latter, from the speakers we were hosting in our listening room, they fared so good, that I am able to qualify them to the absolute top (maybe top five) of the best loudspeakers we listened to in the last decade. They have that something, what makes, that due to lack of any dynamic and resolution restrictions, due to above average culture and equilibrium between vividness and sweet musicality, you just want to listen to them. Or rather not to them, but to music reproduced by them, and this is really not something very obvious.

Marcin Olszewski

System used in this test:
Source:
– transport: CEC TL 0 3.0
– streamer: Lumin U2 Mini + switch Silent Angel Bonn N8
– DAC: dCS Vivaldi DAC 2.0
– Master clock: Mutec REF 10 SE-120
– reclocker: Mutec MC-3+USB
– Shunyata Research Omega Clock
– Shunyata Sigma V2 NR
– Preamplifier: Gryphon Audio Pandora
– Power amplifier: Gryphon Audio Apex Stereo
– Loudspeakers: Gauder Akustik Berlina RC-11 Black Edition
– Speaker cables: Synergistic Research Galileo SX SC
IC RCA: Hijiri Million „Kiwami”, Vermouth Audio Reference
IC XLR: Tellurium Q Silver Diamond, Hijiri Milion „Kiwami”, Siltech Classic Legend 880i
Digital IC: Hijiri HDG-X Milion
Ethernet cable: NxLT LAN FLAME
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: Harmonix TU 505EX MK II, Stillpoints ULTRA SS, Stillpoints ULTRA MINI, antivibration platform by SOLID TECH, Harmonix AC Enacom Improved for 100-240V, Harmonix Room Tuning Mini Disk RFA-80i
– Power distribution board: POWER BASE HIGH END
– Acoustic treatments by Artnovion
Analog stage:
– Drive: Clearaudio Concept
– Cartridge: Essence MC
– Phonostage: Sensor 2 mk II
– Eccentricity Detection Stabilizer: DS Audio ES-001
– Tape recorder Studer A80

Distributor: Quality Audio
Manufacturer: Peak Consult
Price: 850 000 PLN

Specifications
Frequency response: Impressive …
Efficiency: 89dB
Impedance: 4 Ω
Dimensions (H x W x D): 172 x 40 x 58 cm
Weight: 225 kg

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