My Audio Design 1920S Loudspeakers

Does this speaker look familiar? Well, it should look like the My Audio Design 1920 loudspeaker I reviewed earlier this year, but in a gloss white finish. Same exact size, same drivers, same everything. Except this isn't the MAD 1920, it's the MAD 1920S, and it's slightly different than its little brother. As the MAD website says: "The 1920S is the signature version of our renowned 'World Standard' 1920 monitor. We have reconstructed the cabinet with a more advanced version of our proprietary DRC (Damping Resonance Control) and SWC technology. You can expect a sound that is smooth, open, natural, clear, detailed and unexaggerated. It all adds up to a package that is involving and coherent — like the original 1920 — but with more accuracy, clarity and even better bass."

In high-end audio, a "signature" version usually implies better parts, or a few tweaks here and there that lead to subtle yet noticeable improvements in the sound. But the difference between the 1920 and the 1920S is far from subtle. I don't want to take anything away from the 1920--it is a superb mini-monitor and an outstanding value--but I absolutely love the 1920S. It sounds so much bigger than the 1920 that it's hard to believe it only goes about 3 Hz deeper (55 Hz vs. 58 Hz). The price for this improvement is substantial--the 1920 is sold direct in the US from the MAD website for about $2575 (the price will vary slightly with the exchange rates), while the 1920S will retail in the US for $3450/pair. But it's worth it.

Of the three MAD speakers I've played with this week--the $48,000 Duke Royal Limiteds, the $11,000 Grand MS Maestro Supreme and now the 1920S--the latter pair is by far the most surprising. It's hard to listen to a $48K pair of loudspeakers without having extraordinarily high expectations. But these tiny little speakers shocked me at first listen. They sounded great right out of the box. They retain the smoothness and the refinement of all the other MAD speakers, but they excel at disappearing into the room and creating the type of soundstage that seems to expand well beyond the boundaries of my listening room. With an efficiency of 90dB, they also seemed to be the perfect match for the 12wpc Unison Research Simply Italy integrated amplifier. (Today I also plugged in the Unison Upower, a booster amp that quadruples the power to 48wpc.)

This is the last MAD speaker I get to play with before we head off to CES next week. I've had a lot of fun playing with all these goodies, and it will be tough to pack them up and send them on their way.

My Audio Design Grand MS Maestro Supreme Loudspeakers

Speakers, speakers, speakers. I have no less than four pairs of speakers that I need to break in before CES next month. Fortunately those $48,000 MAD Duke Royal Limited speakers were just used at a trade show in Hong Kong, so they're pretty much broken in. I spent two days listening to them, loving them, caressing those beautiful cabinets into the wee hours. They do everything you'd expect a speaker at that price point to do--bottomless bass response, crystalline highs, extraordinary midrange. It's almost scary that they do it all while being surprisingly compact and lightweight. Most $50K speakers resemble coffins and weigh hundreds of pounds; I could pick the Dukes up by myself and move them around.

Now I'm playing with a more modest design from MAD--the $11,000 Grand MS Maestro Supreme--and they're larger and heavier than the Dukes. They lack the exquisite cabinetry of their big brothers as you can see, although they are still obviously made with great care and skill. The MS features the proprietary MAD SFC coaxial drivers which are designed to be coherent and offer exceedingly low levels of distortion. The crossovers use pure silver solder, 99.99997% pure copper cabling and "ESA silver diamond" capacitors.

Compared to the Royal Duke, these speakers don't quite plumb the same depths and are slightly less dynamic, but let's face it--the former speaker is quite a tough act to follow (and more than four times the price). Plus, the Supremes still needs some break-in before I can evaluate them fairly. As it stands, they image like crazy and possess a silky, extended treble that's addictive.

After this, I still have a pair of Opera Mezzas to break-in, as well as another pair of MAD 1920s that I haven't even removed from the box. Plus I have a Unison Research Simply Italy to warm up, and we have yet to receive the Unison Research Unico Upower booster amp from Italy. The Upower quadruples the power of low-powered tube amplifiers up to 100wpc, so the Simply Italy will go from 12wpc to 48wpc. This will be the first Upower in the US, and it's making its debut at CES (in Room 29-117). I'll have more info on the MAD room in a few days. Until then, I'm switching out components and listening to everything from Sam Cooke to Tool in an effort to get this equipment sounding its best.