This review page is supported in part by the sponsors whose ad banners are displayed below

There is no such thing as one singular path toward the goal. Nobody owns a monopoly on the truth. We can convince ourselves of that by listening to the A.R.T because in absolute terms, these are not tonally balanced designs. One clearly hears that the treble is recessed and the upper midrange damped. And yet -- I do not know how this was done but I cannot pretend to not hearing it -- everything seems to have its place and sense. This is the same impression I had while listening to loudspeakers from RCM Audio where the treble above 5kHz was withdrawn and we could not speak, in normal terms we use to describe audio equipment, about open and vivid cymbals, a linear frequency response and so on. Yet when it came to playing music, what opened in front of me was a coherent reality complete from beginning to end. In the Moderne 10, the withdrawn treble manifests itself in percussion cymbals softer than in my loudspeakers or the Xavians (but remember that this is a relative comparison, loudspeaker against loudspeaker). Interestingly this was better heard in new recordings like Kraftwerk's Minimum-Maximum or Woong San's Feel Like Making Love than on King Crimson. This is understandable because the former carry much more information in the upper regions and the Crimson is not good in that regard. But the Crimson and Pink Floyd discs sounded splendid in terms of telling a story. It was no coincidence that I picked concept albums for the first listening session. They require full listener participation from beginning to the end. Sonically, this happens only conditionally when the listener is engaged and intrigued. And so the Moderne 10 pulls one into its world immediately.

Part of the appeal is the brilliant reproduction of instrumental dynamics and the ability to shade this relative to the volume the music is playing at. These speakers are good at quiet evening session and loud workouts during the day but that's a basic trait of all good hifi. More important is the fact that individual protagonists don't blur at lower levels but simply scale back appropriately. Here we hear how each disc has its appropriate volume level at which it should be played back. Everything then falls into place and we get a big expansive soundstage and incredibly realistic instruments. But those are not highlighted or extracted from the surroundings. Different to my system and what I am accustomed to (so I do not judge, just describe it), the instruments are merged into the background to a large extent. One cannot really hear the venue acoustics or rather, how the performers are visible within it. Conversely, the instruments themselves are fantastic and superbly placed, regardless whether the location is between or behind the speakers. The latter is most difficult since the sound projects almost 100% from the front of the speaker whereas the instrument is supposed to hide behind it.

But these Scottish loudspeakers show the instruments behind themselves as though there was nothing between us and them. Even more, each recorded movement of the instrument even by a few sideways centimeters results in the movement of the 'picture' of the instrument without being tied to the tweeter (the most common problem) and the apparent sound originates from behind the broad plane of the loudspeaker baffle. It is said that small monitors whose narrow baffle allows for unhindered propagation of the sound waves soundstage best. This might be true in some alternate reality. I can confirm that the best mini monitors like Sonus Faber, Chario (eg. Academy Sonnet) and certain others can indeed create a very broad and deep stage. But that's not synonymous with the fact that big loudspeakers cannot. It's simply easier to achieve with small enclosures. Large speakers like my Harpia or the A.R.T. do it equally well but then add weight to the stage which shows the performers in their natural size and proper volume scale. Because they lack bass, monitors cannot do that no matter how hard they try.
Now to the bass. It is sacrificed time and again by owners of bookshelf monitors in the name of the soundstage, precision etc. I've often written about it but will repeat that a realistic event cannot be created (I don't say real event because that's not achievable in any system and probably won't change) without the full frequency range. I can understand the bookshelf choice and do not attack their owners. It's just one of many choices and compromises facing all audiophiles regardless of wallet and experience but I'll refrain from pretending that there's no problem.


The Moderne 10 shows that LF extension is no mere whim of the Americans obsessed with large spaces, no Germanic request to fully reproduce their beloved marching bands. Those are untrue and stupid stereotypes that have as much in common with reality as the statement that all of us Poles are thieves and heavy drinkers. A broadband loudspeaker can show an event in full dimensions. If the instrument is big, then it is projected as taking up a lot of space. If it is small, then it is small. That does not correlate with how loud we play things.

A small piccolo flute can override a symphonic orchestra's forte but to hear a contrabass in that climax, to hear anything at all, many instruments must be reproduced simultaneously and at various levels. The A.R.T. have that subtle but all- important ability as a result of strong and even bass I think. It is not as quick as that of the Xavian or Harpia and more resembles what can be heard from the Avantgarde Uno Nano or Gemme Audio Katana. It goes very low but for that, we must place this loudspeakers far away from the front wall or the very low bass gets loose. Different from the usual drone, one can hear the port as a kind of ease in reproducing impulses and fullness. Bass and snare drum (yes even the higher instruments benefit from this) impact us like during a concert, with something behind them, dynamic headroom and no compression. For testing, I closed the port like I did long ago with the Harpia but it was no better, just different. Quick bass passages from the contrabass on Introducing Lee Morgan or the bass guitar from Led Zeppelin did not slow down or prolong but softened slightly. There wasn't the same clarity or resolution as from the Harpia or the Isophon Vescova reviewed a while back. A big paper driver cannot overcome certain limitations yet its timbre is very nice, differentiated and there's no talking of homogenized bass.

Yes I do praise and praise but I would like to be clear that this is not really my kind of sound. I prefer more treble and less amorphous soundstaging but those are my choices. For a long time I thought the Scottish loudspeakers lacking in resolution. How wrong I was. My perception was marked by being used to the perfect detail of the Harpia and Xavian. Because the Moderne 10 is reserved in the treble and still a bit depressed in the upper midrange, details aren't in your face. Yet differentiation and integration of each musical piece are splendid as I noticed on Solveig Slettahjell's Silver. This starts quietly with a soft piano played below the lid which the A.R.T. showed off brilliantly. For a moment I thought something cracked in the equipment placed on the Base rack between the speakers but then I realized that I knew what it was. I'd heard it before but differently. Now it was an organic whole and synchronous with the rest of the music, not detail for detail's sake to please audiophiles but a part of the arrangement, a tender foundation for the voice, a counterpoint to connect the phrases sung by Solveig. It was similar for the King Crimson disc but there the withdrawal of the voice did not allow me to clearly diagnose the phenomenon.


Now we reach an element which in my opinion is inferior to other loudspeakers in this price range. The Scottish A.R.T. slightly withdraws voices and does not fully resolve their bodies, their three-dimensionality. This was especially audible on the King Crimson disc but true also for the Pink Floyd. When a voice dominates a given cut as do Solveig, Woong San or Beverly Kenney on the beautiful Lonely And Blue (issued by the Sinatra Society of Japan, I buy and recommend all their releases, true pearls, reference CDJapan), then it's not bad because it's classy playing with swing, feeling and good articulation. Yet even then the voice does not break free from the background, it does not stand in relief against it. That can be observed far more severely on discs whose vocals were not treated with special attention. Although I wrote earlier that the events on In The Court Of The Crimson King and Wish You Were Here were incredibly natural and credible, I occasionally longed for better vocal articulation and definition. This could be partly alleviated by a 300B amplifier where vocals grew more present but such a marriage compromises coherence, tautness and most the reach of the bass. So we must choose. Perhaps the golden means is achieved with a single 6C33C as in the Ayon Spark II or Single Six Ancient Audio. I heard that combination and liked it. That could be a suggestion but keep in mind that we do not have to limit ourselves to just one solution. Interestingly this kind of presentation did not prevent guitars -- electric (Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, King Crimson) or acoustic (Yes, Pink Floyd, Jonas Knutsson) -- from being reproduced in a spectacular fashion; as though this instrument existed well outside any limitations.

One thing to consider regardless of electronics used, music selected or personal biases - the Moderne 10 sounds much better when the in-room noise level is low. This is why evening sessions were so satisfactory. True, in the evening the mains is cleaner and everything sounds better. With the A.R.T. as with certain other speakers, that's a bit different. They not only need a cleaner mains but also low ambient noise which can be provided by late hours and/or well isolated listening room. Those conditions increase articulation and clarity to subjectively heighten resolution. This we should consider before making any purchasing decisions. The room we will listen in must be prepared to receive them.


These aren't speakers for everybody but what they were designed for, they do splendidly. They are not tonally balanced yet this prevents them not from playing music in a way many listeners dream of - organic, natural and credible. The thing to be resolved is that somebody deliver them and set them up for us...


Description
The Moderne 10 are big floorstanding speakers from the Scottish company A.R.T. Loudspeakers (Acoustic Reproduction Technology Loudspeakers). The company was founded quite recently in 1998 by the brothers Derek and Ramsay Dunlop and from the beginning focused on producing companions for tube amplifiers, particularly SETs. Hence the high efficiency of this model is no surprise nor its 8Ω impedance. The Moderne 10 was introduced February 4 2008 as the crown piece of a new line and with a somewhat different shape than the Decco line. In reality the cabinet shape is similar but the specific construction differs by way of using the Decolam technique which bonds together vertical 35mm thick MDF plates whose insides were previously routed out into the desired inner voids. This guarantees splendid rigidity and resonance control. The skins are automotive lacquer in any hue desired. Even the sizable back port is lacquered which looks very nice. The testers arrived in a beautiful burgundy. Their form factor resembles an ellipse whose sides sport a considerable radius. All edges are rounded over. The front baffle is flat similar to the back where we see the bolts constraining the layered enclosure [see above]. The whole is placed on a big plinth where steel spikes can be installed and countered with vinyl nuts.

The Moderne 10 are big floorstanding loudspeakers because they employ a 260mm bass driver with coated paper diaphragm and a solid, cast basket. Paper again is used for the 150mm midrange driver. The SEAS silk dome tweeter runs a plastic mounting place. Network frequencies are 350 and 2800Hz and the compound 2nd/3rd order crossover employs air coils and polypropylene ICW Clarity capacitors. The insides are damped and the posts are high-quality single WBT 0780s. Hookup wiring is OFC copper.


Technical data provided by the manufacturer:
Type: 3-way rear-firing bass-reflex
Drivers: bass - 260mm, coated paper; midrange - 150mm, coated paper; tweeter – 27mm, silk
Crossover: 2nd/3rd order
Crossover frequencies: 350Hz & 2800Hz
Frequency response: 28Hz – 20kHz +/- 2dB
Sensitivity: 90dB/1W/1m
Impedance: 8Ω
Recommended amplifier power: min. 8 W
Dimensions (HxDxW): 1030 x 360 x 315mm
Weight: 50 kg
Website