Source: Coincident Speaker Technology
Price: $2,995.00 Cdn., $2,295.00 U.S. (Black Lacquer Finish)
Rating:

Our regular readers will know that Coincident Speaker Technology is a Canadian loudspeaker manufacturing company located in greater Toronto area of Ontario. Its principal designer, Israel Blume, has been at it again, this time releasing his new
addition - a pair of loudspeakers closely resembling the model Millenniums reviewed in Vol. 10, f#4. The Super Conquests are somewhat smaller in size and are designed to fit a budget.

Appearances:
The Super Conquests do not resemble the Millenniums as they are single-enclosure designs. They measure 38 inches high, 10.5 inches wide and 12 inches deep: each cabinet weighs 65 pounds. Our samples came in an immaculately finished cherry wood veneer (an option), but the standard version is finished in black lacquer. When placed in a listening room, you can’t miss them, as they are just tall enough to get your attention, but the quality of the finish more than makes up for the conventional box-like appearance; and they’ll look just fine in almost any listening environment.

Technology:
Unlike the Millenniums, which featured midrange drivers and tweeters located in a dedicated upper section and a separate enclosure for the bass, the SC’s drivers are housed in a single cabinet constructed entirely of 1 inch hardwood MDF with strategically placed braces throughout. The enclosures have two sections, one for bass, the other for midrange/high frequency drivers. Blume used computer calculated dimensions to achieve minimal resonance and standing wave interferences and optimize the enclosures’ internal volume to allow woofer extension to 26Hz. The enclosures are tuned to 360Hz to eliminate bass mode and upper frequency harmonics interaction.

The design is the company’s first three-way system and employs a 1 inch titanium dome tweeter, a 5 inch polypropylene midrange driver and a 10 inch polypropylene woofer. The tweeter employs a massive double magnet, a vented pole piece and features exceptional damping characteristics to eliminate all resonances. This is the same unit used in the Millenniums. The midrange driver is a polypropylene version of the magnesium model used in the Millenniums. It boasts a lightweight cone (7 grams) and a 6 pound magnet assembly, as large or larger than one expects to find in a 10 inch woofer. The bass driver is a 10 inch unit with an extra large magnet assembly and a thick butyl surround to ensure a linear piston-like excursion-almost 1.25 inches. Blume ascertained that all drivers possess virtually identical sonic characteristics to achieve seamless integration-one of the important design parameters of a three-way system. The crossover is unique. It doesn’t employ an electrical components for the midrange driver as it’s operating in its own chamber, shared only by the tweeter. It’s hard wired and offers only one component for all three drivers in the signal pass. A pair of solid, gold plated, binding posts are provided.  The SC’s have a frequency response from 26Hz to 35kHz, stable impedance of 8 ohms, with a sensitivity of 92dB@1w/meter.

The Sound:
We connected the speakers to our array of in-house amplifiers which include the Bryston 8B-ST, the OCM 800, the Moon integrated amplifier by Celeste and the single-ended Topaz vacuum tube job. The Opal preamplifier was used with all power amplifiers. Connecting cables included the Nordost Flatline Red Dawn, the Wireworld Gold and Monstercable M-Series (speaker cables). Source components included the Roksan Caspian, the Arcam Alpha 9 and the Primare CD player, all reviewed in this issue.

These components have been reviewed and auditioned by our panelists and each component’s disposition is known to us. Thus, it wasn’t difficult to establish the personality of the SC’s in no time. We found that these loudspeakers not only have distinct technical resemblances to the top-of-the-line Millenniums, but also share some of their sonic characteristics. The Millenniums deliver smoothly, accomplished high frequency information-so do the Super Conquests; similarly, the clear, very open midrange data comes across almost as well as their larger sibling’s, but with a lesser degree of sophistication-a bit more pinched. Upper bass is resolute and steadfast, although the determination in the pedalnote regions is somewhat less convincing compared to the Millenniums. The Topaz revealed this more so than all other amplifiers. However, the OCM/SC system delivered more bass energy without boominess and with believable culmination. The Moon integrated amplifier/SC combination sounded rather captivating, delivering great highs, explicit, intelligible midrange info and bass which didn’t quite make it all the way down into the bottom vaults. We inserted the Wireworld “Gold” speaker cable also reviewed in this issue, and picked up what seemed like another bottom octave with the Moon/SC system. In other words, the SC's can be arranged in systems that will deliver the kind of sound one may wish to attain. It's safe to say that the Super Conquests lean toward sonic neutrality, just like the Millenniums. The ultimate sound can be derived by paying attention to associated components-as always.

Synopsis & Commentary:
Well, here we have it, a pair of loudspeakers with a close sonic resemblance to the Coincident Millenniums. When we compared the sound quality of both models, it became evident that they originated from the same designer. The clear highs, sparkling midrange and handling of bass information, while identical in their fundamental sonic distinction, are better accomplished by the Millenniums. Although the lower-priced SC's offer imaging, focal information and inner detail in line with the Millenniums, they cannot quite achieve the refinement and polish. This is one of those occasions when we find it difficult (as reviewers) to express exactly what we wish to connote. The Editor compares audio to cognac as a way to establish awareness of the senses. He states that cognac, when properly aged, elicits a certain smoothness, “nose” and superior potency, yet, its fundamental taste still allows recognition as a brandy. Thus, if you are a perfectionist and like expensive cognac, you may opt for the Millenniums and one-hundred year old Hennesy. If other priorities forestall this choice, ten-year old cognac and the Super Conquests can hardly be considered a compromise.
 

Reprinted With The Permission Of The Inner Ear Report.