How does exceptional sound sound?
Music
Firstly we listen and watch several Blu-Ray concerts of the David Foster Blu-Ray Hitman. The sonic image convinces with a very open and spacious character. A nice balance is offered in the listening room (80m2/860ft2) of Hifi Corner Schoten, the headquarters of Hifi Corner Trading. Voices are suspended loosely in the air, and are displayed with much detail. Michael Bublé, Peter Cetera, Josh Groben, Celine Dion, Andrea Bocelli… They are simply inside the room singing live. The lows have such dimension and dynamics that you’re automatically in the atmosphere of a live performance. Some songs are known for the peaks in the voices. Your hairs raise spontaneously when the lows exert the same impact, force and pressure. Many others system fail on this part. Never do you get the feeling the lows come from the corner woofers, rather you get the feeling they come from the small S-15 speakers.
Next up is Andrea Bocelli with Vivere. A fantastic evening concert in cosy Tuscany, where Andrea performs with several musical friends of his. It becomes clear that, during several duets, both Bocelli and his partner’s voices are completely separate. The system sounds best when you keep it on a decent level. During a classical concert you reach 90dB quickly, so let’s not even talk about amped up (pop)concerts. You can keep turning the remote… on a certain moment we even reach 100dB. Oddly enough, it doesn’t feel like it. There’s no need to grasp your ears to protect them. Not at all! This is because the sound is so very pure, without any deformation. Sound colours are perfectly translated from disc. What’s on there is what’s out there. No more, no less. The voicing ‘music’ is very nice. The hardness from the mids is lessened a bit (±2dB at 2kHz). Depending from disc to disc, the result can be that bit better.
Film
It’s party time! We immediately choose for a scene from 2012 in which a family has to use a big black limousine to reach an airfield. In the mean time, the Armageddon is literally happening. This is a great scene! It is completely packed with surround sounds, explosions, dynamic contrast, specific sounds and lows. You’re not watching the film. With the Steinway-Lyngdorf S Series you experience it. The placement of the surround sounds is so accurate it’s unbelievably impressive. All lows come from the 2xS-210 woofers (the lows of the S-15 speakers + LFE Channel), but it doesn’t sound like that. Explosions happen right next to you, behind you, to your left… I’ve never felt such placement and realism. The chosen sound track is DTS Master HD.
From the Iron Man 2 movie we choose a scene in which Iron Man, together with his alter ego has to take on a small army of iron robots. During the grand finale the ultimate duel happens. A lot of attention was given to the soundtrack of this movie. Thanks to the Steinway-Lyngdorf S Series system the sound is more realistic than ever. Footsteps of the different robots sounds across the room and rumble you out of your chair. But, equally, the most refined sound of a small brook is easily recognisable. You feel as if you are in a true 3D surround bubble with full HD sound. The chosen sound track is DTS Master HD.
Whoever is in the mood for an extra kick during a film screening can choose for the voicing ‘action’ or ‘movie’, or even ‘action + movie’. A simple press on the iPad takes care of that.
