Much in the way fast-food marginalised the restaurant industry, audio streaming has created a “fast-music” segment where there is a higher consumption of tracks as their ease of accessibility goes against frugal listening.
Having said that, the way a resurgence of healthy, niche eating has seen restaurants hit back at fast-food segment, gives the music sector hope that the true appreciation of audio consumption will once again return— albeit perhaps in a new guise.
From the welcoming arrival of Hi-Fidelity music streaming services such as Tidal and the micro-amplifiers available for earpieces, music lovers are once again pining for the frequencies lost during the era of CD.
The rise of digital music has been scorned by some, but what it does allow is a plethora of options for the listener, one of which being that “file size is no issue” variant that CD’s simply weren’t equipped to handle. This caters for complete music, the depth of which has been seen since vinyl, reproducing studio quality acoustics in your home. Win.
With the music comes the equipment, as for this niche audiophile, mainstream audio acoustics don’t cut the mustard— it’s like paying for 4k television and then watching it in HD.
I’m nostalgic in this department having grown up in the era of the ‘stack system” where each component was an investment and a consideration in its own right, then combined together to form the ultimate listening machine – think of as the “Voltron” of music systems.
This space has since moved on, with the masses in favour of all in one wireless streaming devices. Having said that, true audiophiles nonetheless still seek out niche companies to give them their high-fidelity “fix” and one such company is Estelon.
Founded by Alfred Vassilkov, Estelon’s goal is to “create the ultimate loudspeakers” a pursuit he began as a schoolboy when he hand built his first set of loudspeakers. Since then Alfred and his family have been expanding their technological boundaries, experiencing sounds with the ineffable passion gained from a self-imposed personal mantle.
The latest speaker innovation they have revealed is the Estelon XC, a wireless floor-standing speaker, perfect for when high-resolution performance is required, but the larger Estelon XA would be impractical or excessive.
Each drive unit is “broken in” by running a signal through them for several hours before selecting matching pairs of drivers for each speaker pair. When drivers in matching pairs, another ‘break in’ with a special signal is conducted. Finally, drivers are fitted into the finished cabinet for individual tuning.
Understanding that for luxury consumers, the aesthetic is just as important as the acoustic, the Estelon XC features a sculpted design, timeless and elegant; a design that will look at home at a modern, futuristic or classic environment.
This timeless design is apt; as History teaches us, the true audiophile’s love for music is and always will be and ever-present mainstay of culture.
The Estelon XC speakers are available to pre-order from 20,000Euros.
ESTELON.com
