I-93 & I-91 Surround Speaker Package

Home theatre too often comes to one's home along the unfortunate avenue of compromise. What is compromised is pure, audiophile stereo performance. For those buyers not prepared to make that compromise, this surround speaker package consists of a pair of front main speakers that are amongst the finest stereo speakers available in the world today, supplemented by three very special compact speakers to fill in the rest of a home theatre's requirements with a quality approaching that of the front mains.

Equipment

The front speaker pair are VAF Research's Signature I-93 floorstanding speakers. These weigh over 68kg each, thanks to significant use of 25mm MDF in their construction, massive internal bracing and weighty drivers. Each cabinet stands 1575mm tall, 270mm wide and 41mm deep.

There are five drivers arranged in a three way D'Appolito configuration. The 25mm Sonotex dome tweeter is a touch over 900mm from the floor, while the middle frequencies are handled by a pair of 130mm magnesium dome drivers, and the bass by a pair of 210mm drivers. The bass reflex ports are huge affairs at the rear of each speaker.

VAF Research rates the impedance of these speakers at a mere three ohms, the sensitivity at 89dB, the power handling at 500 watts and the frequency response at 21 Hz to 19kHz +/ 1.2dB!

The Signature I-91 speakers use similar concentric drivers to those employed in the company's new Icon 195 speakers (reviewed herein): a 170mm unit with a 25mm dome tweeter mounted right at its centre in place of the dust cap. But the enclosures are much larger at 220mm wide by 440mm tall and 360mm deep. They are also very much heavier at 15kg.

Performance

VAF Research's claim for the bass frequency response of the I-93 is so exceptional that it warrants scepticism. So we measured it. In our room, well away from the walls, the Signature I-93 speakers each delivered 22Hz at just three decibels below the average output level, and 18Hz at 6dB. At deep bass frequencies the harmonic distortion also was very low. Yes, Virginia, there are full range speakers! We also measured the sensitivity at 88dB.

Then it was time to listen. With a surround setup, using mostly DVD Audio discs, we noticed an immediate integration of all five speakers. Despite the very different sizes and driver compositions they merged together into a superb, seamless, surround experience. Images between the front and rear speakers were delivered at the sides of the room with an almost tangible reality, and likewise for those behind the sitting position.

Then we moved into straight stereo performances. Reger's 'Mariae Wiegenlied' from the CD Cantate Domino consists of a pipe organ and soprano. This was truly breathtaking. The voice was beautiful, but it was the extraordinary resolution of the Signature I-93 speakers which revealed the little bursts of air just before the bass pipes sounded.

We gave a higher resolution disc a whirl: the 96kHz/24 bit PCM version of Livingston Taylor's Ink on a Chesky DVD. The result was much better than we have ever heard it. The bass was in perfect balance, while the midrange and treble was pure, clean and so precisely defined it seemed impossible. We felt that we could hear every single one of the pores that line Taylor's throat.

The stereo imaging was sharp, but not razor sharp. Instead it created distinctly solid stereo images: a voice here, a guitar there, the drum kit behind that and so on. Each sound had its place, some towards the front of the stage, some at the back.

To finish off, we pulled out the Australian pressing of Silverchair's Neon Ballroom DVD and sampled the introduction to the second track which has some high level tone blasts at an incredible 26.8Hz. Most people don't even know this exists because most sound systems simply don't reproduce it. Using just the I-93 speakers, with no subwoofer, there was no problem knowing all about this tone!

Conclusion

We get to hear lots of surround speakers in this business. And the fact is, whether as a surround system or for audiophile stereo playback, we have yet to hear another system that sounds as good as this one, and very few that even come close.

Summary

PRICE:  $10,826 including freight and $500 worth of accessories

Subtract $1815 to self assemble

WARRANTY: Three years

PROS: Incredible stereo performance

Superbly seamless surround performance

Delicacy in tone, combined with mighty bass

CONS: Low impedance of I-93 speakers demand good quality amplification