What's unique about the brand
What reviewers are saying
We read all the reviews. Here's what reviewers feel most strongly about:
- Manger differentiates itself by focusing on temporal and tonal accuracy through their bending wave transducer design, which mimics the function of the basilar membrane in the human ear.
- The brand leverages the unique design of the Manger Sound Transducer, which avoids the traditional pistonic motion of conventional drivers, to achieve exceptional spatial representation and clarity.
- Manger offers extensive customization options, including a wide array of RAL and NCS colors, various finishes, and the capacity to custom-match interior decor.
Our favorite reviewer quotes:
- "These speakers filled the 35 x 40 x 12′ Barn with gut-crunching, dynamic as all get-out, rich, gripping, beautiful, big (in every dimension) music. The S1's ability to deliver a seamless bottom-to-top super-fine rendition of the recording with all of its nuance in tact is quite extraordinary." (https://twitteringmachines.com/review-manger-s1-active-speaker)
- "What the S1s do offer is the finest of fine detail and nuance, i.e. transient response, you're going to hear from darn near any other loudspeaker (in my experience, of course). Familiar recordings are presented as if they've been re-mastered, offering some of the most fully formed musical information I've heard." (https://twitteringmachines.com/review-manger-s1-active-speaker)
- "The implementation of the Manger Transducer, in the case of Manger P1 loudspeaker, resulted in absolute precision and perfectly life-like sound reproduction. Surely, it takes some time to get used to the specific sound signature that lacks any artificial sounds, cone noise, and fake liveliness you would usually get from a speaker using cone-shaped woofers, but that's actually the beauty of the Manger P1." (https://www.audioreputation.com/manger-p1)
- "One of the strong suits of P2, the field where this floorstander outperforms any speaker in its price range, is spatial representation. My test track used to check the representation of space was Ludwig Van Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D Minor Op. 125 (Choral) ." (https://www.audiogrounds.com/manger-p2-speaker)
Our interview with the brand
What are two key technological innovations or strong opinions that differ you from other brands?
The Manger driver is a different technical principle.
It's quite a full-range driver, and the technical principle it uses is a so-called bending wave driver. You’ve probably read that my father invented this driver. He figured out that a conventional driver always has its own sound or footprint. By measuring, he saw that a classical driver always stores energy due to its construction. It behaves like a mass-spring system —so it's never quite as fast as the electronic signal. It introduces a kind of delay through mechanical energy storage. So, by the time the next change in the music or sound happens, the driver is still moving in another direction. Avoiding this transient behavior of the conventional driver —this energy storage—was the intention. This led to our core technology, the Manger sound transducer with its bending wave principle, which doesn’t store energy and covers a range from 360 Hz up to 45 kHz. If you read reviews, the conclusion is always the same: it’s very neutral and very natural.
Philosophy of neutrality and natural reproduction.
I always say the Manger is like food without additives. People know from eating or restaurants what “no additives” means—so they have a comparison. If you don’t have experience with natural sound—which means you’re not used to going to concerts with natural instruments—you have no reference. And if you compare our loudspeakers with other loudspeakers, they all sound different, but you don’t know which one is “right” and for sure it is also a matter of taste. There is something objective in the sound reproduction —how you can recognize things like imaging and the character of instruments, these are all so-called transients and the better a loudspeaker can reproduce this the more natural and lifelike the sound reproduction is perceived. But if you have a technical artifact in between—and mainly it’s the loudspeaker—then it’s not so direct. It is also less relaxing but fatiguing.
What's your approach to customer support?
The best situation is always when the customer has a good relationship to the dealer. Sometimes, the customer invests so much time and gathers so much information that—depending on the dealer’s capabilities—the dealer may not know how to help. In such cases, the customer typically contacts the distributor. And if they’re still not satisfied, they can contact the manufacturer directly. I am always willing to answer any questions. This has to do with our philosophy, and also with the fact that we are not a big company. So everything is like a small restaurant: you talk directly to the cook. People feel good when their questions are answered seriously and competently.
What are your favorite tracks for showcasing the strength of your products?
- Birds — Dominique Fils-Aimé | Album: Nameless | Genre: Blues / Jazz / Soul
- October — Göteborgs Kammerkör | Album: Viska du Vind | Genre: Folk / World
- Malletoba Spank — Duke Ellington | Album: Ellington Jazz Party | Genre: Jazz
- Celestial Echo — Malia & Boris Blank | Album: Convergence | Genre: Pop
- Reflexion — Markus Stockhausen | Album: Sol Mestizo | Genre: World
- Wheels Turn Beneath My Feet — Fink | Album: Wheels Turn Beneath My Feet | Genre: Rock
- Various tracks | Album: Musik von einem anderen Stern | (Manger CD and LP sampler)
What other products pair best with yours?
In my demonstrations and shows, I mainly pair with SPL (Sound Performance Lab). I really love this combination. For me, it’s always important to show the result to people—when everything is in balance, including the cost of the electronics and the cables. The products from SPL sound great. I also know that Accuphase fits very well, and of course, it's also a matter of taste. I have customers who pair with tube amplifiers as well.
Products
Lineup comparison
We think it's helpful to understand how their products compare. To learn more about each, scroll to the section above to click through to individual product pages.
Z1:
- Positioning: Compact speaker designed for versatile use in various environments.
- Description: Offers a natural sound with its modern woofer and patented Manger sound transducer. Compared to the P1, it is more compact and suitable for smaller spaces, while still providing powerful bass and clear mids. It is a great choice for those with limited space but who still want excellent sound quality without the need for large floor-standing speakers.
C1:
- Positioning: Active compact monitor for professional and home use.
- Description: Praised for its neutral sound reproduction, making it a favorite in recording studios. Unlike the Z1, this is an active system with built-in amplifiers, providing more flexibility in setup and integration into various audio environments. It is perfect for users who need precise sound reproduction in both professional and home settings.
P1:
- Positioning: Passive floor-standing speaker for high-fidelity audio enthusiasts.
- Description: Delivers natural timbres with its Manger sound transducer, offering a unique listening experience. Compared to the Z1, this floor-standing model provides a larger soundstage and more powerful bass, making it suitable for larger rooms and those who prioritize sound quality over compactness.
P2:
- Positioning: Passive flagship model for ultimate audio fidelity.
- Description: Designed for high-level audio reproduction, with its advanced woofer system and Manger sound transducer. It offers superior impulse fidelity and bass precision compared to the P1.
S1:
- Positioning: High-end active floor-standing speaker for discerning audiophiles.
- Description: Combines the Manger sound transducer with a powerful woofer, providing seamless audio with time-accurate reproduction. Unlike the P2, this is an active system, offering built-in amplification and advanced room correction features for users who want a high-end, all-in-one solution without the need for external amplifiers.
Used
Manger
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Featured products
About the brand
Our interview with the brand
What are two key technological innovations or strong opinions that differ you from other brands?
What's your approach to customer support?
What are your favorite tracks for showcasing the strength of your products?
What other products pair best with yours?
Featured products
About the brand
Our interview with the brand
What are two key technological innovations or strong opinions that differ you from other brands?
What's your approach to customer support?
What are your favorite tracks for showcasing the strength of your products?
What other products pair best with yours?
Featured products
About the brand
Our interview with the brand
What are two key technological innovations or strong opinions that differ you from other brands?
What's your approach to customer support?
What are your favorite tracks for showcasing the strength of your products?
What other products pair best with yours?
Featured products
About the brand
Our interview with the brand
What are two key technological innovations or strong opinions that differ you from other brands?
What's your approach to customer support?
What are your favorite tracks for showcasing the strength of your products?
What other products pair best with yours?
Featured products
About the brand
Our interview with the brand
What are two key technological innovations or strong opinions that differ you from other brands?
What's your approach to customer support?
What are your favorite tracks for showcasing the strength of your products?
What other products pair best with yours?
Featured products
About the brand
Our interview with the brand
What are two key technological innovations or strong opinions that differ you from other brands?
Unlike the vast majority of our competitors, who simply use others' active components, we have, from inception, March 2001, designed and manufactured our very own bespoke, proprietary drive units. The resultant filter networks are ridiculously simple. By controlling the whole process, we are able to derive the exact response from each in it's system. A little appreciated advange too, is we are able to provide spare parts for an extended period.
Any vibrating device will impart that vibration to the substrate to which it is fixed. At Vivid Audio at no time do we couple drive units to the cabinet directly, each is decoupled by a carefully selected soft, 30 shore silicone, memory free O ring. In the case of bass units, we go one step futher - in addition to the decoupling O ring, each driver is apposed by another identical bass unit in a reaction cancelling configuration. Expensive, resulting in an inert cabinet. Note the lack of visible fixing harware.
A perfect acoustic solution.
(No matter how heavy you make a loudspeaker cabinet, all one is doing is shifting the damped resonances in band. Place your ear against any loudspeaker to appreciate this. The worst case example is the ubiquitous eccentricly loaded sub woofer.)
We strive for as lower mass as possible in an extremely stiff configuration. The lower the mass, the lower the energy strorage. The same requirement as aircraft, race cars etc. There are many other unique technologies we employ, jointly presenting the cleanest window into the music. Our web page details these.
What's your approach to customer support?
What are your favorite tracks for showcasing the strength of your products?
What other products pair best with yours?
It would be foolhardy of me to send you a short list - by definition would exclude many excellent brands of which we have no knowledge. Suffice to say: Unusually, we expend an exorbitant effort in perfecting the loudspeaker / room interface, no sharp perturbations, corners, discontinuities, etc., and the loudspeaker / amplifier interface, ensuring at the minimum impedance, the current and voltage waveforms are close to being in phase - an ideal situation. Our loudspeakers present an easy load to the amplifier. Quality rather than quantity is emphasized.
