Perlisten S7t Speaker Review and Measurements (Audioholics)

[Luminous White]

Perlisten is coming out with an in-wall series soon. Something to consider if you are going to go that route. I imagine they will be even better than the standalone models.

I have room for towers now, would prefer the floorstander anyway. However that is a very exciting product line. Again Wisdom and maybe Totem are the only "good" in wall or on wall that I carry. We need more.

 

[nerdoldnerdith]

I have room for towers now, would prefer the floorstander anyway. However that is a very exciting product line. Again Wisdom is one of the only "good" in walls. We need more.

The KEF Reference in-walls also look to be excellent. I'd love to see one measured.

 

[Luminous White]

The KEF Reference in-walls also look to be excellent. I'd love to see one measured.

Not a KEF fan myself, but it does look like a nice product at least. Wouldn't mind reading about it though. The more things that are tested the better.

 

[Gene DellaSala]

In a couple of months, I get a pair of Perlisten S7ts and plan on shooting them out with my Revel F328Be and new RBH Sound 8300 Prototypes. A battle of the towers if you will. Can't wait!

 

[Luminous White]

What does this actually mean? What does "fast" sound like??

It is bit of a misnomer but even so I like it. It's trying to describe a feeling of effortlessness and that every note is being realistically produced, and that energy doesn't linger too long and blur together.

 

[thewas]

Stereophile review and measurements https://www.stereophile.com/content/perlisten-s7t-loudspeaker

 

[Deleted member 4708]

Not the S7T but one of the little brothers:

Perlisten S4b Bookshelf Speaker Review

Perlisten S4b Review

www.erinsaudiocorner.com

Some of the findings (quotes from the review):

The midrange clarity is unrivaled by any speaker I have heard to date.

The directivity index is really remarkable, showing a nice linear increase above the midrange with only a few very minor points where the linearity would shift ever-so-slightly. Comparing this to other speakers I have measured, I’d say this might be the best I have measured thus far. It performs better than the LS50 Wireless II (which features a single coincident driver). The only other speaker this compares to in regard to the early reflections directivity index is the Dutch & Dutch 8C. It is worth noting the DD8C is also one of the best speakers I have ever heard but is a fully active speaker where this Perlisten is passive.

 

[TabCam]

I own Studio 2s, fwiw.

It is a pity that John Atkinson didn't comment on them as they are so close to the Magico s5 mkII. He probably needs to hear them in his own room first before he can compare the experience.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

It is a pity that John Atkinson didn't comment on them as they are so close to the Magico s5 mkII. He probably needs to hear them in his own room first before he can compare the experience.

?? Comment on the Perlistens? He rarely makes any subjective comments on devices that he measures when others do the review.

 

[TabCam]

?? Comment on the Perlistens? He rarely makes any subjective comments on devices that he measures when others do the review.

He just commented on the measurements and I understand that. As both the Perlisten and the Magico are such well engineered and exceptionally well measuring speakers that it is very interesting to read comments on them both by someone who has heard both.

 

[John Atkinson]

Also have a look at this. A review with measurements and by someone at Stereophile who actually knows what the heck he is talking about, just look at his reference system in the article for starters. He owns [Studio] 2s and said while those have a slightly better soundstage and midrange character that overall these are the best speakers he's ever tested in his room . . .

https://www.perlistenaudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/STRP_4412_PERLISTEN.pdf

Kal Rubinson's Stereophile review is available in the magazine's free online archive at https://www.stereophile.com/content/perlisten-s7t-loudspeaker

John Atkinson
Technical Editor, Stereophile

 

[Billy Budapest]

With grills on, these look like big ugly lego blocks. There may perform spectacularly but at 16k per pair, it’s hard to do see how they would merit 5 rating in terms of value.

In any context, $16,000 is a ton of money for speakers, but when the competition is priced at the mid-to-high five figures and six figures, I guess these would be considered a bargain by the people who have the means and are willing to purchase them.

 

[PEQuestrian]

Heard a pair of these today in a treated 15x20 room about 6.5 feet apart, pulled out about 6 or 7 feet from the back wall. No room correction was used. They throw an incredibly wide soundstage, to the point where the outer edges appeared to come from the upper left and right corner of the room. Standing further back, it sounded like there were side surrounds playing. Focusing on specific instruments like hi hats, you can hear that the midranges and tweeter are sitting in the middle of the vertical driver stack when you're sitting fairly close and at higher volumes, they completely over-pressurized the room so this speaker might be a bit wasted in most people's living rooms. Another observation that they need a good amount of distance and room width to shine was how sensitive they were to toe-in. Like no other speaker I've heard, the sound (at 6 feet away) changed so much it was baffling. Very unforgiving sweet spot at that distance. With just a bit of toe-out beyond being directly pointed at your years, the phantom center became audibly separated which I bet is much less of a problem further away but anyone with an MLP 6 - 8 feet out considering these should be aware of that.

My main negative though was the lacking lower bass extension. The low end really sounds rolled off early, which became very clear when listening to a couple of other speakers back to back hooked up to the same sources. I get that there may be a conscious trade-off design wise but personally, I have a really hard time justifying spending over $10K on a huge speaker and still needing subwoofers to hear acoustic or e-bass notes not disappear at the lower end. There's a difference between tight bass and rolled off bass.

I do wonder how the Arendal 1528s compare to these in terms of bass extension.

 

[Ktacos]

Heard a pair of these today in a treated 15x20 room about 6.5 feet apart, pulled out about 6 or 7 feet from the back wall. No room correction was used. They throw an incredibly wide soundstage, to the point where the outer edges appeared to come from the upper left and right corner of the room. Standing further back, it sounded like there were side surrounds playing. Focusing on specific instruments like hi hats, you can hear that the midranges and tweeter are sitting in the middle of the vertical driver stack when you're sitting fairly close and at higher volumes, they completely over-pressurized the room so this speaker might be a bit wasted in most people's living rooms. Another observation that they need a good amount of distance and room width to shine was how sensitive they were to toe-in. Like no other speaker I've heard, the sound (at 6 feet away) changed so much it was baffling. Very unforgiving sweet spot at that distance. With just a bit of toe-out beyond being directly pointed at your years, the phantom center became audibly separated which I bet is much less of a problem further away but anyone with an MLP 6 - 8 feet out considering these should be aware of that.

My main negative though was the lacking lower bass extension. The low end really sounds rolled off early, which became very clear when listening to a couple of other speakers back to back hooked up to the same sources. I get that there may be a conscious trade-off design wise but personally, I have a really hard time justifying spending over $10K on a huge speaker and still needing subwoofers to hear acoustic or e-bass notes not disappear at the lower end. There's a difference between tight bass and rolled off bass.

I do wonder how the Arendal 1528s compare to these in terms of bass extension.

Most speakers tuned neutral in the low end need shelving filters to bring it back when the speaker is 7ft from the wall.

The toe in sensitivity is probably related to the narrow dispersion in the upper range of the speaker.

 

[PEQuestrian]

Most speakers tuned neutral in the low end need shelving filters to bring it back when the speaker is 7ft from the wall.

The toe in sensitivity is probably related to the narrow dispersion in the upper range of the speaker.

No doubt and personally, I have no issue with DRC or EQ'ing, on the contrary. However, there are many - especially in the customer demographic for a $16K speaker - who categorically reject any form of room correction.

But even for those who use DRC: in my experience, flattening midrange and higher frequencies is much easier to get right than trying to dial in bass response down to below where a speaker starts to roll off. The Perlisten simply didn't reach deep enough and trying to correct for that, you're going to be fighting an uphill battle against the drivers, muddy room gain and nulls.

So if we assume a need for EQ, I don't know that I would agree that this speaker is "the best in the world?" if there are options like the Revel F326be, Legacy Audio Focus SE or - depending on their bass extension - the Arendal 1528 available in the same size and price category.