Amphion Argon 3LS Tower Speakers: $3500 (White or Black, $4300 Walnut)
(38 1/8h, 7 5/8w, 12d, 8 ohms, 50 lbs, 85 dB SPL)
Suppose you would like a beautiful sounding diminutive tower. That… would be the Amphion Argon 3LS. It is made in Finland in Amphion’s factory. It isn’t a generic badged effort from Asia. If you’re after a very serious loudspeaker in a small tower form factor, do not pass up Argon 3LS!
At about 38” tall and 7 ½ wide, this Amphion doesn’t have a big footprint. Yet it casts a massive soundstage, with impressive width and depth. Its cosmetic finish {black, white or walnut- an upcharge} is more stylish than regular speakers and gorgeous! Why don’t Amphions have traditional cloth grills? It’s because those socks slightly muffle the sound. That won’t fly with Amphion.
Amphion’s “magic” starts with its Wave Guide tweeter design. Using a 1” Titanium tweeter within this gibbous saucer baffle, Amphion’s image is broad and immersive. The Wave Guide also provides a much larger sweet spot than traditional tweeter designs. When listening to Amphions you simply can’t miss the spacious soundstage they purvey. The size of the image coming from these diminutive speakers is nothing short of surprisingly spectacular.
We recently sold a set of Argon 7LS in a less than ideal audiophile setting. The speakers are about 14 feet apart and near the side and back walls, on either side of a custom wall unit. The couch is about ten feet away. Yet when you listen in this gorgeous, yet non audiophile prescribed living room, the sound is wonderfully expansive and clear. I can’t imagine any speaker, at any price, being a better fit for this family’s living room than Amphion.
You’ll find that Amphions are forgiving of where they are placed. Further, you don’t have to sit at X marks the spot, as you do with many audiophile speakers. They’re made to work well in normal living rooms. Amphion is quite proud of this different approach from “the other guys.”
The 3LS features one 6.5” front firing Aluminum Bass mid driver. It also features a rear firing 6.5” aluminum ABR. Amphion contends that traditional ports are out of tune, and pollute the midrange as well as bass in their attempts to deliver more bass to your listening experience.
As audiophiles we all make the judgment of, how much bass is useful? We want strong bass, but we don’t want it to intrude on the timbre of the music. Specifically, I don’t want so much bass from my speakers that it makes a grand piano or drum kit mushy.
Amphion cabinets are created with CNC design and rigid construction. Even the Wave Guide mechanism itself is threaded into the cabinet baffle- not just screwed in like everyone else. The cabinet rigidity is well beyond your mainstream MDF enclosure.
Amphion uses high end components in the crossover. They cross the tweeter over at 1.6K, which is lower than everyone else. Most companies cross at 2.5-5K which invariably ends up sounding harsher because it’s at a frequency we’re very sensitive too. We are much less sensitive to the 1600Hz setting.
Amphion uses high purity silver plated copper wire. It doesn’t sound brighter. It elucidates superior definition to standard copper cable. Transients and overtones are more clearly delineated and natural.
While there are many fine speakers on the market, it’s really tough to get a small tower with cosmetic panache and GREAT sound. Amphion’s 3LS delivers all of this with lovely aesthetics and surprising bass extension without becoming muddy!
Amphion Argon One $1400 Per Pair: Black or White ($1500 Walnut)
(12 3/8h, 6 3/8w, 10 3/8d, 8 ohms, 18 lbs, 86 dB SPL)
Argon 1 is the little brother to the formidable Argon 3S stand mount. Argon 1 uses a 5 1/4” Aluminum bass/mid and 1” Titanium tweeter. It is rear ported, yet tuned to be in pitch. Argon 3S is significantly larger and uses an ABR.
Clearly Argon 1 will most likely be used when your real estate is tight. Yet it has considerable weight to its sound and maintains all the beauty of what Amphion is noted for. As you read about the Argon 3LS above, Argon 1 uses the same quality tweeter, wave guide, crossover network and cabinet quality. It’s a modestly sized speaker that produces a massive soundstage and respectable muscle.
Argon Zero $1000 Per Pair: Black or White ($1100 Walnut)
(10.2h, 5.2w, 8.66d, 8 ohms, 9 lbs, 86dB SPL)
Argon Zero uses a 4.5” Aluminum bass/mid and a 1” Titanium tweeter. It is rear ported as Argon 1 above. Argon Zero is ideal in the near field for use as a highly resolving transducer when you don’t need Herculean bass.
David Crosby Made Mattresses
Singer David Crosby “brags” that he made some of the worst mattresses in history while he was in prison for a year in Texas. A judge determined this was the only way to save him from himself and keep him from his addictions.