The Eventus Audio Metis is a two-way loudspeaker that, while small enough to sit on some shelves, ideally should inhabit a small to middling listening space, sitting firmly on its streamlined but living room-friendly customized stand. Eventus is an enterprising Italian company priding itself in the unique technical qualities of its speakers, and their visual elegance as furniture. The latter is accomplished by utilizing materials like MDF (Medium Density Fibreboard) and full wood. The unique technical aspects of its design, Eventus claims, distinguish the speaker 'by the remarkable sound-scene it creates and by its wide response to low frequencies in relation to the dimension of the woofer.'

Let us begin with the cosmetic effect. 'Composure and neutrality are its distinctive features. Thanks to its modern design it is easy to place it in every domestic ambient.' We may excuse the wonky English of the website blurb, especially in the light of the correctness of our Italian friend's estimate of his product. The Metis is indeed an elegant addition to even a small listening room. The entire assembly height, base and spikes included, is less than 3 1/2 feet. The woodwork is fine indeed, and the whole effect, dominated by the stand's silver tube and support rods and the uniquely shaped speaker cabinet, is chic and classy. These speakers will not overpower any listening environment, at least visually.

On to the sound. After the recommended break-in period (somewhat less than usual, about 60 hours), I'm still evaluating a few aspects of the speaker response. One thing I noticed almost as soon as I set up: the Metis has unusually precise instrumental placement. Immediately, I became aware of the exact location of soloists and choirs in the soundscape. As the speakers became worn in and the midrange improved, this preciseness of location began to extend to front/back relationships as well as lateral. Now, after about 60-70 hours of playing, I'd have to say I'm more than pleased with the total sound picture.

Right now, I'm testing the Eventus with a pretty decent digital audiophile CD, the Telarc combo of the Rozsa violin and cello concerti and the Theme & Variations for Violin, Cello & Orchestra [soloists Robert McDuffie & Lynn Harrell, Yoel Levi, Atlanta SO, Telarc CD 80518]. This 20-bit recording tends to flatter any good system, with its close miking of the soloist(s) and brilliant and high-contrast dynamic range. The Eventus Metis etches the violin quite far left, with most of the orchestral detail quite far right or to the right of centre. Plenty of punch for the typical Rozsa thrust and parry, particularly pleasing in the reproduction of the brass punctuations. A nice burr and thwang to the cello sound, which is just left of centre in the Concerto. This piece, by the way, was premiered, both in Europe and America, by Janos Starker, who also assisted in the composition with technical suggestions. Starker's input makes this something of a virtuoso showpiece, as is the Violin Concerto, not too astonishingly since it was written for and first recorded by Heifetz. All of the fireworks and lyrical ruminations make both works beautiful showpieces both for Telarc's engineers and Eventus Audio. The sense of space is special. In the Cello Concerto I liked, for example, the remote trumpet to the right and the percussion far left in the slow movement. The middle was there, too, with the brass and winds, low strings and second violins filling out the wide soundstage admirably. In the Theme and Variations for cello and violin, the two soloists are in their concerto positions, but we perceive that the cellist is a few feet back. When the oboe enters briefly, we get yet another layering perspective, this time much more recessed.

I suppose, being no acoustician myself, I'll have to trust the Eventus Audioengineers to account for the Metis success with soundstage reproduction: The secret, they claim, is a system called SACC, Simulated Anechoic Cabinet Construction. 'The irregular surfaces inside the cabinet consent to reduce the rise of spurious reflections. The use of two laid upon elements with different internal profiles consent to create a more irregular space improving the already great performances of the single element system.' That's the official word. All I can add in the way of technical expertise is that the interior design of the speaker, from above, looks something like a famous cartoon mouse's head viewed in semi-profile. But this rodent does indeed get the job done remarkably well. (I wonder just how they came up with inspiration for this particular shape. Mr. Rorschach, please!) The image precision owes much too, we're sure, to the double sets of spikes in the vertical assembly. One set connecting the base to the floor, the other, in exact alignment through the stand rods, connecting the stand to the speaker cabinet. Whatever, the result is startling realism.

I tested the Metis with a couple of old analog favourites (the Rozsa is a 2000 recording, a newcomer to my shortlist of test CDs), this time as much concerned with tonal response as spatial reproduction. First, Reiner/Chicago La Mer/Fountains & Pines of Rome [RCA 09026-68079-2]. Again, we get a good sense of orchestral space, but the soundstage narrower than the Telarc. The front to back relationships are fine, if a might telescoped in the characteristic CSO/Layton way. The gain is marked in the reproduction of violins, that is, at least the attacks (say, the startling entrance in the Triton sequence in Fountains). There is, however, a certain thinness and rasp to the massed brass which I had not noticed in the Telarc. The woodwind interplay in the next movement, Trevi, is compensatingly splendid. If there is a problem that seems to be marked, it shows up in the Respighi: there is a tendency to excessive brightness in forte passages (e.g. the opening of Pines). The Reiner recording was perhaps never a model here, but what I heard in the past is here exacerbated. Then again, I wonder how much of the difference can be accounted for by my (small) room dimensions reacting to the responsive tweeters, or by a relative lack of richness in the midrange, perhaps due to the still short break-in period. The first violins in Catacomb also seem somewhat papery, the brass at the climax not burnished enough. Still, the compensation is a coherent, clearly articulated 'sound-scene', to use the publicity description. The entry of the nightingale is lovely, as is the swapping of phrases between the (mostly) winds as Reiner builds up to the climax of Appian Way. If the thunderous conclusion seems top heavy, it always was. Let's see how it sounds after about 20-30 more hours warm up.

John Williams' JFK [Elektra 9 61293-2] displays the same general pattern. The lows are good, not emphatic, and there is some extra pungency to the high frequencies. The Brent Lewis cut, Ode to Buckwheat, with its plethora of percussion effects, is spectacularly vivid, with even more space than usual. But elsewhere the midrange still seems a touch reticent, which does impair the veracity of the voice and violin reproduction. That problematic French horn (the Arlington cut) is well rendered, without some of its unwelcome colourations, but we miss some of the richness in the strings that immediately follow. One hopes, again, that this flaw will be less noticeable as the Metis warms in its new environment.

I notice that this phenomenon of range imbalance is markedly less noticeable with a boost of volume. But not all home listeners will be ecstatic with this solution. With some volume heft, I sample Dorati's famous Firebird [Mercury 432-012 2]. Not unexpectedly the 1959 recording has spectacular, pinpoint solo and section reproduction. I haven't heard it before with quite this dimensionality. In timbral truthfulness we observe the same phenomena as the previous tests - a certain thinness to the violins, a general tilting of the whole spectrum toward the treble. A summary: The Eventus Audio Metis is definitely worth considering if you, like me, relish the opportunity to dissect the innards of the orchestra. Few speakers of my acquaintance, if any, do as good a job with the spatial aspects of stereo sound. Since much of my listening is, however, in the romantic repertoire, I will have to reserve judgment in the area of string reproduction. For now, the many pleasures I've already come to associate with the Metis will motivate me to give the benefit of doubt in this area as well.