Sometimes we get caught excited by a component. A power amp, a player or, yes, also a new wiring lets us experience the familiar music certainly not in a completely different way, but still like new, making it sparkle in hitherto unheard facets. This can literally turn out as a jaw-dropping incident. Lucky those who witness something like this, and still luckier you’ll be if this stays that way forever! Of course, components imparting such experiences often bear a hefty price tag. It’s not that one could depend on it. The high transfer fee is not necessarily a guarantor for adequate striking rates, and not in all cases money will score the most goals.

And then there are pieces of equipment which at first give a less spectacular impression. Here the emphasis lies on »at first«. Because sometimes it can happen that, after long hours of music listening, often longer than planned, we rub our ears while taking stock of ourselves: ‘Oh, I’ve been listening to something special all the time, something I hadn’t expected to come off that way.’ Our expectation, let’s be straight, is also guided by the price when it turns out lower. All the more amazing when it’s finally exceeded.
This is what happened to me with a loudspeaker I had been looking forward to with sympathetic feelings, but in a rather relaxed mood. Yes, why not a Scansonic for a change? Together with Raidho it belongs to the same Danish group (Dantax), and I still remember that classy brand in the best way from a demonstration at the Munich High End tradeshow. So I wonder whether the technology transfer from the noble brand into the more budget segment could make itself felt? After all, it’s the same folks who develop, piece together with much handiwork and fine-tune the loudspeakers at the company’s headquarters in Pandrup.

And the Scansonic MB2.5 B is a true beauty, really. Its slim cabinet is tapering towards the back into an elegant parabola. Consistently rounded, it effectively counters standing waves and unwanted resonances. Yet the first acoustic impressions sound rather subdued. But this mustn’t take me wonder: the speakers come unplayed right out of the box, and what we hear first, gets stuck in the boundaries of the enclosures, leaving tonal colours to be desired in the lows and mids and in the top range sounds anything but freed or even vibrant. Well, this always happens with brand new components, and all the more so with sound transducers. Last, but not least a lot needs to come loose in the mechanical system. I can make good use of the break-in time to get familiar with the concept of the MB2.5 B.