There are very few speakers (if any) in the $20,000 – $25,000 range that looks as gorgeous as this pair of Wave 40 from Soundkaos. Fully made in Switzerland by the artisan audio manufacturer, Soundkaos, the Wave 40 is everything you would expect from a Swiss manufacturer – first class built quality, top end materials used, a mind boggling wood curing process to “bend” the cabinets on this speaker so perfectly and the engineering behind them to achieve the very intriguing sound from these speakers. The speakers are actually monitors that are mounted over the matching stand (it will not stand otherwise with conventional stands). Each speaker has a fixed speaker cables that comes out from it and into a standalone crossover box via a special connector. From the other side of the crossover box, there are two regular binding posts where your speaker cables are connected to (spades or bananas). These speakers work best in a “uncluttered” room. Ideal setting would be a free space on the end of the room where the speakers are positioned. If you notice the “waves” on the speaker cabinets, they all contribute to the way the sound travels to your listening position. So the less interaction the “waves” has with objects in the way to your ears, the better. We listened to them in a well damped room with a system rack on the side, a pair of Audio Note monoblocks right next to the speakers and a sofa and this speaker/room has one of the cleanest sounding soundstage we have ever heard. Every note was accurately projected out to the sweet spot. The imaging was locked center and had impressive depth and height. Bass was tight but not overwhelming (these are speakers not for the hard core rock enthusiast) with a mildly warm midrange and clean highs. Driving these speakers are easy as they have a 94dB sensitivity and an impedance of 8 ohm. Frequency response is 50Hz to 35Khz. The bass port is a bit unconventional where it curls up inside the speaker (like a snail’s shell) but can produce a very clean bass. We had the speakers positioned where the ports face each other and that kept the bass a bit more focused in the center instead of having the LF enveloping around the speakers.
Each speaker is about 4ft tall, 14″ wide and 13″ deep and weighs about 45lbs. Cosmetically, the speakers look very good with very minor scuff marks from use. Speakers do not have a grille cover but does have a thick protective cover that you can wrap over your speakers to protect your high end investment in sound. We have the original boxes for them.
