'Good God, they look awful!'. That was the abrupt and no-nonsense comment a 'nouveau audiophile' cast upon these heavenly speakers only yesterday. I thought a quick drive by the local dealer's place to introduce my young, budding audiophile friend to see how the well-heeled of our avocation live would be an eye opener. As the place was busy, he never did get a chance to hear them. If he had, his critical wrath may have been appeased somewhat. For the Campaniles are, in my opinion, a fantastic sounding speaker, full of guts, gusto and advanced technology, and with a sound that once heard is likely never to be forgotten.

Bounce back a year - I received a phone call from a very excited dealer singing the praises (from the rooftops) about a new speaker from a German company. On hearing the new Campanile speaker from Acapella (from the Italian term 'a capella', meaning 'unaccompanied') at a German audio show, the discerning lady jumped at the chance to sell the huge speakers in Canada. Speakers so huge, in fact, that the review took place in the main listening space of her showroom. (I spent so much time in this room, I am sure I overstayed my welcome!) The large room easily assimilated the massive boxes and horns (240 X 72 X 97 cm/250 kg). And though my young friend cast aspersions upon their beauty, I found the large piano-black boxes and bold red horns to be very striking.

The Campanile is a 3.5 way loudspeaker, with two sealed enclosures. Each of the enclosures contains two bass drivers. Central to the speaker, and definitely pride of place, is the ION TW 1S ion plasma tweeter (glowing blue, with a 'HAL-like' intensity) and the 70cm horns, here in shocking red. Glowing blue eyes, blood red horns and jet black boxes make for a bold statement. They insist on width and height, and will totally overwhelm any décor in your listening space. Your best bet is to let them have their head, leaving you to revel in their modernity and to be besieged by their sound.

The ION tweeter is a new development by Acapella and is described by them as '…designed to reproduce the harmonics of the music as detailed as possible. To reach this goal, a design with the smallest possible mass had to be developed. Relative to its function the Acapella ion tweeter has no mass! To carry out this project, a very unusual kind of design had to be created. High voltage within the unit produces a constant arc (which can never be completely silent). This arc is modulated with the musical signal (flame oscillates with the time of the music). This is the reason why the number of electrons within the arc varies. A larger or smaller amount of electrons requires similar space. In this way, the Acapella ion tweeter is able to reproduce sound without membrane and without mass.'

The highs of the ION driver were highlights among innumerable highlights. This work of art reaches for the stars. I can attest that this glorious tweeter is significantly better than any I have heard (yes, much better than the wonderful Esotar and Gallo), and blends seamlessly with the horn/driver midrange and bass enclosures. The on-board Hartmann & Braun class A amplifier powers the signal directly from the crossover, and vibrates accordingly as a treble signal. The plasma unit's sound pressure is then amplified by the small, bronze-colored horn. The midrange is crossed to the tweeter at 5000 Hz and the Dynaudio sourced midrange driver is amplified by 10dB by the magnificent fiberglass horn. The lows are handled by upper and lower sealed enclosures housing the Seas-sourced, 10" bass drivers.

Listening took place over several very pleasant evenings. The dealer made her largest showroom available - it was here the Campaniles enjoyed the finest of company. Attaching the great beasts to the highest of high end were Cardas Golden Cross cables. These cables allowed each of the individual amplifier sources unique timbre to the fore, highlighted with exquisite accuracy by the Acapellas. Attending the cables, were tube power amplifiers from Audio Research (VTM200M tube monaural amplifiers US$15,990.00/pair.) and Manley (Neo-Classic 250 monoblock amplifiers US$9000.00/pair). Enervating the occasion was the magnificent Boulder 2060 solid-state, stereo amplifier (600 w/channel US$36,000.00). What a treat. Some of the finest power sources in the business, pre amplified by Audio Research (REF 2 Mk II tube preamplifier w/remote. US$9,995.00) and led musically by the Amazon Model One turntable (accompanied by Eveanna Manley's fab Steelhead phono stage) and the Audio Research CD3 top-loading CD player (US$4,995.00). Heaven, indeed. As such, be very aware of the quality of your ancilliary equipment for these speakers will show detail beyond what has yet been imagined, and in the most musical way.

My mini journey with the Campaniles began with a powerful introduction -- via Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. This seminal work served the introduction perfectly. At times, visicious, then delicate (in an amazing performance by the Kirov Orchestra under Valery Gergiev -- Philips 468035), the Rite demonstrated the extraordinary capabilities of the Acapella and the electronics. I've only played the Rite twice, and both times much of the First Part (The Adoration of the Earth) had this flutist feeling levitated from the visceral energy of 120 flailing musicians. It was amazing to be in the middle of that energy. Sitting in front of the Campaniles led me back to those performances. I cranked them to incredibly loud, almost ridiculous levels, and they didn't flinch. I didn't quite feel levitated, but every hair, every emotion, every muscle that could be thrilled, was! It was right after the final, orgiastic slam that I knew that this introduction must develop into full review.

When I returned to the dealer for lengthy listening, it was with fists bulging with CDs. Chamber music, lute solos, refulgent sopranos, French horns, piano, live stadium jazz, all the way to full blown orchestra -- a bag of tricks to knock the Campaniles off their arrogant perch.

Many of Audiophilia's readers know each reviewer's list of favourite review CDs, many of which are highlighted in our The A List. Personally, I run a catholic list, littered with some audiophile favorites. A chamber music beauty from Dorian (90187), including the Cecille Chaminade Trio played gorgeously by the Rembrandt Trio, glowed with loveliness and was heard in a near perfect acoustic. The Campaniles replicated the great Valery Tryon's piano tone with ease - the hammer blow and sound decay mingling happily with the violin and cello. This is a beauty of a performance and clarified instantly that a delicate sound is just as musically important to these monoliths as large scale orchestral music or stadium rock. During the quiet passages, and with eyes shut, the sound hovered magically just in front and center of the great horns. Open your eyes and the magic was still there, close them again, and the transportation to concert hall (or wherever you may choose) was almost instantaneous. A sound so transparent and delicate, that audiophiles will find it hard going to return to speakers of lesser technology and musicality.

I like the way the essence of the Campanile's sound remained whether listening to well-recorded jazz, classical or rock -- including the aforementioned transparency, seamless octave(s) integration, lightning fast transient response, thundering and very low bass, a rich but detailed midrange, dead-on imaging, and realistic (according to source) sound field. My preference was the sound as amplified by Boulder, but the Audio Research and Manley amps were no slouches. I remember the strings of the Minnesota Orchestra on Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances (ReferenceCD-96) sounding so luscious via the Manley and even more so through the Audio Research. But the incredible power (with richness) that the Boulder brought to the Acapellas was truly a match made in audio heaven. A must hear situation, I would suggest.

I heard many 'super' speakers while wandering the halls in this year's Vegas CES, yet few, if any matched the awesome dynamic power of the Campaniles. In fact, with even the largest orchestral works, soundstage remains in tact - no implosion from the left and right, no distortion (helped in no small measure by the splendid Boulder amplifier), and images still firm and located realistically. The neutrality was very impressive; many high-end boxes seem to lose focus when played to extreme levels with the commensurate deterioration in realism. The Campaniles will accompany whatever is thrown at them - the source may give up the ghost before the Acapellas!

Purchasers of these magnificent audio edifices will be wealthy audiophiles with a penchant for the finer things. They'll also have a large enough space to allow the Campaniles to sing. Happily, the 92 dB/1W/1m will allow the speakers to be driven by modest amplifiers. I was lucky to hear them with some of the finest available. It would seem silly not to match these beauties with equipment of similar quality.

Caveats? I can only think of one. The finish of the boxes was not up to what I would consider to be the finest available. And for the price of admission, they should be (each speaker comes in three sections -- the cabinets are available in black, cherry and rosewood and, for additional cost, piano black). The horns can be ordered in any color (including a colour match for your Mercedes!).The tweeter and horn were spectacular in their finish and sound production. The boxes on later runs should match this excellence.

People are always emailing for advice on a particular piece of equipment. Is 'such and such' worth the money? I always give the same advice -- listen at length, then choose what you love according to budget. Simple! Yet, I asked myself the same question about the Campaniles. Thirty-two grand is a tremendous amount for a tremendous speaker. If the money was available and I had the room to match, they would be chez nous in an instant. If the zenith of speaker technology is of interest to you (!), try to organize a session with these amazing loudspeakers. If you have the dosh lying around, you may not be able to resist the Campanile's considerable charms. Very highly recommended.