John
From a distance, it looks like a coaxially-aligned tweeter. Get closer and we see it’s a horn-loaded compression driver from the pro world. I’m talking about one component of the somewhat imposing the Ubiq Audio Model One loudspeaker (€12,000+) as demonstrated by one Igor Kante at the 2017 Warsaw AV Show.
Kante once distributed brands from higher end in Slovenia – big ticket stuff like Sonus Faber and Burmester. Now he manufactures his own gear of a similar calibre. The Model One’s curved cabinetry doesn’t come easy. Or cheap.
Here, the 1.5″ tweeter is augmented by a ‘pro’ 8″ midrange driver and a 12″ bass driver – both paper. Kante doesn’t go in for the “mumbo jumbo” of other materials. With one foot in pro-world waters, he asserts that the Model One are strong on dynamics and can play loud and clean.
The 1.2m high cabinet height is mandated by the Model One’s absence of reflex port. To dive as low as ported rivals, sealed enclosures must call up greater internal volume. The upside is fewer room interactions. All other things being equal, the Model One will play better in a smaller room than any ported equivalent.
But it wasn’t the Model One that caught my eye at the Sobieski Hotel but the colour-soaked UbiqU integrated amplifier. A stylish chassis houses an MSB Analog DAC, powered by a custom power supply (featuring Duelund capacitors), to feed a Hypex switch-mode fuelled MOSFET output stage for a whopping 300wpc, dual mono. Internal wiring comes from Janzen, the plugs WBT. Just add source (streamer) and loudspeakers.
As one might expect, pricing on the UbiqU isn’t small: you’ll need €32,000 for the standard version, €40,000 for the Special Edition. The latter features custom power cables and feet. The UbiqU is available in a range of colours, each chosen to match the Model One loudspeakers’ own four standard finishes.
Kante talks us from mains socket to loudspeaker in this video:
Further information: Ubiq Audio
