Note that this is a discontinued product. You may want to visit the brand's page here to browse their newer products.
What reviewers think
Bloggers and YouTubers have tried this product—so we've summarized their strongest opinions below. Links to full reviews follow.
Product Strengths
- Phenomenal dynamics with speed, power, and nuance unmatched by other cone speakers
- Extended, natural, and well-defined bass down to about 30Hz
- Gorgeous tonality, minute detail, and unusual three-dimensional imaging
- The aluminum enclosure is state-of-the-art in stiffness, mass, and damping, preventing unwanted resonances
Product Considerations
- The soundstage might not be as wide or deep as some competing speakers
- The treble may sound a bit soft and sweet in the topmost octave
- Is sensitive and can easily overload smaller rooms, requiring careful interfacing with preamplifiers
- The rectangular enclosures may exact a small price for their squared-off design in stage width and depth
- Can be critical of level, needing to cross a dynamic threshold to deliver fully
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- Vs Estelon X Diamond II: Has a damped aluminum chassis, while the Estelon is made of acrylic and marble
- Vs Estelon X Diamond II: Has a conventional rectangular box shape, unlike the Estelon's hourglass shape
- Vs Estelon X Diamond II: Uses paper- and fabric-cone drivers, whereas the Estelon uses ceramic-sandwich and diamond Accuton drivers
- Vs Magico/YG Acoustics: Uses traditional driver materials, while Magico/YG Acoustics favor high-tech alternatives
Takeaway: The Alumine Five SE is a powerful and detailed speaker that delivers music with great dynamics and clarity. Its impressive build quality and versatile design make it a top choice for audiophiles.
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Alumine Five
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Manufacturer details
- Nominal impedance: 8 Ohms (minimum 3 Ohms)
- Dimensions (Five and Five SE): Width 28cm (11") x Depth 38cm (15") x Height 120cm (47.2")
- Dimensions (Five SX and Five LE with platform): Width 48cm (19") x Depth 38cm (15") x Height 127-130cm (50-51.2")
- Weight (Five and Five SE): 100kg (220.5lbs) each
- Weight (Five SX and LE with platform): 139kg (306lbs) each
- Frequency response: 28Hz to 35kHz
- Sensitivity: 94dB SPL, half space
- Power handling: 200W RMS, 400W Peak
- Minimum recommended power: 20W
- Drivers: 2x 25cm (10") woofers, 1x 16.5cm (6.5") medium driver, 1x 2.6cm (1") soft dome tweeter
Brand highlights
Taking a step back to look at reviewers' thoughts of the brand's entire lineup—not just this product—what stands out most is the following:
- Stenheim designs and manufactures speakers featuring robust aluminum enclosures, achieved through precision CNC machining and internal bracing, to minimize cabinet resonance and maximize internal volume.
- These speakers uniquely combine traditional driver materials like coated silk-dome tweeters and pulp-cone woofers with the modern, high-rigidity aluminum cabinets, providing a balance of warmth, detail, and dynamic expression.
- They are intentionally designed with high sensitivity and a stable impedance, making them relatively easy to drive with a wide range of amplifiers, including low-powered tube amplifiers.
- Stenheim emphasizes a strategic collaboration with driver manufacturers like PHL, allowing them to precisely tailor driver specifications, mechanical characteristics, and surface coatings to meet their desired sonic signature.
Select products
Alumine Three
- Positioning: The compact, high-quality speaker in the Stenheim lineup, offering a more accessible entry point for audiophiles.
- Description: Delivers exceptional sound quality in a compact form, making it ideal for smaller rooms or those seeking portability. It shares core technologies with the Alumine Five, such as high efficiency and aluminum construction, but its smaller size allows for high performance at a lower price point, making it suitable for those with budget constraints or limited space.
Reference Ultime Two
- Positioning: The most compact model in the Reference line, designed for larger spaces and powerful systems.
- Description: Offers deep bass and dynamic sound, ideal for filling large rooms with captivating audio. It features a full d'Appolito design and advanced cabinet construction, providing deeper bass and better transient response than the Alumine series.
Reference Ultime Three
- Positioning: A high-end floorstanding speaker in the Reference line, designed for large spaces and ultimate sound quality.
- Description: Delivers a massive, cohesive soundstage with deep bass and high-frequency clarity, ideal for large rooms and immersive listening experiences. It features a complex driver array and optional active crossover, offering more detailed and authentic sound compared to the Reference Ultime Two.
Statement
- Positioning: The flagship model in the Stenheim lineup, offering the pinnacle of audio performance and design.
- Description: Provides groundbreaking sound rendition with exceptional dynamics and a natural soundstage, suitable for the most discerning audiophiles. It features a complex multi-way system with active crossovers and motorized angle adjustment, offering the most advanced technology and performance in the lineup, making it ideal for those seeking the ultimate in sound quality and willing to invest significantly in their audio system.
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Used
Stenheim
What if you spend more?
For High End Munich 2024, Stenheim introduced its new Alumine Five platform for the Alumine Five models. This elegant aluminium plinth is machined from solid billet and achieves the same effect as the Reference Platform developed for the Reference series, increasing stability and making fine-tuning the set-up far simpler through increased adjustability of height and rake. These parameters are set via discrete allen bolts on top of the spikes, different sets of which can be selected to suit different floor types. Sound is also improved thanks to the superior vibration damping that the Alumine Five platform offers. The platform can be retrofitted to any Alumine Five
The Alumine Five LE is a limited edition of the all-new Alumine Five SX, creating the ultimate Alumine Five. Just 10 pairs are due to be made. Over and above the Five SX's impressive specifications, the Five LE model boasts some luxury cosmetic appointments. Only available in Full Black, its tweeter horn, side bars, platform details and spike covers are gilded in gold leaf. The top baffle is covered in leather with a gold embroidered Stenheim logo. The rear baffle is adorned with a Stenheim emblem. An optional three-part flight case is available.
Like all Stenheim speakers, the Alumine Five SX and Alumine Five LE are designed and hand-built to order in Switzerland. They are a 3-way design featuring crossovers engineered with the finest quality components from boutique suppliers such as Mundorf and Jantzen and are equipped with highly efficient custom-built drivers (94 dB) enabling a wide variety of amplification to be used. The Five SX and Five LE models are a further step in Stenheim's mission of providing the ultimate in loudspeaker performance for discerning music lovers, and top the Alumine range.
Our summary
Product Strengths
- High sensitivity and easy drivability
- Clean performance, neither sterile nor colorless
- Better at reproducing the spatial information on stereo recordings than the Altec
- Considerably smaller and thus easier to place—and to live with, in an aesthetic sense
Product Considerations
- Less colored than the Altec, with a less peaky lower treble
- Very heavy (231 lbs each), which makes installation difficult
- High price
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- The Altec loudspeakers were more colored than the Alumine, with a peaky lower treble
Takeaway: The Stenheim Alumine speakers offer a clean and detailed sound in a relatively compact size, while the Alumine Five offers even greater sensitivity in a floorstanding design. If high sensitivity, easy placement (Alumine), and a clean sound are valued, these speakers could be a good fit.
Video review
Our take on the brand
Our summary
Product Strengths
- Unique design where form follows function, resulting in a contemporary and sleek aesthetic
- Incredibly tight, impactful, articulate, and controlled bass response with impressive dynamic power and clarity
- Seamless integration of midrange and tweeter via the M-Array, creating a virtual point source for maximum imaging and soundstage
- Exceptional clarity, transparency, and detail retrieval across the entire frequency spectrum
- Soundstage is incredibly wide, deep, accurate, and immersive with instruments placed precisely in a three-dimensional field
Product Considerations
- Significant power from amplifiers is required to perform optimally, with recommendations ranging from 200 to 1600 watts RMS
- The Hyphn is a large and heavy speaker, needing a decent-sized room and strong flooring
- Sensitivity is rated at 86 dB, which is considered low and necessitates high-power amplification
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- Vs Sonus Faber: Hyphn has a far more forward-sounding presentation compared to the more relaxed and recessed soundstage of Sonus Faber
- Vs JBL Everest DD67000: Hyphn's bass is not as 'huge' as some monster high-end speakers like JBL's Everest, but it is tighter and more tuneful
Takeaway: Monitor Audio's Hyphn is a state-of-the-art loudspeaker with a unique design, delivering exceptional clarity, deep bass, and a wide soundstage. If unrestrained performance and a forward-looking aesthetic are desired, the Hyphn is worth considering for an immersive listening experience.
Video review
Our take on the brand
Product Strengths
- Impressive midbass solidity
- Remarkable fidelity at lower volumes due to the alacrity of its drivers
- Comprehensive and dynamic sound signature with plenty of detail and clarity
- The newly developed tweeter allows for faster response and a frequency range that easily extends to 28,000Hz
- Features a modular design, offering flexibility with passive, iTron active, and all-in-one wireless streaming versions
Product Considerations
- Integrating the Spacehorn subwoofers requires careful alignment
- High-quality source components are needed to match its performance level
- Some reviewers found that the iTron amplification did not produce the requisite bloom and musicality for classical and jazz music
Takeaway: The Avantgarde Trio G3 speaker is a top-tier audio system known for its exceptional sound reproduction and flexibility with different configurations. If you appreciate high-quality audio performance and aesthetics and want a sound system that sounds exciting and sophisticated, it is an excellent option.
Video review
Our take on the brand
Product Strengths
- An all-encompassing sound keeps listeners rooted to their seats
- A unique 360° sound wave design creates a natural balance of direct and reflected sounds
- A truly huge, yet meticulously crafted, soundscape is created
- Not physically evident in the aural landscape, offering a sound that seems to have no origin
- Integration of the woofer's and melon's outputs was far smoother than previous models
Product Considerations
- High-powered amplifiers capable of delivering ample amounts of current are required due to its insensitivity (around 80dB)
- Placement can be tricky, needing more space away from room boundaries than some rooms can provide
- The biggest problem has always been the audible lack of seamless integration between the bass box and the stack of omnis atop it
- A 'chesty, compressed, almost grainy midbass coloration' can be exhibited if placement and other factors are not optimized
Takeaway: The MBL Radialstrahler 101 E MkII loudspeaker offers a distinctive and immersive listening experience thanks to its unique omnidirectional design. It can fill the room with a natural and balanced sound, creating a captivating musical soundscape for the listener.
Video review
Our take on the brand
What competes at this price?
Our Summary
Product Strengths
- High sensitivity and easy drivability
- Clean performance without being sterile or colorless
- Good at reproducing spatial information on stereo recordings
- Elegant look and smaller size makes it easier to place and live with
- Well-made PHL cone drivers
Product Considerations
- The Alumine Five is very heavy
- The Alumine Five is very expensive
Takeaway: The Alumine speakers are good quality speakers that have high sensitivity, are easy to drive, and can reproduce spatial information on stereo recordings well. They have an elegant look and will perform well in a home sound system.
Video review
Our take on the brand
Our Summary
Product Strengths
- Beautifully finished cabinet constructed from heavy metal, using four extruded aluminum panels
- Delivers a presentation that's vivid, refined, and compelling
- Low distortion and an absence of cabinet resonance allows the listener to hear deeper into the music
- Images like a point source, but has three-way midrange clarity and gut-punching bass
- Extremely transparent and uncolored, making it very responsive to changes in upstream components
Product Considerations
- May require careful system matching to avoid revealing flaws in the upstream components due to its high resolution
- Bass response below 30Hz may not be particularly satisfying
- Some reviewers noted that the grilles are sonically intrusive
- Heavyweight hifi typically requires assistance in its unboxing and installation, given the weight and the sheer size of the wooden packing crate in which it's delivered
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- Compared to the Magico S3 MKII—the new S3 has been completely revised and re-engineered, using techniques and technologies developed for the M9 flagship, with a 30% quieter enclosure
Takeaway:
The Magico S3 delivers a pure and detailed sound, making music feel vibrant and dynamic, without adding its own color. If you want to really hear what your music and audio equipment can do, the S3 is a great pick.
Video review
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Our Summary
Product Strengths
- Especially revealing, setting a benchmark for revealing the details in recordings
- Delivers dynamics, tonal balance, and harmonics of instruments, such as the piano, in a way that is very reminiscent of the real thing
- Able to reproduce low bass to upper treble with a minimal sense that some frequency bands are peaky, emphasized, or depressed
- Reduces loudspeaker error through comprehensive engineering efforts, including driver design, cabinet materials, and systems integration
Product Considerations
- Does not radically change the task list of major audio problems like bass in real rooms, the flaws of stereo, or digital distortions
- Will render some recordings harder to enjoy because those recordings are flawed
- Some listeners may prefer more tone shaping than what is offered, such as a bass boost or frequency response adjustments
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- Compared to other speakers, draws clearer distinctions between the engineering of different recordings
Takeaway: The Magico S5 (2024) minimizes coloration to provide a revealing and accurate sound, allowing listeners to focus on the recording and the music itself. It is a great choice for audiophiles who want to hear what is truly on the recording, offering a potentially transformative listening experience.
Video review
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Our Summary
Product Strengths
- Delivers an immersive experience and are incredibly musical
- Integration of the drivers create the feeling of one big full range speaker
- High resolution and low distortion without ever feeling harsh, and value tonal accuracy
- Effortless presentation comes from the low distortion and careful attention to maximizing phase coherence
- Seamless clarity offers a musical experience that is not only realistic, but non-fatiguing
Product Considerations
- The best cables and components are needed to get the most these speakers can deliver
- The highly revealing nature is further emphasized during the setup process, when it was time to attach the jumpers between the three sets of binding posts on the rear of the speakers
- The speaker lacked a certain warmth
Takeaway: The Hailey 3s create a massive soundfield with incredible coherence, which makes them a top-tier speaker. The speakers deliver engagement and musicality with the help of science without relinquishing what made YG Acoustics of the past special.
Video review
Our take on the brand
Our Summary
Product Strengths
- Exceptional build quality using aerospace-grade materials
- Revolutionary Lattice tweeter technology delivers phenomenal high-frequency extension without harshness
- Outstanding phase coherence (±5° relative phase)
- Impressive bass extension from a compact design, reaching down to 26 Hz
- Presents vocals with uncanny realism due to the 7.25' BilletCore mid-driver
Product Considerations
- Premium price point
- Requires high-quality amplification to shine their brightest
- 2.8-ohm minimum impedance may challenge some amplifiers
Takeaway: The YG Acoustics Vantage 3 speakers offer a masterclass in sonic excellence due to their innovative engineering and excellent build. These speakers will satisfy even the most demanding audiophile with their engaging sound and remarkable construction.
Video review
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