This is the Counterpoint discussion, but as it seems like this thread has established itself as the main one for all about Bayz, I´m posting my impressions on the Courante (with 2.0 drivers) in here.
I have had the Courantes for three weeks now in my living room and spent the first two weeks with burning them in (yes, there was a very significant burn-in effect) and fixing some room issues. Unfortunately, the speakers are exciting my room in an unfortunate way on every position I can feasibly place them, resulting in a modal peak around 70Hz and a null around 110Hz. I guess the backfiring bass ports might play a role in this problem. Zoltán sent me port plugs which helped significantly, I added a pair of active bass traps and had to apply some digital room correction (via Acourate) to fix the issue. With all this being done, it ended up fine and critical listening could start.
First of all, I have to say, these are omni speakers. Like with all other omnis, I have auditioned (maybe the big MBLs to a lesser extent), the Bayz don´t jump directly at you on macro dynamic changes like big regular dynamic speakers do. Whether you consider this a con or a pro is up to the listener´s taste. I for myself like this “blown away” effect in some specific cases, but mostly I consider it a hifi effect which is kind of artificial – I don´t get this effect with unamplified live music, not even with a large orchestra. You only ever get something similar (but still different) if you are standing near a blazing drumkit.
That being said, the Courantes are very dynamic speakers, indeed. Micro dynamics are off the chart, as these are easily the fastest tweeters I have ever witnessed. The tweeter can fire sounds out of nowhere so fast, it can be startling.
Macro dynamics are also very good – just different than what you might be used to. Less impact, but a more natural response. Not sure, but this might vary a bit with the room you are in.
Imaging is amazing. I know it´s sometimes hard to make omnis image nicely. I am listening to the Courantes set about 3.8 meters wide with me being about 3.6 meters away from the speakers. This results in what some might call a larger than life stage, but I like it – it´s more like 5th row in concert compared to 20th. Anyway, this setup is tough to image even with conventional speakers. But I am amazed how well the Bayz are imaging. There is nothing lacking. Courantes are able to place sonic events perfectly in the center, everywhere all across the way from center to the speakers and even outside of the speakers.
The way they present the stage, instrument placement, spaciousness, recorded reverb and so on is very unique to each piece of music. I was browsing through my music library and discovering subtle differences I have never noticed before. Different recordings sound vastly different in this regard. Whether a voice sounds small and pinpointed or broad and large, whether its placed far back on the stage or intimately close – there is a huge variety. Same goes for the instruments and overall ambience. Every track is a new world to discover.
I guess one of the main strengths of these speakers is palpability. You can feel the presence of the instruments and singers in the room in an amazing way. All sonic events are clearly separated from each other (throughout the whole frequency range!) and even when playing at the same place on the stage, they are super distinguishable from each other. At the same time they are all playing together coherently and musically - it all comes together – nothing is artificially separated like e.g. when listening to good studio monitors in near field. It just sounds natural. It´s hard to describe, but it sounds “right” to my ears and feels simply musical (whatever that means).
While browsing through my music library, I noticed that I have yet to discover a track these speakers can´t render convincingly. I have a very broad taste in very different genres. And with all previous speakers of mine, there have always been tracks which I just did not like sonically on these specific speakers. But with the Courantes, all of them are fine. Of course, they absolutely shine with acoustic instruments and voices. But I also like their presentation of electronic music which obviously has been artificially designed for regular dynamic speakers. The rendering is still very exciting. And they have pretty deep and impactful bass – much more than I had expected from only two small woofers. I don´t know where they are fetching this bass from.
Ok, all of this being said, the most important thing about speakers is whether they are able to reach me emotionally. In the end, it´s about music, not about hifi. And this is where the Courantes left me deeply impressed. When closing my eyes, it doesn´t take long and I am completely forgetting that I am listening to speakers. I sink into the music and drift away. You know, there is this calm state – almost like meditating – where there is nothing in this moment but you and the music? I have never heard a speaker which lets me sink into this state as easily as the Bayz. It´s almost a superpower of them. And in these moments, everything is there – all the emotions, the goosebumps, the joy and sadness – they are playing right into my heart. And these are the highest accolades I can give them.
