Today, I just plugged the Amphion One18 with two Auralic Merak mono block (Hypex UcD with Orfeo Class A module)
I love this sound exactly how it has been described in the High end nearfields thread.
These loudspeakers are a pure beauty somewhere between the accuracy of the PSI and the organic of the Quested. Exactly how I dreamed....
Very inspiring, very musical, very natural. NATURAL is the word

Now it's time to mix.

how is the mix translation?

Till now I did not mix (and check on other medium) to have a significative answer. Karloff70 could answer.
I spent the week to properly install the speakers and also to let them burn in as they are new (I don't now if it's the english word)
I have to say that it went further than I expected.
I ended up to choose the abacus 60-120 amp
Burn burn... and yesterday the sound opened again, with an immense low end and an immersion feeling, the sound became 3D, a huge sound stage, as I have never heard in my studio. Neither PSI (I'm a PSI lover), neither Geithain gave me this sensation of musicality.
I could say that they make me enter in a new world of sound. Not a 2D sound or a pseudo 3D sound; for the first time I have been in the volume/space of the music, in the deep emotion of the music. This tools is superb sounding (so right and obviously natural) and very very inspiring, this gives so many ideas of production... spacialisation, equalisation, effect. You not only control your mix with a perfect tool, but you are inspirated to create, find ideas...
I have been working for almost 20 years in studios and I have never heard that... or maybe 1 time when I was young with very big JBL.

It is so amazingly sounding that I want to reorganize all my room to optimize.
I'm under the spell and I can say how I'm sad not to have been able to mix with these speakers before.

Actually I'm working at 2,3m
I'm using Forssell DA (MTC1 maselec preamp), GRimm TPM and TPR cables, Abacus 60-120c amp, Amphion cable speakers (very good, I compared to several highly priced HP Speaker). Amazing decoupling under the speakers and amp with the german B-fly master and stage and TowerSonic Stands.

I don't exactly answer to your question, I hope Karloff70 will. And I will answer to mix translation next week.
I just wanted to share that first before to rush in the mix, it has been important to me host them and install the One18 as well as possible in order they give the best.

Is it what one call transparency?
Yes transparency

I'm loving mine and use them every day...Mixes translate better than ever (been through Genelecs, Focal twins, Adam S3X, NS10s).

Two months after....

I can say, these speakers enlights me every day. I have mixed 2 album, mastered 10 albums with it. I'm so happy
It gives you all the technical details but more it gives musicality details, space, air, bass presentation, articulation... it's so much inspiring.
They give you the details to make your music more vibrating, better produced... till now with many active speakers... I feel, I had been limited to technical works... now my workflow is more natural, analytic and musical... it's music... I feel my works have reached a new step of quality

This week I upgraded the amp from Abacus 60_120C to Abacus 60_120D, whoooo, it gave deeper, velvet bass and everything is more powerful. Allways with the right sound pressure. These speakers have been really thought with the right sense of music presentation to the listener. I feel really near to Anssi view of how I like to listen music.

Next week, I'm bringing the Amphion at home just to listen music.

Thank you for your review and feedback. The community is much obliged.

What are your observations of their bass extension? How much time do you spend on other references for bass?

Cheers

With one18's my guess is none.

I'm curious because the stats say 48Hz (50Hz for the smaller Amphions). What about the lowest bass notes?

The SRP800 are quoted to 42Hz with the same +-3db and I feel confident they are fine for most genres, however, there are a couple of bass notes in the 6db disparity ...

I have absolutely no problem with the low bass on Amphion one18. I have compared with my A21+ Sub set up// the A21 + Sub go lower of course but it did not make me better masters.
If you really afraid of missing the first octave, you can add a sub to the one 18!!!

what about the Two18's?

and on a related note, how in the hell does one audition/purchase them in the states?

Well, whatever the spec says, even on my one15's I can happily eq around waaaay lower than 48Hz and make decisions that translate well. These puppies basically play back the upper harmonics of your bass so tidily that you get the clues further up, so you can basically root around lower than they technically actually play back. Or so it seems. And it tends to still translate. Don't ask me why.

Feels very cool. And doesn't load up your room with loads of sub.

Not tried any two models myself. Email Anssi and see what they can do.

The Two18 specs lower, and that was something that attracted me to it. I have not tried the One18, but bit the bullet and ordered what I would guess to be one of the earlier pair of Two18s in the US.

Anssi didn't hype anything on email and I had to ask about pricing and shipping and "what happens if I don't like them" contingencies. Because there were none in this area for me to hear, he told me the price, I ordered them, his team burned in a pair and sent them.

A little background for me: I have been very happy with my Dynaudio BM6As for quite a long time, but the two motivators for me for getting a new set of primary nearfields have been: 1. I haven't ever liked the magically vanishing bass E string- lower bass rolls off pretty vertically. That makes me need to use headphones to mix bass. 2. There is some veiling of detail on the BM6As- production decisions around EQ, compression and effects are not in my face. I haven't been completely with my confidence level in my mixes.

I was pretty much all set to buy the PSI A21s or A25s. I'm sure they would have been fantastic and would have met my requirements going forward for at least a very long time. What pushed me over the edge to buy the Amphions was that it seemed from the view of others who had the PSIs that these did what they did and they were a bit more friendly for long mixing sessions.

So far, I could not be happier. I'm not buried in cash to buy a bunch and try them all out- the goal here was to get what I think I want and see what it works and try against a limited amount of other contenders. What happened was not scientific- I basically put them where my BM6As had been, turned them on and tried a very limited amount of resource material and decided that this doesn't really require a huge comparison effort. Playing bass through them revealed a great deal more low end. On source material, like older Steely Dan mixes, I could much more clearly understand production decisions that were made. One thing I wasn't completely prepared for was the 3D soundstage. The Two18s give me a great perception of where things exist in space.

These speakers seem to me to say: "here is the collection of your musical and production decisions; it may not be specifically representative of other speakers on the market, but here it all is." If I do a bad mix now, I seriously can't blame the monitors.

Today I'm going to take them to visit another GS member to try them in his room.

Same feelings on the One18
So, the two18 seems to be the King of the new Amphion collection!

Well, I think that it comes down to what you want and need. If you're a better tracking and mixing engineer than I am, you probably have better mitigations for the low end. For a lot of people here, I'm sure the One18 would be fantastic. I also believe that the Two18 was the right choice for me.

Anyone who has heard the two18 and the one18 side by side can u describe the differences in low end and head room and over all impression

End of November, I will have both

Look forward to your impressions.

yeah...Anssi PM'd me and explained everything, thanks...

Still, I find it strange given the buzz the Amphions are getting, that there isn't a US distributor yet.(they sure seem to be the bee's knees of speakers recently)

I'd find it difficult to order something from another country without at least hearing them in person...or I'd be more inclined to purchase them blind with greater ease if (for whatever reason) I'd be able to return them within the states and avoid dealing with international shipping...

The exact reason I have not heard Spiral Grooves yet.....now we have something on this side of the pond.

Sharkboy brought his Two18s to my studio today for a listening session. After a frustrating first hour trying to get the borrowed Bryston 4B to turn on, we high-tailed it to the local stereo shop to emergency purchase a used Parasound. Back to the studio and all hooked up, I ran through my usual "monitor test" playlist that is all over the map - pop, jazz, metal, electronic, etc - to get a quick impression of what I could expect to hear.

Instant impression was that great mixes sound absolutely astonishing on them (John Vanderslice's "Pixel Revolt"), mixes with ANY flaws are instantly revealed. I also played a number of projects I've tracked and mixed (on various monitors) and some held up better than others but they all sounded like what I did, but I could hear farther into the mixes on the Two18s. Imaging is pinpoint perfect; the tweeter reveals sibilance that you might not have ever heard on lesser monitors (made me want to go back and remix one of my projects...), while the lows are deep and never exaggerated.

The mids, including low-mids from ~120Hz, up to 6k, is incredible, possibly the best I've ever heard on a monitor under $10k.

So, yes, I'm impressed. Mightily. My beloved BM6AmkIII (no slouches these) might need to find a new home soon as the One18s are calling to me...

Don, since you are listed as a user of Spiral Grooves Studio Ones (assuming that's you), were you able to compare the Amphions to the SG Ones?

Haha....Don, meet Amphion.

You got to jump in from the top, you lucky beggar. One day I will get into 'two' mode too, but feeling no rush as my one15's make me smile every time I press play......

I think the One18s are the most forgiving for room acoustic problems...My control room is quite small and is treated but not perfect by any means. When I got Amphions for testing (One18s and Two15s), I talked with Anssi abot my situation and problems in my room. He told me that One18s would most probably be the best choise for me...

Two15s seemed to "double" some mids, as did my Adam S3X's.

I'm sure, in a little bit larger and better treated room, the Two18s are the best, if you need to sit closer and the space is limited, the One18s win...

I love mine, been using them almost every day since July. <3

It was a delight to hang out with Don and hear the Two18s in his room. His room is bigger than mine with less reflections and a very large sweet spot- okay, the Amphions were part of that. As great as they are in my room, they were better in a bigger room with more distance between them and the walls. Even in the small room, they are balanced and detailed.

Don's room has a nice diffusion/absorption balance. It doesn't kill the sound. I expect to add some Diffusion to my room and make more space between the speakers and the wall- even if I need to cuddle up to them a bit from the control position.

I'm not sure why I'm on that user list; I had a pair of the original Studio Ones for a week and they weren't for me. That was over five years ago, too, so I'm not qualified to remember what they sounded like to compare to the Amphions, sorry. heh

It was incredible to hear the Two-series, but I'm definitely aiming for the One18 for my space.

One18 are badass. No two ways about it. One of the very best speakers I have used/heard. Working on them is great.

Long term goal would be for Two18 as a main pair in a mastering room.

Just about to finish another job on them (that would make around 10 tracks so far and just smiles all around).

-T

I told one of my mastering blokes that the Two18 would be a fine replacement for his ailing Dunlavy SCIV; they reminded me a lot of the response and evenness of the Duns (albeit in a considerably smaller cabinet...).

I'm returning to this thread as I now have a pair of One18 and the Amphion 100w/ch amp in my possession; they've been in my studio the past few days and I've been mixing on them. And giggling like a schoolgirl because of what I can hear on them.

Today, I loaded into my favorite room here in Seattle for a week of tracking and mixing and brought the Amphion rig with me. The room has NS10s and 1032s, and while I've worked here for years, I never felt like I could really tell what was happening in the monitoring. After tracking all day, I can see that won't be the case with the One18s. I could make proper decisions about mic placement and EQ in this control room in a way I've never felt comfortable before (this is my favorite tracking space, but hasn't ever been a favorite for mixing or mix decisions).

We are here for the rest of the week wrapping up an EP and I can't wait to hear how the mixes translate. If they are as good as what I've been getting from these speakers in my room, I'll really be convinced that these monitors are not hiding anything.