I cued up the track on my Alpine deck and pressed the repeat function. Within the first minute of listening, it became apparent that I had been missing some details in this song when auditioning other component speakers - including the last big dollar set. What I thought was a single guitar through most of the song actually includes additional guitarists that strum in occasionally, adding to the ambiance of the composition. The Piccolo tweeters picked up the details in each and every string pluck, providing distinction to the ambient guitars. This is exactly what I was expecting at this price level - separation and accuracy second to none. So far, I was impressed!
Shifting from her deep, boxy lows to the open, breathiness of her upper range, the reproduction of Braxton's vocals was almost amazing. I say "almost" because a small lull in the midrange elicited a slightly unnatural transition as she scaled across her dynamic vocal range - a minor inconvenience that otherwise would have resulted in a perfect score. But honestly, it doesn't get much better than this.Score: 9.5/10
Alternative
New Radicals "Crying Like a Church on Monday"
"Crying Like a Church on Monday" by the New Radicals is a make it or break it track with a tendency to reveal any negative tonal characteristics of a system. Its dynamic level changes make it somewhat demanding, allowing me to track change in a system's response at different levels.
Ronan Keating's vocals drive this song, escalating in pitch and intensity as the composition progresses. But that didn't phase the Morels. They simply handled the vocals like Schumacher would handle a Ferrari - exacting with nary a mistake. Keating's voice just seemed to transpire naturally, with a serene airiness to his voice through the quieter passages and a raspy athleticism at full stride. His image equally good, narrowly focused just a tick to the left of center stage throughout his broad range.
The instruments played through with great poise. The electric guitar stood its ground to the far left with pristine composure, while the right side placed the piano and acoustic guitar, which were easily distinguished from each other. Each of these instruments sounded real, but it was the reproduction of the drums that captured my interest. At high volume they were seriously lifelike, particularly through the delicate taps of the toms in the quiet passages.
As I do with this track, I cranked up the volume level in small increments. The Morel Supremo 6 just sucked up the power and never gave into distortion until it was at an intolerable listening level. Another impressive performance.Score: 9.5/10
Jazz
Sara K. "If I Could Sing Your Blues"
The recording notes for "If I Could Sing Your Blues" by Sara K. state that the opening trumpet was recorded 10' from the microphone. This was done in order to provoke a "natural" depth to the soundstage without having to resort to DSP. While the trumpet is deep in the stage, Sara K. should be very close as the reverberation of her voice fills the studio, conveying the overall setting to the listener. The guitar should sound intimate and have a nice, warm tonality to it, while the subtle details of the plucks should be coherent.
Playback rendered the studio setting proper from the get-go, with the trumpet easy to locate to the far right. Its depth seemed genuine and consistent with the record label's notes for this song. The reverb of Sara K.'s voice controlled much of the room boundaries, which was executed wider and deeper than I noted in past speaker auditions. And, Sara K.'s guitar was dazzling, subtle and defined with the gentlest of plucks.