Demograf Audio full-range loudspeakers: an owner’s review

In June 2015 an owner on an audiophile forum replaced his loudspeakers with a pair of full-range loudspeakers built by Dmitriy Gubchenko on 4A-32U4 drivers. He brought them home in the evening, set them up and listened until one in the morning, then wrote about it the next day. His report is short, but it describes the qualities that draw listeners to full-range designs, and the room problems that come with them.

This review is summarised and translated from an owner’s post on an audiophile forum. It is the subjective view of its author, not a measurement or a claim of Demograf Audio.

What was reviewed

The loudspeakers are an earlier custom build: full-range loudspeakers on 4A-32U4 drivers, a full-range type, made for this owner. They are not a current catalogue model. The full-range loudspeakers Demograf Audio builds today are listed at the end of this article.

Sound in the owner’s room

Tonal balance and bass

He describes the sound as slightly dark, with too much bass. He puts this down mainly to his room: the left loudspeaker stands in a corner, and both are almost against the wall. Even so, he found the sound soft and rich, and the excess bass did not spoil it for him.

Scale and musicality

What won him over was the scale of the stage and the musicality. On jazz, world music, vocals and small classical ensembles, he writes, the presentation is so engaging that he stopped caring about any shortcomings.

Engagement

He calls them a music lover’s loudspeaker, and found it hard to stop listening. On the first evening he was still getting used to the new sound, and he expected to live with this pair for a long time.

Room and placement

The owner is candid that his room is far from ideal: these loudspeakers, he writes, need space. The effect he describes is a familiar one. A loudspeaker close to a wall, and more so in a corner, receives reinforcement from the boundaries in the bass, and the balance becomes heavier and darker. Moving the loudspeakers out from the walls, keeping the two positions symmetrical and avoiding corners usually brings the bass back into proportion. Our article on getting the most from loudspeakers covers placement step by step.

What full-range loudspeakers ask of an amplifier

A full-range loudspeaker reproduces most of the audio band from one driver, without a crossover in the signal path. Many full-range designs are sensitive enough to play at domestic levels on a few watts, which is why they are commonly paired with single-ended triode amplifiers. The trade-offs are also well known: limited output in the deepest bass, and a sound that depends strongly on the room. Our guide to loudspeakers for single-ended amplifiers explains how to match the two.

Summary

This is a first-evening report, written before the owner had found the right place for his loudspeakers. He heard a slightly dark balance with too much bass, which he blamed on corner placement, and a scale and musicality on jazz, vocals and chamber music that outweighed it for him. Listeners considering full-range loudspeakers should plan for the space they need, and audition them away from the walls.

Which Demograf Audio piece fits

Demograf Audio builds one full-range loudspeaker today: Perseus MkII uses Supravox 215-EXC field-coil full-range drivers. Orpheus is a three-way floor-standing loudspeaker with AER drivers and a crossover, 103 dB. For the lowest octaves, the Zeus subwoofer can be added.

For amplification, Solaria, a 2 W single-ended integrated amplifier on 45 triodes, and Atlas, a 5 W single-ended amplifier on 300B triodes, suit high-sensitivity full-range loudspeakers. Every Demograf Audio loudspeaker is made to order by Dmitriy Gubchenko and covered by a one-year warranty (extra warranty available: +1 or +2 years).