Xavian XN-250 Standmount Speaker

Like all Xavain top end speakers, the XN-250 uses Scan Speak drivers, and in this case it is a 29mm soft dome tweeter, and a Scan Speak Revelator 150mm mid-bass driver. High quality WBT binding posts are mounted against a real leather name plate. If nothing else they look the business, but one's expectations are of a nice speaker with little to no bass, and nothing could be further from the truth.

Shelby Lynne's 'Just a little Lovin' shows clear definition between the kick and the bass guitar on the intro, with nice rim shot reverb tails. I never felt like any bass was missing at all, soundstage is out of the box completely. Jacintha's 'Willow Weep For Me' simply sounds lush, warm yet detailed. Her voice is full and breathy and the sax floats above the left speaker baffle, slightly towards the centre.

Brian Broomberg's 'Come Together', a simple acoustic bass rendition of The Beatles tune is as full as it ever has sounded, with detailed fret board slap and reverb tails. It simply does not sound like you're missing anything in the bottom end. Kraftworks 'Heimcomputer' offers delicious, dynamic sound, never harsh and once again well balanced without ever feeling the need for more bottom end. Elbow's 'Lippy Kids' with it's almost atmospheric underpinnings is engaging, and the Peter Gabriel like vocals smooth and pinpoint centre.

By now you are probably already aware of where I am going with this...The Xavian XN-250 is a superb speaker, not for absolute accuracy (what speaker is anyway) but for superb detail, dynamics, musicality and extraordinary bass extension given it's physical size and bass driver size. Add to that the stunning build quality and you have an absolute joy of a speaker. No wonder it won Speaker of the year!

If you are looking to scale down your loudspeaker system and fear you will have to live with a speaker that no longer provides significant bass output to do so, think again. Audition the XN-250 as soon as you can, superb!