After establishing initial contact by phone, I met the developer during the fair in Warsaw, where he demonstrated the Pirol in a rather small hotel room. While the speakers saw their woofers radiating to the side walls of the room and the walls standing too close anyway, the lows in the end sounded a bit too euphonic for my taste, making me doubt that the Pirol would ever feel comfortable in my listening room. And when I asked for their physical weight I felt that a review was beyond any means. But despite my objections, the developer remained thoroughly relaxed and explained to me that he was in possession of an electric stair lift for completing such transport activities, and also readily admitted that the level of the bass had been set a bit too lavishly, in order to still make enough impact even when giving the system only that cursory listening very common at trade fairs. Less than five minutes and some typing on trackpad and keyboard of his laptop computer later, the Pirol proved that, despite its opulent membrane surface and its placement close to the walls, it could perform very accurate, controlled and melodious in the low frequency ranges even in a rather small room: I therefore invited Michael Plessmann and his Pirol to my listening room.

But when he arrived at my front door with his companion, the aforementioned electric stair lift and two huge flightcases, I wasn't so sure anymore whether the invitation had really been a good idea. But the closely-knit duo – or trio, if one may include the stair lift – managed the transport up to the third floor, though bridging the first two by an elevator, not particularly in style, but with routine and skill. Now that these whoppers arrived in my listening room, their active modules get their power from two Audioquest Tornado, while the two preamp outputs of the fantastic Audio Exklusiv R7 supply both the Einstein power amplifier and the bass electronics of the Pirol.

The moment, or better, minutes of truth are approaching: In the case of previously unknown components or components that have only been heard under trade fair conditions, the first few minutes decide whether testing them is an obligation or a pleasure. Regardless of conscientious fine-tuning, a familiar test track will quickly reveal if a transducer fits the room as well as your own preferences. After just a few tones the Pirol has won me over: There are no tonal anomalies and despite the pleasantly intense bass foundation the speakers play very lively and captivating. You are well aware of the phenomenon: If a speaker indulges you with a lot of low frequency energy, it often seems a bit sluggish and rhythmically less exciting. Not in the case of the Pirol: It performs extremely enthusiastic and doesn’t leave the listener indifferent. By now it's clear to me: Michael Plessmann must have thought through some matters extremely well. But that doesn't necessarily mean, that the Pirol wouldn't positively respond to some fine-tuning or even more profound modifications. But more on that later. At least I am sure that the further occupation with the Soundspace Systems will pan out to be the more sensual part of my work.