Amphion Argon1 is a stand-mounting loudspeaker made by a company from Finland which products have visited our premises previously. Quite some time ago we reviewed the pro-audio inclined One18 and then more domestically inclined use Argon3S. At the same time, the reviewed here Argon1 model is interesting itself, since it’s placed directly under the 3S version, it’s also a bit smaller, yet it still isn’t the smallest one from the entire Argon line-up. Because in the entire Argon line the manufacturer from the Finnish Telkkistentie can offer us the Argon0 model. That one is actually more dedicated for a desktop use, especially bearing in mind the size of the midwoofer, which in that particular case has 10 cm in diameter. Please also notice that Amphion also has even more affordable Helium line, which is also dedicated for home (or call it “hi-fi” if you like) usage. That one has less ambitious aspirations, yet is still is a serious offering. And then there’s the Krypton flagship model, which is, on the other hand, a very serious piece of loudspeaker which has – and this is what this one particular manufacturer has got us already accustomed to – quite a few unusual (and also practical) design solutions.
Meanwhile, let’s get back to the Argon line itself, which includes the speakers we review here. Because it would be worth taking a closer look at the differences between the models that are both higher and lower in the hierarchy. And, also at the differences between the Argon and the Helium lines. Compared to the Argon3S model the reviewed here “ones” don’t have the passive radiator on the back of the enclosure. They have a bass-reflex port instead. Moreover, they are smaller, slightly lighter and have smaller midwoofer drivers. And also a bit smaller waveguides around the tweeters. Yet the actual drivers are quite similar, especially from the technological standpoint.
Since in both the 3S and in the 1 models (and also in the smallest 0) we are dealing with the tweeters sporting a titanium diaphragms (we will get to this soon). And, analogically, the midwoofer drivers have aluminium membranes, yet they can be differentiated by the diameter. In 3S there are 6.5 inches (roughly 17 cm) drivers, in Argon1s their diameter is 5.25 inch. And in the smallest 0 model we got 4.5 inch midwoofers, which translates to around 10 centimeters. This makes them more suitable for a near-field listening, especially desktop. Or as a rear channels in the surround system. What is at the same time interesting, is the fact that all of the Argon line models have not only aluminium membranes of the midwoofer drivers (and titanium for tweeters), but also an unusually low crossover point – at 1600 Hz.
I usually mention such things later on in the technical description part of the review, but in the case of the Finnish speakers I would like to emphasize something from a get-go. While Argon1 is a bit smaller than the previously reviewed 3S model, it is still a thoroughbred Amphion with all its particular and not that often-found design choices. This is not your usual off-the-shelf speaker where someone took some drivers, calculated crossover, and put all those ingredients together as another product in a line-up. What we are dealing here is actually very clever concept that is also fully executed here. We also have some quite radical design choices that should at least in theory result in a piston-like motion of the drivers in their respective pass-bands, thus obtaining very clear CSD (Cumulative Spectral Decay). Or, in other words, free of all those small resonances sound that should be perceived as transparent and insightful.
Looking at this from a different angle, Amphions, even looking from a purely theoretical analysis standpoint are very interesting speakers. They have some design choices that most speaker manufacturers are simply afraid of or can’t properly apply (or decided to go completely different route). Then there’s the thing with their price – at the moment it’s around 1600 Euro per pair. Argon 3S model is priced at around 3K Euro, which is considerably more. And “Zeros” are not that much cheaper than 1, because they cost around 650 Euro per one speaker (I’ll leave the math here to my readers) – their price is roughly similar to the Helium510. So, it would be logical to assume that if we look through the prism of the Amphion stand-mounters – the Argon1 seems to be one of most interesting offerings also price-wise. Therefore, let’s take a closer look at them.