Vecteur Espace in UHF Magazine

Floorstanding speakers from France with natural wood veneer? Must cost a bundle, right? Well, actually no. The Euro has -- like many of the world’s currencies -- tumbled against the US dollar and even against the pound sterling. For Canadians the price is right, and for Americans it is an outright bargain. At least provided the quality matches the finish.
     Actually, we had some misgivings about the finish, and fortunately, we are told, new production won’t have these problems. We didn’t dare photograph them with the grilles off, because the stain under the grilles was lighter than the rest. In any case the grilles were difficult to remove, and when we pried them off some of the fasteners broke off (that has been fixed in the newer version). The speakers normally come with screw-in spikes, which had been lost in its travels. We used Tenderfeet cones instead, held on with Audio-Tak.
     This is a two-way reflex speaker, with the rectangular port rather obvious at the bottom front. The woofer is a small one, just 14 cm in diameter, with a synthetic cone. The tweeter uses a textile dome.
     The cabinet is made of high density fibreboard rather than the more usual medium density, and there is extensive bracing. The Espace exists in two versions. Ours were finished in cherrywood. The other version, aimed at home theatre systems, is satin grey, but has shielding, allowing the speakers to be placed close to the screen of a TV set.
     At the rear is a pair of quite nice binding posts. Yes, one pair not the usual two. This isn’t because Vecteur is trying to save money, but because the minimum phase crossover places the woofer and the tweeter in series, as in the illustration below (the illustration is ours, not the company’s).

Biwiring is of course pointless with this scheme.
We selected five LP’s, listened to them through our Alpha system, and then substituted the Espace speakers.
The first of these is a handful: the title composition from the Dallas Wind Symphony’s Trittico. Even the CD has dangerous energy, and the LP borders on savagery. Through our 3a MS5 reference speakers, the brass, woodwinds and percussion had weight and power not unlike that of the live ensemble. Through the Vecteurs...

Well, what did you expect? That it would produce a pale shadow of the original? Well it didn’t. The ensemble still had a lot of energy that seemed at odds with the narrow, almost genteel, look of the speakers. The brass still spat fire. These are speakers that are light on their feet, handling quick transients with speed and aplomb. Yet we could hardly complain about the bottom end, from which much of the music’s emotional impact comes. All of this high intensity music was well situated in space...as you would expect from the speakers’ model name.

(This is an excerpt from the full review of the inexpensive Espace speakers, from UHF No. 63. To read the entire article, just order issue 63 at our secure server.)

Complete articles from this issue:
Soundproofing, Big Screen TV's to Stay Away From, Passion A11, State of the Art

Excerpted articles from this issue:
Comparing the Incomparable: Listening in the Store, Antique Sound Lab Leyla, Vecteur Espace, Two Interconnects, Five Speaker Cables, Four Power Cords


		(Reprinted from issue 63 of UHF Magazine. To purchase the issue, click here. Or click here to subscribe to UHF) The Vecteur Espace “Espace” is French for space. Something to do with the image they project, we think. The name was not chosen at random.
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		Floorstanding speakers from France with natural wood veneer? Must cost a bundle, right? Well, actually no. The Euro has -- like many of the world’s currencies -- tumbled against the US dollar and even against the pound sterling. For Canadians the price is right, and for Americans it is an outright bargain. At least provided the quality matches the finish. Actually, we had some misgivings about the finish, and fortunately, we are told, new production won’t have these problems. We didn’t dare photograph them with the grilles off, because the stain under the grilles was lighter than the rest. In any case the grilles were difficult to remove, and when we pried them off some of the fasteners broke off (that has been fixed in the newer version). The speakers normally come with screw-in spikes, which had been lost in its travels. We used Tenderfeet cones instead, held on with Audio-Tak. This is a two-way reflex speaker, with the rectangular port rather obvious at the bottom front. The woofer is a small one, just 14 cm in diameter, with a synthetic cone. The tweeter uses a textile dome. The cabinet is made of high density fibreboard rather than the more usual medium density, and there is extensive bracing. The Espace exists in two versions. Ours were finished in cherrywood. The other version, aimed at home theatre systems, is satin grey, but has shielding, allowing the speakers to be placed close to the screen of a TV set. At the rear is a pair of quite nice binding posts. Yes, one pair not the usual two. This isn’t because Vecteur is trying to save money, but because the minimum phase crossover places the woofer and the tweeter in series, as in the illustration below (the illustration is ours, not the company’s). Biwiring is of course pointless with this scheme. We selected five LP’s, listened to them through our Alpha system, and then substituted the Espace speakers. The first of these is a handful: the title composition from the Dallas Wind Symphony’s Trittico. Even the CD has dangerous energy, and the LP borders on savagery. Through our 3a MS5 reference speakers, the brass, woodwinds and percussion had weight and power not unlike that of the live ensemble. Through the Vecteurs... Well, what did you expect? That it would produce a pale shadow of the original? Well it didn’t. The ensemble still had a lot of energy that seemed at odds with the narrow, almost genteel, look of the speakers. The brass still spat fire. These are speakers that are light on their feet, handling quick transients with speed and aplomb. Yet we could hardly complain about the bottom end, from which much of the music’s emotional impact comes. All of this high intensity music was well situated in space...as you would expect from the speakers’ model name. (This is an excerpt from the full review of the inexpensive Espace speakers, from UHF No. 63. To read the entire article, just order issue 63 at our secure server.) Complete articles from this issue: Soundproofing, Big Screen TV's to Stay Away From, Passion A11, State of the Art Excerpted articles from this issue: Comparing the Incomparable: Listening in the Store, Antique Sound Lab Leyla, Vecteur Espace, Two Interconnects, Five Speaker Cables, Four Power Cords [TABLE OF CONTENTS] [BACK HOME]