H ö r e r l e b n i s THE MAGAZINE FOR HIGH FIDELITY

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3 H ö r e r l e b n i s THE MAGAZINE FOR HIGH FIDELITY Edition-No. 90 (02/2015) Review in English Gold Standard by Dr. Kathrin Becker Erato LS-100 by Ypsilon The small and specialized High End manufacturer Ypsilon, based in Athens established as one of the most remarkable High End designers and top premium manufacturer within the last years. The extravagant and professional high performance amplifiers with its fantastic dynamics, excellent resolving power and authentic performance combined with the powerful music reproduction have already climbed the top of the High End heaven. Several clients asked the designers Dimitris Baklavas and Fanis Lagadinos for developing an equivalent speaker system. So the two technicians decided to build an adequate loudspeaker. The result is the latest development of the audio specialists, the speaker system Erato LS-100. Six years ago they had the first ideas for the design of a high performance speaker system, which enables the listener to enjoy all the qualities of the Ypsilon front ends and amplifiers. The technicians were not really satisfied with the existing and available materials. Therefore they decided only to use material of their own design, equivalent non-compromising. The first preliminary series was to be seen at the High End show 2014 in Munich, Germany. Meanwhile the Erato LS-100 has reached production stage and is now available. We had the possibility of a first test of the new speaker system. The first review took place in a classical living room situation. While coming into the room the optical presence of the Erato LS-100 was impressing: 5 ft high, maple wood finish, rounded corners in a very smooth dull finished clear varnish. These are the obvious indicators for highly selected materials. Baklavas and his colleges don t use any MDF or multiplex materials. The complete housings are manufactured out full wood panels, which have been stacked for five or more years and than shaped by a highly precise milling machine, additionally manifold stiffened and hardened for a nearly resonance free reproduction. The surfaces then are several times sand rubbed and smooth polished before finished. These are the optimal conditions for best performance of the technical components.

4 The Erato LS-100 is a three-way speaker design, consisting of a self-developed ribbon tweeter, as well as a mid rage and a bass driver. Ypsilon team especially designs the tweeter. Two aluminium ribbons, one above the other, driven by a strong ceramic magnet, especially designed for this speaker system, accomplished by a mid range and bass chassis equipped with ceramic magnets with an components enables Baklavas to use filters of just first or second order, which guaranties very high phase linearity. Designer Baklavas drove all details to an absolute gold standard to point out the Erato LS-100 as a new milestone with the existing high-end speakers. extreme high and homogenous field strength. These features make possible an expressively high resolution and linearity combined with high phase fidelity. The cross over contains only highly selected high quality Mundorf components. The linearity of all used How this enormous effort works can only be judged by the listening test. While hearing the first minutes of Mussorgsky s pictures at an exhibition the room opens such a wide stage, which we observed not often by a

5 music. Even levels above 100 db the Erato LS- 100 reproduces with the same high performance level we described previously. You can hear as loud as your neighbour will tolerate. Solely the room limits the listening level. Therefore we recommend a room size of at least 25 sm. Better 30 sm. The Erato LS-100 with its 8-Ohm over all impedance an efficacy of 90 db (1W, 1m) does not need a special amplifier, but it is anyway dynamic speaker system within our 20 year experience. The performance is plastic a three dimensional, so the listener forgets that he is sitting in a living room in front of the audio equipment. The stage seems to be much wider than the left and right edge of the speakers. The positioning of the instruments is not only very precise, bur moreover they are exactly sized and in realistic dimensions. This impression is realised even in really complex passages. The 120 musicians of the London Symphony orchestra in the 5th symphony of Gustav Mahler (Denon, Inbal) are precisely distinguished. I did not hear many speakers, which were able to perform the power of such a big orchestra combined with the high precision and authenticity into a comparatively small living room. The Erato LS-100 makes the listener dream from the Scala in Milano, while hearing the arias of the opera Aida sung by Placido Domingo. As we placed the record of Patricia Barbers Café Blue on the turntable, all doubts of listening to a dynamic speaker vanished and we felt like sitting in a small jazz club in the centre of Chicago. The enormous effort in precision and linearity rewards a great and authentic performance in voices and instruments with fabulous dynamics. The wood of the acoustic bass and the strings of the piano were performed in a precision, which simulated that the band plays live in the own living room. It is really a pleasure to listen to this speaker. Not only serious music causes enjoyment. The guitar of Jimmy Hendrix rocks the room as well as AC/DCs Hells Bells, powerful in the bass, with the characteristic deepness for this kind of worthwhile to invest in a high performance amplifier. You will be rewarded with the full possible performance of the Erato LS-100 Over all the Erato LS-100 signs the result of a six-year design and development and the completion of the Ypsilon High End Chain. With its dynamics, precision and tonality it marks the gold standard of dynamic speaker systems.

6 The product Ypsilon Erato LS-100 Price: ,00 Sensitivity: 90 2,83 V / 1 m Impedance: 8 ohms nominal Frequency response: 30 Hz to 30 khz, -3 db Connectors: Bi-Wiring Height: 43,3 in 110 cm Width: 12,6 in 32 cm Depth: 23,6 in 60 cm Approx. system weight: 242,5 lbs. each 110 kg each Exclusive distribution: Ypsilon Audio GmbH Anger Str. 97, D Düsseldorf info@ypsilonaudio.de Internet: Associated Equipment Turntable: Linn LP 12 SE, Ittok LV-II Cartridge: Lyra Etna Phonostage: Ypsilon VPS-100 Step-Up-transformer Ypsilon MC-10 Preamplifier: Ypsilon PST 100 MK II Power amplifier: Ypsilon Aelius CD Transport: Ypsilon CDT-100 D/A Converter: Ypsilon DAC-100 Speaker and interconnect cable: Ypsilon K-100 Power supply cord: Analog Tools Rack mounting system: Emperor by Finite Elemente