Amphion Loudspeakers has been operating in its native Finland since 1998. Despite being a small company, it proudly holds its own with hundreds of Scandinavian brands that export worldwide. The difference is, however, that it actually manufacturers speakers in its home country, rather than just being a design and marketing operation. 

From the entry-level $999 offering to the $27,000 flagship, Amphion can maintain excellent quality control and deliver superb craftsmanship by doing things its way. Anyone who's seen or heard a pair of Amphions will know what we're talking about…

All of its designs share a distinctive and very pleasing character – the sound is neutral, natural, clean and open without any particular colouration or bass bloat. They also tend to deliver a pretty expansive soundstage, too. To get a better idea of the sound, click on our recent review of the Argon 7LS here.

All of this comes in a crisp, contemporary-looking package – with a wide choice of colour finishes. Just like Encel's recent Gelati release, they offer an even more fun range of grill colours, allowing you to easily interchange them to suit your mood or decor. Add to all this a reputation built on reliability, and it's clear why the award-winning Amphion brand has been showing growth year on year.

PLAIN SPEAKING

One of the early adopters of Amphion in the Australian market has been HeyNow Hi-Fi, based in Melbourne. Recently, we chatted with proprietor Geoff Haynes about his recent experience with the brand. He told us, “When Amphion became available locally once again, it piqued my interest because the brand has been on the market in Australia for ten years, but the number one issue has been that traditionally, there has been no marketing.”

He was first introduced to the brand when he met the company's Indo-Asia-Pacific Sales Representative, Michael DiStasio, in a corridor at a hi-fi show. Enthused after an hour-long conversation, he looked further into the brand only to discover there was little information locally available. It took a change of distributors in Australia, combined with the fortunate timing of Geoff starting his own retail business… 

Michael DiStasio - Indo-Asia-Pacific Sales Representative, Amphion

He said, “As a coincidence, the new distributor loaned me a pair of Amphion bookshelf speakers, the Argon 3s, and I had them playing in the shop while my partner was doing my accounts. We had a playlist running, and I was unaware of what speakers were on. At the end of the day, she commented that they were a fantastic pair of speakers. Interestingly, her interest is in music itself, not hi-fi, but these grabbed her. So, I made my decision that if this is a brand that connects with people and isn't just another pair of boxes with drivers, then that is something I want to be part of.”

Geoff was so impressed that he purchased a pair of Argon 7LS for his personal use at home. The company's widespread use in recording studios as monitor speakers also impressed him. He explained, “It's interesting from the perspective that a lot of brands spend their marketing dollars on saying they're in famous recording studios. Amphion is genuinely chosen for a reason in many studios. Most brands are just playback speakers, but Amphions are used where the music is actually created. I recently received a link from Amphion to a playlist on TIDAL that said “music recorded on Amphion”! And there on top of the list was Dua Lipa's Future Nostalgia album, and that's a very contemporary record, she's very popular, and all the music was recorded using Amphions as the reference monitor speakers.”

Geoff says many loudspeakers might sound exciting and vibrant when you're sitting in the shop listening to them, “but then they introduce this little feature called listening fatigue!” He continued, “I think that a pair of speakers that can be used in a mastering situation for eight hours a day, every day, enjoyably, has to be a speaker that suits anyone's listening environment. Sure, you could have a nice big pair of French speakers, for example, that might sound amazing when you listen to that demonstration track, but after an hour, you want to turn them off!”. In Geoff's view, Amphion speakers just play and play because that's how they've been tuned, he says.

Geoff adds that another feature of the 7LS is a Studio Mode switch on the back. “When you're just sitting and listening in Studio Mode, they offer a very laid-back, neutral and very easy to listen to, combined with a beautiful wide sound stage. But the switch allows you to boost the treble subtly, and it's a different sound, more hi-fi, more engaging and exciting. This actually means that you get two speakers in one!”

Keeping on the Scandinavian theme, Geoff says a popular amplifier pairing is Hegel – from Norway, to be precise. “The Amphion and Hegel combination, especially the Hegel H190, sounds fantastic. It really brings out the best qualities of the Amphions as the Hegel has an authoritative and taut bass that drives the speakers wonderfully. You get much more engagement, so much so that one UK magazine reviewed that exact combination and concluded that it was an ideal match. After reading that, it took me eight months to get a Hegel account to understand that they were correct”, he told us.

On the topic of music choices that match well with this Scandinavian combination, “The Amphions play great with all kinds of music. I can sit here demonstrating Diana Krall, Dire Straits, but I usually give the customer the iPad with my TIDAL account, and guess what they play? Diana Krall and Dire Straits!” he laughed. Geoff also suggests that while the hi-fi industry often rails against these clichéd tracks, “more and more, I'm finding that the clients are familiar with these tracks and simply want to hear how it produces that sound.” Most importantly, Geoff suggests that he hasn't personally heard a track on the Amphions that just didn't work, suggesting they really do play well across all genres and recordings. This is something that many brands cannot claim, in our experience.

“It's just a beautiful all-round speaker that plays everything very well within the price point. I'm not saying that it's the be all and end all, there are obviously better speakers and there are more dollars to spend”, Geoff explains. “But if we are in this price point, every one of the Amphions in each of their price points up against all competitors, is a very worthy contender for your listening room.”

Geoff at HeyNow Hi-Fi has built a reputation for piecing together bespoke systems tailored specifically for each client and their needs and preferences. He appreciates that not all customers have dedicated listening spaces and, more often than not, they are acoustically compromised spaces. Geoff tells us, “One of the first systems that I put together was a pair of JL subwoofers and a pair of Amphion 7LS, and the sound was terrific. Mind you, this room features a tiled floor, with windows down one side, no room treatment, and a kitchen behind the listening seat! Yet, the clients were extremely happy.” Pressing Geoff further on why he thought this to be the case, “it's due to their very considered design, the wave-guide, the passive radiator, etc. They don't interfere with the boundaries of the room, and you can put them into most settings with no grief at all. They are an amazing real-world speaker.”

We have long enjoyed hearing Amphion loudspeakers, while Hegel has also won a few StereoNET Applause Awards in the past few years. This Scandinavian pairing certainly has great merit, so do audition the duo if you get the chance.