Loudspeaker: Duo Capable from Langerton tion and marketing of the loudspeakers. a turn on. From time to time I get back to This technology recalls the top Ascendo mo- Audio Engineer Walter T. Langer, who has my feet and run my hand over the housing dels, and is it any wonder? His name is always mentioned when you‘re been working closely and co-developing and its elegant angles. The finish is of the The inner sound columns house a Swans talking about exceptional loudspeaker de- alongside Norbert Heinz for more than a highest level. It speaks of careful attention ribbon tweeter. The external columns feature signs: Norbert Heinz. The former co-owner decade, operates the sister company of the to detail and the highest level of precision. two mid/high frequency drivers by Seas. As of Ascendo and the developer of legendary same name, Langerton, Equipment and Here it is by no means coincidence that the has been proven in practice, tonally this is converters such as the M-S, M-F2 or Z-F3 Cables Division. He is credited with signal ethos of the chosen design is: form follows an extremely harmonious combination. Fur- systems is now going his own path. He has connections such as the NF2 Quint, NF3 function. I have often heard this claim within thermore, the loudspeaker is designed as a found his new home with the South German Quart or NL 2 - all now found in the MK 2 ver- the Hifi industry, but only very seldom has it 2-way bass reflex system. luxury manufacturer Langerton, that is, with sion. They are without doubt among the best been so resolutely pursued and implemen- The positive overall impression of the Duo Walter T. Langer and Andreas B. Krebs. of their kind that the market has to offer. The ted, as is the case with Langerton. Capable continues in the interior. The filter R&D by 4C is Norbert Heinz‘s research and product range also includes speaker stands, Anyone who decides to go with the Duo units used are excellent and, according to development company. Andreas B. Krebs is bases and pucks. The harmonious relation- Capable must of course have the correspon- Andreas B. Krebs, are produced in-house. the Head of the Langerton Configurations ships already in place internally within the ding space and budget. You don‘t get quality On the whole, the design sets its self apart Division, and is responsible for the produc- company evidently bear much fruit externally. like this for nothing. The system‘s two con- through its considerably reduced intermodu- tion and marketing of the loudspeakers. In every respect, the Duo Capable dread- verter columns are each mounted on their lation and a high efficiency of 94 dB. This in nought from Trautskirchen makes its pre- own massive base plates, which on the one turn opens up numerous combination possi- sence felt. Four powerful sound columns hand provide increased stability and effecti- bilities to the audiophile listener. For when it blend nicely into the visual appearance of the ve decoupling, and on the other allows them comes to amplifiers, the Duo Capable is very listening room. The design bears the signa- to be moved relative to one another. Thus open-minded. Muscle man or sophisticated ture of earlier models from Norbert Heinz. the chassis runtimes can be mechanically connoisseur: This loudspeaker always shows by Marco Kolks How could it be any different? I make no se- adjusted to a high level of accuracy to suit electronics in their best light. What is impor- cret of the fact that I love this angular, fully the listening room and seating position. tant is that the upstream equipment is of high stripped back Bauhaus design. In piano quality. Raising the bar black, I don‘t know anything that is more of Then the full potential is realised. Notewor- thy results are produced when paired with Quad components or the Cambridge de- vices tuned by Klang und Kunst. The louds- Sound Tip peaker reacts smoothly and powerfully to Paul O’Brien the Offerte RG 10 MK IV from Symphonic Long may You sing Line. Among my personal favourites when Stockfisch enjoying some easy listening are the subtle SACD tube amplifiers by Consequence Audio and the Satie MK III power amplifier. There is no more beautiful way to express In terms of sound quality, the cabling makes your thanks to a country than that of Paul a big difference. And not only the cabling O‘Brien with his album „Long may You between the amplifier and the converter, but sing“. A homage to Canada, the country also the connection between the bass mo- that accepted him and his Family ten dule, which is also connected to the ampli- years ago, when they immigrated from fier, and the tweeter unit. Depending on the England to start a new life there. At the signal chain, you have to be careful that the same time, this album is also a sentimen- focus of the cabling is not too soft. Van den tal tribute to many musicians and sing/ Hul-, Nordost-Pendants, or the considerab- songwriters produced by this country. Neil ly more expensive option, Phonosophie, are Young, whose cover inspired the album ideal. I am sure that there are many other title, Joni Mitchell whose 70th birthday options available within this sector. Paul O‘Brien marked with a recording of Installation is somewhat complicated and is her song „Big yellow Taxi“, Bruce Cock- therefore best left to Langerton themselves. burn is honoured with the wonderful Incidentally, a team from the company deli- „Pacing the cage“ and, alongside many vers each pair of loudspeakers personally. other adaptations of songs from excepti- A service that should not be underestima- onal artists, a cover of Leonard Cohen‘s ted. No-one knows the speakers better than hymn „Hallelujah“ could not be left out. Langerton themselves. I am sure that And- „Long may You sing“ is contemplative and reas B. Krebs and Walter T. Langer listen beautiful music. Paul O‘Brien has crea- just as carefully when visiting all of their ted unusual sounds, that compel you to customers as they did when visiting me. A pause and enjoy. As always, Stockfisch few centimetres forwards, backwards, to the has produced an SA-CD, a hybrid that side and careful angling-in finally produce can be played on normal CD players, with the desired result. The angling of speakers exceptional quality and, first and fore- to suit the listening room makes a big diffe- most, bursting with nuance. For there is rence and results in focussed playback and plenty of nuance to be heard, such as the The loudspeaker columns can be moved relative buzz when playing with a bottleneck or to one another. Langerton thus achieves optimal the gentle breathiness in his voice. chassis runtimes Alongside the various lacquers, different veneers are also available. The speaker columns stand on oversized bases, Listening Experience cessing and the better the balance of the which serve to provide stability but also contribute Now it‘s not just at the sweet spot that components is. On the other hand, it is easy to an optimised resonance behaviour. the Duo Capable sounds amazing. Moving to detract from the quality of this sound con- slightly away from the sweet spot there are version. A tired amplifier, a shrill cable, a still no dry eyes in the house. Admittedly, it metallic-sounding headshell - in these and appealing sound. For the Duo Capable, your must be noted: Anyone who wants neigh- similar cases the system will sound less than listening room cannot be on the small side. bourhood-blasting volumes should still go perfect. However, without doubt, credit must Ideally you should allow one and a half me- for transistor electronics. In this respect the be given to the ability of the Duo Capable to tres from the back wall to the speaker, a lis- Duo Capable is a speaker that manages to demonstrate how good a signal chain is. Not tening distance of 3 metres and one metre satisfactorily serve different masters to an many speakers can do this to this extent. of empty space behind the listener - and you equal extent. Gentle, beautiful, discrimina- Bass and the lower frequency range are dry, should definitely make sure to allow yourself ting with regard to sound, there are also op- clearly contoured and have astounding pres- these additional few metres - meaning you tions such as pure dynamics, vibrancy and sure. Even in the lowest bass range, in the require a room length of around five metres. freshness. bottom octaves, I am not left wanting when a natural sense of auditory space. Thus Because the system, which is rather heavy, is In fact, listening enjoyment increases vast- it comes to substance. Piano recordings, es- the impression of an artificial reproduction not simple to install - in particular, the moving ly over time. This is something that those pecially those of grand pianos with extremely when listening to orchestral music, where, of the system columns must be meticulously interested should definitely take on board. low tones and plucked bass are well suited to for example, musicians appear to be sitting executed - contrary to my usual habit I deci- For this is the only way that you will come to give you an idea of the potential of this spea- several metres away from one another, is ded not to install the Duo Capable in one of appreciate the philosophy of fine-tuning on ker. Whether you are an audiophile or just lis- avoided. The focus lies on achieving a ho- my other listening rooms. So I am still yet to a permanent basis. The Duo Capable brings ten to bog standard recordings (The Classic mogeneous, colourful and emotionally enjoy this experience. increased pleasure the better the pulse pro- Trio, Sharp Nine Records, CD 1005-2),

People should pursue their passion - this is his conviction. The product: At 21 he got to know Norbert Heinz and Loudspeaker: Duo Capable provided him with technical advertising sup- Price: from 36,000 Euro port with Ascendo, beginning in 1999. After Drivers: 2, Bass Reflex leaving Ascendo, Norbert Heinz asked him Tweeters: Swans ribbon whether he wanted to look after production Height: 1.30 metres and marketing for his new developments. Efficiency: 94 dB/1 m Power rating: 190 Watts Who´s who: At the hifi- deluxe trade fair, he introduced 4 speaker housings, can be moved relative to one another Andreas B. Krebs Langerton speakers to an international au- dience. He is currently developing 3 distribu- Weight: heavy Andreas B. Krebs, born in 1963, the eldest tion channels: Public and individual Listening Mid/High frequency drivers: Seas son of an art teacher, is a classically trai- Sessions in the manufacturer‘s showroom Colours: on request ned photographer, and subsequently built in Trautskirchen Castle, a network of distri- Sales: up a successful résumé within the adverti- butors in Germany and international distribu- Langerton Configuration Division, Andreas B. Krebs sing industry. However, because alongside tion. However, the most important thing for Schloss Trautskirchen, Schlossstraße 16, 90619 Trautskirchen the visual image his passion was always for him is to make sure that the developments Tel.: +49(0)9107-9257275, Fax: +49(0)91079249966 music - mainly listening to music rather than from Norbert Heinz with the Langerton brand E-Mail: [email protected] playing - he looks after the production and receive the top international recognition that Website: www.langerton.de marketing of Langerton products, in particu- they deserve. This is something he feels ob- lar the loudspeaker systems. liged to do. Layout of the Hörerlebnis room. Sitting in the high-end Jazz coating (Edgar Knecht, „Dance listening chair, Audio Engineer Walter Langer on deep waters“, Ozella). The grand piano focusses on precise alignment. on „Lilofee“, „Das Wiegenlied“ which revisits Brahms or „Schwesterlein“ (here including the grand piano and bass have a rich rumb- bass) sound powerful, yet are executed with le, with power and volume, the low registers precision. The Duo Capable is an example are contoured, the piano attack is springy of the fact that precision in the lower range („You make me feel so young“; „Sweet an does not have to be accompanied with a lack lovely“). Now a serious question: Who has of substance. Nothing hits you in the face, listened to any German folk songs recently? nothing gives you a bad feeling in your sto- What, you don‘t listen to that type of thing? mach, no thumps or hums, no snatching at There probably aren‘t many who do. Howe- effects that aren‘t even on the CD. Musically ver, there is a reason for audiophiles to get trained listeners will love the authenticity. stuck in and listen to some German tradi- The Duo Capable throws out difficult vocal tional songs once again. This is because sounds such as the „s“ or „z“ with ease. The pianist Edgar Knecht and the members of tweeter positively dissects Paul O‘Brien‘s his quartet, Rolf Denecke on bass, Ste- slight lisp („Long may you sing“; Stockfisch) phan Emig (percussion) and Tobias Schulte in „Silvia‘s River“ („..shine tonight... dreams (drums) wrap up German folk songs in a of yesterday .see it all“).

Sound Tip Chet Baker David Hazeltine, Edgar Knecht But not for me Peter Washington, Dance on Deep Waters Random Chance Records/CD Chet Baker, Louis Hayes Ozilla/LP/CD the popular, chilled out trumpeter with the The Classic Trio On this recording by Edgar Knecht, origina- appearance of a film star was already a Sharp Nine Records lity and the best in sound quality go hand in star by the age of twenty-three. After being hand. The small, sophisticated label Ozilla discharged from the army, he played with This album has the flair of the 60s. It is phrasing, creating slick, harmonious links was right to go with this one. Traditional Charlie Parker 1952 on the West Coast and now the third album from the Classic Trio, into his effortlessly flowing solos. His tone melodies such as „Heißes Kathreinerle“ or then joined the Gerry Mulligan Quartet. The consisting of pianist David Hazeltine, bas- sometimes brings to mind Dexter Gordon „Wiegenlied“ in a jazz style. This is so- recording of „My Funny Valentine“ became a sist Peter Washington and drummer Louis and Jimmy Heath. Then bop breaks out mething you don‘t hear often, and never national sensation and is considered emble- Hayes. Saxophonist Eric Alexander was si- again (Tadd Dameron´s „Our Delight“) and performed so beautifully. Together with Rolf matic of the fragile sound of the Chet Baker gned up as a guest musician; perhaps one in the trendy rendition of Stevie Wonder´s Denecke (bass), Tobias Schulte (drums) bugle. Since then his popularity has continu- of the hottest young jazz saxophonists out „Knocks Me Off My Feet“ the saxophonist and Stephan Emig (percussion), Edgar ed to grow, to a lesser extent due to his wild there. Hazeltine‘s style is bop-based, cha- lives up to his excellent reputation. Drummer Knecht captivates the listener, intoxicating lifestyle. This CD, first released in 1994, was racterised by a strong sense of stimulation. Louis Hayes earned his spots in Horace him with sound. As such, there is a lot only produced after the death of Chet Baker The Trio‘s rhythmic abilities are reminiscent Silver´s Quintet (1956-1959), the Cannonball waiting to be discovered on the CD. As and is an important addition to his disco- of the classic Hayes-Joe Zawinul-Sam Adderley Quintet (1959-1965) and in the well as arrangements that are interesting graphy. It is a historic re-issue of a fantastic Jones rhythm section from Cannonball Oscar Peterson Trio (1965-1967). in terms of content, Ozilla invites you to an studio session from 1982. Adderley. Alexander delivers smooth audiophile‘s journey of sound, and on both CD and LP. The previous album „Good Morning Lilofee“ is also a must-listen. The slight lisp comes through clearly. You And so it was a logical step to also record The solo voice and the guitar are free and Analog Devices: Transrotor Fat Bob Reference; know how much saliva the singer has in his her song „Big Yellow Taxi“ as a dedication to clear. And of course the trumpet is the Tone arms: SME V (Inner wiring Clearaudio), SME 2- 12-Zoll, SME 2-9-Zoll; mouth. Instruments that lie in the high- to her. O‘Brien has now been living in Cana- same. Chet Baker likes to use only the lo- Pick-Up systems: Stein Music Aventurin 6, mid-tone range, such as the guitar, almost da with his wife and three children for nine wer two thirds of his instrument („But not for Transfiguration New Spirit, The Cartridge Man, show off in terms of the immense level of years. me“; Random Chance Records; A reissue Flair from Phonosophie; CD-Player: Phonosophie Impuls 2 and Power detail. (Paul O‘Brien chose the title for his The Duo Capable holds a genuine fascina- of a great 1982 Studio Session“) and this Control 3, Trigon Recall MK II; Cambridge 650 C record himself. This collection of pieces is tion for those who want a balanced, room- very fact becomes clear. The playback has by Klang und Kunst the audible equivalent of a child in a sweet filling, discriminating and emotionally ap- warmth and substance. At lower volumes, Pre-Amp: Phonosophie Bi-Control 2 and Power shop, says the musician. To get the oppor- pealing sound. The mids are another strong the instruments withdraw to just behind the Control 3; Phono-Stage: Phonsophie and Power Control 2; tunity to be able to search our your favo- point. The listener is almost immersed in this speakers, only to burst forwards again when Power Amp: Phonosophie Bi-Stage 4/4; urite songs by Canadian musicians for a musically important range. His attention is the volume increases. However, this is down Integrated Amp: Symphonic Line RG 10 MK IV production is the most beautiful experience focussed on everything that lies within this to the quality of the CD, rather than the play- Referenz; Cambrige 650 A by Klang und Kunst Speakers: Audiophysic Avantera, ASW Genius that he could have had as a singer.) These range: the human voice, guitars. I would back performance of the Duo Capable. All it 401, Jupiter von Duevel Lautsprecher, C5 MK II are songs penned by Canadian composers even go as far as to say that music playback does is show precisely which software has von Ascendo; such as Bruce Cockburn, Gordon Lightfoot comes alive in the mid-range. And this is been connected to it. Cables (NF/LS/Mains); NF: Phonosophie, Klang und Kunst NF 3 S12; TMR Ramses or Neil Young, whose song „Long May You something that the listener will appreciate In terms of three-dimensionality, the Duo Phono Cables: HMS-Phonokabel Grand Finale Run“ also inspired the title of the album, re- about this speaker: Pulses are accurate and Capable performs well on the day. If this is Jubliee, Sun- Wire (3 x), Peter Feldmann Elekt- leased under Stockfisch Records. he idea the mids rich in detail. not the case, it should be remembered that ronik, for the record supposedly came about du- the correct set up in the listening room is LS: Phonosophie, Phonosophie Bi-Amping Adap- tors, Bastanis Epilog, Artkustik, Klang und Kunst ring preparations for the seventieth birthday critical - it‘s like teaching a driver to park a LS3 S12, of Joni Mitchell. Andreas B. Krebs (behind) and Walter T. Langer 7.5 tonne vehicle in a parking space. That is Mains: Klang und Kunst NK 3 S12, Phonosophie, assembling the base. my own personal opinion. I am simply con- Artkustik, Mains Connection Plug Boards: Phonosophie, vinced that when carrying out this task you Klang und Kunst; cannot be careful enough. Accessories Power Supply: Power Anima- Conclusion: The Duo Capable thrills liste- tor and Optimizer from Artkustik, Phonosophie Wanddosen AG, Phonosophie Fuses and Fuse ners with its clarity of resolution, speed and Racks; timbres that caress the listener. It has a soul Accessories Bases: Racks from Phonosophie, that cannot be found in many alternative LS-Stands Metalldesign Liedtke, SSC-Bases and systems, and anyone with an open mind will Pucks, Klang und Kunst KB3-S10 Accessories digital: CD-Stone Phonosophie; appreciate this. With regard to its dimensi- Accessories analog: Animatorchips from Pho- ons, a certain amount of space is required. nosophie, Blue Light Source Phonosophie, Audio You need good amplifiers; this is important. Animator and Cable animators MK II-Versions from Art Akustik, Fuses (Fuse Box) from Pho- However, with the Duo Capable you can nosophie; Room Tuning: Corner Pyramids from then enjoy music in a way that is possible Phonosophie, Room Animator MK II from Artkus- with very few other speakers. For anyone tik, Harmonizer from Stein Music; Phonosphie- who has grasped this for themselves, the Chips at Windows and Glass Picture Frames; price won‘t detract from their desire to have one either. When it comes to loudspeakers, the bar has been raised. MK