It gives the Maestro a well-balanced phase behaviour which makes it easy to power even for a tube amplifier. But the greatest possible freedom in the choice of the amplifier is guaranteed by the so-called MAPS system. The abbreviation means "Monitor and Powered Subwoofer". As the integrated amplifiers in the subwoofers with their 1000 watts take care of both the powerful 26 centimetre subwoofer drive units, the stereo amplifiers only need to power the relatively easy to control monitors. And that should easily be possible with most good solid-state or tube amplifiers. Even more difficult to find and to finance, are the amps which manage to cover the range between enormous performance and control on the one hand and music and transparency on the other hand. But the Maestro GSEs don't require this thanks to their bass electronics. A further advantage of the active concept is the possibility using switches for the level and the upper frequency limit of the woofer which can be set to between 60 and 160 hertz, to tackle the bass problems of the room. Naturally that worked exceptionally well in my listening room. The setting of both switches quite a bit in the plus range could nearly entice me never to accuse my Lumen Whites of showing a breeze of severity and a slightly overdone reservation in the higher bass range again: in this range my room simply swallows part of the radiated power. But AudioMachina leaves them well behind: after turning up the bass control they deliver so much bass energy that you won't need any more.

This naturally tempted me to pull out one or other old test LP and just to bathe in the bass. What could be better than listening to Stevie Ray Vaughn's "Tin Pan Alley" from the album Couldn't stand the weather? Tommy Shannon's E-Bass rolls pleasantly and boldly through the room but still has the necessary outlines and definitions. You'll melt away! Even though I haven't listened to the LP for a few years I can't remember such a great echo / reverberation even if I try really hard. And the guitar playing fascinates sometimes with soft flowing melodies full of detail and other times with heavy attack. Admittedly part of the dynamics and details which are so important for the feeling of space might be able to be attributed to the Lumen White Mystere turntable, but they are in the end implemented by the AudioMachina. And that is absolutely fantastic.

If it's about deep bass, then Bela Fleck's The Flight of the Cosmic Hippo springs to mind. In the track Victor Wooten's e-bass rolls raspingly into the depths of bass and with a transparency and blackness which I have never heard from a passive acoustic transducer with a ported housing before. Banjo and the electronic drums provide lots of dynamic accents and the studio delay which surrounds the individual instruments can be heard very clearly. Everything's wonderful.