While eating breakfast at the buffet in the Radisson Blu Sobieski hotel at the Audio Video Show in Warsaw, I tend to sit in roughly the same quadrant each day and from year to year. This section is usually occupied by representatives of several manufacturers—notably Kostas Metaxas and the chaps from Falcon Acoustics.
I’ve always felt vaguely uncomfortable around Metaxas, not because he’s rude or unpleasant in any way. Quite the contrary, he’s warm and welcoming, pleasant almost to a fault. But there’s an intensity smoldering behind his eyes, and it’s immediately apparent that he’s frighteningly intelligent. For some reason, that intensity makes me feel like I’m nowhere near as smart, with only my narrow talent for assembling words in a pleasing order.
At past Audio Video Show events, Metaxas has held court in a small room with only static displays of his incredible CNC-machined sculptures—a tape deck or a humanoid headphone amplifier.
This year, at the Florida International Audio Expo, Reel Sound, the US distributor of Metaxas & Sins (that’s Metaxas’s company name, which really is Metaxas & Sons, but he’s twisted it into a pun, given that his offspring are the fruit of his sins, get it?), was displaying, for the first time in North America, a complete Metaxas system, playing real music. The result was absolutely gob-smacking. Forget the sound for a moment. The system sounded great, but that’s not the point.
I’d seen renderings and photos of Metaxas’s speakers before, but experiencing the Siren speakers ($128,000 per pair, all prices in USD) in the flesh was truly arresting. Each speaker is CNC-machined from one solid block of aluminum. The organic, humanoid, sexy form made it impossible to ignore the speakers and just concentrate on the music. Listening to this system was a totally immersive audio-visual experience.
Beside the Siren speakers, the system included the Solitaire integrated amplifier ($41,000), looking like a Romulan Bird of Prey, and the Tourbillion reel-to-reel player ($49,000). Sitting and listening to this system, and looking at it, I felt like I was watching and listening to an actual performance.
Oh—that amp. It’s not just a pretty face. It’s a class-AB design that cranks out 150Wpc. With a chassis CNC’d from a solid chunk of aluminum, the Solitaire weighs in at around 70 pounds. Just look at it. The specifications fade in importance when faced with this beautiful form.
Fronted by the Siren’s Accuton drivers, the system sounded terrific—lively and neutral, with very good bass and a crisp, unfatiguing top end. Close to world-class sound, I’d say, but really, this system is form superseding function. I don’t think it’s possible for any system to sound as good as this combination of components looks.
Each Metaxas & Sins component is made to order in the Netherlands, so finishes and materials can be specified to suit the purchaser. You want the speakers made from copper or titanium instead of aluminum? Well sure—just ask.
How absolutely lovely.
Jason Thorpe
Senior Editor, SoundStage!
