Schon als Helmut Thiele Mitte letzten Jahres in Gröbenzell vorbeischaute, um zu sehen, ob sein Tonarm korrekt auf meinem Laufwerk funktionierte, hatten wir einen Firmenbesuch in Duisburg vereinbart: Die Gespräche waren einfach viel zu anregend, um nur per Telefon fortgesetzt zu werden. Und dann war da ja noch das Statement in High Fidelity.

Ende November hatten der Kollege Wojciech Pacuła und ich uns über die Gewinner der Statements in High Fidelity | Polish Edition 2021 verständigt. Meine Wahl war auf den Thiele TA01 gefallen, den ersten Tonarm, den Helmut Thiele unter eigenem Namen auf den Markt brachte. Der Arm, dessen Prototyp mich schon vor fast einem Jahrzehnt tief beeindruckte, ist eine ebenso innovative wie mechanisch anspruchsvolle Parallelogramm-Konstruktion nahezu ohne – oder um exakt zu sein: mit maximal 0,036 Grad – Fehlspurwinkel, die im Test ihre Kompatibilität mit einer Reihe recht unterschiedlicher Tonabnehmer offenbarte: Alle Systeme konnten im TA01 ihre Vorzüge voll zur Geltung bringen, ohne dass ihnen der Arm auch nur den kleinsten klanglichen Stempel aufdrückte.

Da die Messe in Warschau abgesagt werden musste und die aktuellen Umstände ein Treffen der beiden Preisträger mit dem Kollegen und mir auch in naher Zukunft unwahrscheinlich sein würde, suchten wir nach anderen Möglichkeiten, die Preise zu übergeben. Als ich dann aus privaten Gründen sowieso ins Ruhrgebiet reiste, entschloss ich mich, bei dieser Gelegenheit den lange geplanten Besuch in Duisburg zu machen und mit der Übergabe des Statement in High Fidelity zu verbinden. Wojciech Pacuła gratulierte via Skype.

Eine Lösung für die Preisverleihung – vom traditionellen gemeinsamen Dinner mal abgesehen – ergab sich also leichter als gedacht. Ein wenig schwieriger stellt es sich hingegen dar, Ihnen Helmut Thiele und seine Firma vorzustellen – wenn Sie den Test seines Tonarms gelesen haben. Denn dann wissen Sie zum Beispiel schon, dass er nach vier Semestern seines Maschinenbaustudiums die Fachrichtung und seinen Studienort wechselte und in Krefeld Industriedesign studierte. Um treue Leser nicht all zu sehr zu langweilen, beschränke ich mich hier auf einen kurzen Abriss von Helmut Thieles Vita. Ein paar Informationen mehr finden sich – wie gesagt – im Bericht über den TA01.

Doch zurück zu den Anfängen: Helmut Thiels Examensarbeit war die Entwicklung und der Bau eines Plattenspielers. In der Planungsphase recherchierte er im Audio Forum in Duisburg und traf dort auf Alfred Rudolph. In der Folge beteiligte er sich an der Produktion von Acapella-Hörnern und war für das Design einiger Michaelson & Austin-Verstärkern verantwortlich. Nach dem Examen und der Arbeit in einem Design-Büro übernahm Helmut Thiele dann Mitte der 90-er Jahre als Selbstständiger die Gestaltung der Lautsprecher-Serien von ALR. Es folgten unter anderem Aufträge von Heco, Magnat, MacAudio, Castle und Tannoy. Ab 2008 ist Helmut Thiel auch für Thorens tätig.

Statt sich so langsam Gedanken über seinen Ruhestand zu machen, mietete er vor sechs Jahren im Business Park in Rheinhausen die erste Etage eines Geschäftsgebäudes, wo wir in dann auch aufsuchten. Im größten der drei Räume gibt es neben einer kleinen Küchenzeile an zentraler Stelle ein Regal voller Plattenspieler, das den Bereich mit der Anlage und zwei Hörsesseln von dem trennt, in dem ein Schreibtisch und mehrere Werkbänke für die Montage von Tonarmen und Laufwerken stehen. Hier gibt es auch einen Schwingtisch, mit dessen Hilfe Helmut Thiele zum Beispiel die Auswirkung verschiedenen Füße oder der Position des Motors und seines Gehäuses auf Resonanzen untersuchen kann.

Vielleicht sollte nicht unerwähnt bleiben, dass der Entwickler und Designer inzwischen ausschließlich für Firmen in der Hifi-Industrie tätig ist, mit den ihn langjährige Geschäftsbeziehungen verbinden. Den größten Teil seines bisherigen Arbeitslebens hielten sich Aufträge von Hifi-Herstellern und andere Sparten in etwa die Waage. Seit einiger Zeit ist nun noch das Engagement für die eigenen Produkte hinzugekommen: den Tonarm TA01 und das Laufwerk TT01. Nicht nur für diese beiden könnte er im zweiten großen Raum seiner Firma nahezu alle Teile selbst fertigen: Hier gibt es neben einer klassischen Drehbank, einer Ständerbohrmaschine, einer großen Säge, einer Fräse und einer Poliermaschine seit etwa anderthalb Jahren auch eine CNC-Maschine und einen Laser für Beschriftungen. Die Programmierung der CNC-Maschine hat sich Helmut Thiele übrigens selbst beigebracht – unter anderem durch das Studium von Youtube-Videos. Einige Teile der ersten Tonarm-Prototypen hat er noch mit der einfachen Hand-Fräse hergestellt. Nun bezieht er viele der benötigten Teile dank größerer Stückzahlen aber von Will Tremblett, dem Inhaber von Zavfino, dessen Produkte ebenso wie die Thiele Arme und Laufwerke von ATR – Audio Trade vertrieben werden. Die Qualitätskontrolle der gelieferten Teile – beispielsweise werden die Laufgeräusche jedes einzelnen Motors geprüft, wonach einige aussortiert werden – sowie deren Montage liegt dann ausschließlich in den Händen von Helmut Thiele. Bisher bewältigt er alle anfallenden Aufgaben allein.

Erfreulicherweise hat der Frühaufsteher trotzdem immer noch Zeit für, wie ich finde, besonders spannende Projekte: So waren er und Walter Fuchs, mit dem ihn eine langjährige Zusammenarbeit verbindet, mit der Fertigungsqualität einiger Testplatten – seien es nun zu diesem Zweck gefertigte oder von ihnen für diese Anwendung ausgewählte Scheiben – unzufrieden. Einer der häufigen Kritikpunkte ist ein exzentrisches Mittelloch. Dieses bohrt Helmut Thiele dann auf acht Millimeter auf und legt die Scheibe auf einen EMT 930, an dessen hinterer linken Ecke er einen Laser befestigt hat. Auf der Oberseite der Blechdose, die das Armlager umgibt, justiert er dann einen kleinen Spiegel. Die Lager des EMT-Arms fallen nach Einschätzung Helmut Thieles übrigens in die Kategorie „Klapperatismus“. Das des ähnlich aussehenden Arm des neuen Thorens TD124 DD konstruierte er daher deutlich stabiler.

Doch zurück zur Platte mit dem exzentrischen Mittelloch: Der Spiegel auf dem Arm ist so ausgerichtet, dass er den Laserstrahl auf eine etwa fünf Meter entfernte Wand projiziert. So wird jede noch so kleine Bewegung des Arms, der der Rille der exzentrischen Platte folgt, deutlich sichtbar. Dann ist ein wenig Fingerspitzengefühl von Nöten, um die Scheibe exakt zentrisch auf dem Plattenteller auszurichten. Wenn dies geschehen ist, füllt Helmut Thiele den Raum zwischen dem Acht-Millimeter-Mittelloch und der eingefetteten Achse der Laufwerks mit Pattex. Nach etwa einem Tag ist die Masse so fest geworden, dass sie sich mit der LP vom Plattenspieler entfernen lässt. Nach ein paar Tage zur weiteren Aushärtung hat man dann eine perfekt zentrische LP.

Von dieser Art des Vinyl-Feintunings hatte mir Helmut Thiele schon bei seinem Besuch in Gröbenzell erzählt, noch deutlich beeindruckender ist es jedoch zu sehen, wie zeitaufwändig sich eine solche Optimierungsmaßname gestaltet. Mindestens ebenso neugierig hatte er mich damals mit der Schilderung seiner Methode gemacht, die Wirksamkeit der Entkopplung bei seinem Laufwerk zu überprüfen. Nun konnte ich mich mit eigenen Ohren davon überzeugen. Aber von Anfang an: Schon seit Jahrzehnten arbeitet Helmut Thiele mit der Firma Sewerin in Gütersloh zusammen, deren Geräte zum Auffinden von Lecks in Gas- und Wasserrohren und zur Rohrnetzüberprüfung nahezu weltweit im Einsatz sind. Eines der angebotenen Geräte ist das Stethophon 04, ein Abhorchgerät zur Wasserlecksuche, dass die Geräusche, die an der Spitze des Geräts aufgenommen werden verstärkt und über einen Kopfhörer hörbar macht.

Helmut Thiele hatte das Stethophon an einer Schur mit integrierter Feder zu Entkopplung befestigt und setze den Messkopf nacheinander auf die drei Ebenen seines Laufwerks auf: Während die Motorgeräusche auf der unteren Ebene, in der der Antrieb montiert ist, bei hoher Verstärkung noch zu hören waren, blieb die zweite Ebene mit dem Armboard respektive dem Arm so gut wie still. Genauso war es bei der dritten Lage, die die Bedienungselemente und das Tellerlager trägt. Da wir schon dabei waren, setze Helmut Thiele das Stethophon auch neben der Achse auf dem Label der Scheibe auf. Wie zuvor waren die Lautstärke der Kette auf null gedreht. Trotzdem war nun im Kopfhörer Musik zu hören: Beim Abtastvorgang regte die Nadel die gesamte Platte an. Die Musik lässt sich auf diese Weise nicht nur hören, sondern beim Anschluss des Stethophons an ein iPad, auf dem die kostenlose App SpectrumView läuft, in ihrer spektralen Verteilung auch sehen.

Das brachte mich auf eine Idee: Wenn man die Platte auf dem stehenden Teller mit weißen Rauschen oder Musik beschallte, müsste man den Einfluss eines Plattenpuck doch eindeutig sehen: gedacht, getan. Wir schlossen eine digitale Quelle an die SAC Vorstufe an und drehten die Lautstärke hoch, so dass die Acapella Lautsprecher die Scheibe in Schwingungen versetzte. Die wurden sichtbar schwächer, sobald ein Puck die Scheibe beruhigte. Mit diesem Spielzeug hätte ich noch Stunde verbringen können, doch es wurde langsam Zeit, im Hotel einzuchecken. Da blieb mir praktisch nichts anderes übrig, als ein Stethophon 04 für Experimente mit der heimischen Kette zu bestellen. Eines der ersten Objekte, denen ich mich damit nähern werde, dürfte der Thiele TT01 sein, dessen Test fest geplant ist. Ich freue mich jetzt schon auf das Laufwerk samt Arm, einem großen Ortofon-Tonabnehmer und einer Blue-Amp-42-Phonostufe – und das nächste Treffen mit Helmut Thiele.

While visiting Ansuz in August 2020, I was so captivated by the Børresen 05's elegant appearance alone that I instantly ordered a pair in the Silver Supreme Edition for a review. Now they finally happen to be in my listening room. But the way to it wasn’t that easy, and furthermore, these dream speakers also give rise to a question of conscience.

I'm going to assume that those of you who have read the report on the entry-level model in Michael Børresen's 0-series, the 01 Silver Supreme Edition, as well as the one on the Aavik phono stage developed by him, share the same extraordinary high expectations for the top-of-the-range model in his speaker series and do not see the designation "dream speaker" in above introduction as an anticipation of the verdict in the concluding STATEMENT section. The fact that the 05 SSE - if I remember correctly - is the most expensive loudspeaker reviewed in Hifistatement to date, by the way, doesn’t burden my conscience in any way: When dealing with components that reach or even extend the boundaries of the possible, the pecuniary expenditure can only play a subordinate role. As long as affordable components also find their way into our magazine, I have no problem with that - as already said before.

Now, actually, should be following a detailed description of the - partly patented - technologies that are used in the Børresen 05 SSE. Also the mention of the - at least in loudspeaker design - exotic materials, such as lots of zirconium, would be wise to highlight the exceptional position of the 05 SSE. But on the one hand, the planar ribbon tweeter developed by Michael Børresen as well as his 11.5 centimeter bass/midrange driver have already been specified at length in the review of the 01 SSE, while in the article about the company visit to Aavik, Ansuz and Børresen the manufacturing of the pure silver rings for the Silver Supreme Edition has extensively been captured in pictures. On the other hand, you will soon be able to listen to an interview here in which Michael Børresen gives an insight into his loudspeaker developments. Therefore, I shall limit myself to a rather brief technical description here.

The Børresen 05 SSE is a two-and-a-half-way loudspeaker about 1.55 meters tall with a vented enclosure, whose three openings in order to ensure a noiseless air flow are each fitted with a metal diffuser, which is so characteristic for the appearance of the Danish loudspeakers. The upper end of the frequency band, as in all models of the 0-series, is in charge of the proprietarily manufactured planar ribbon tweeter - as known from the 01 - with an efficiency of 94 decibels, which can be used from about 2.5 kilohertz upwards and does without a transformer. The moving mass of the Børresen tweeter is said to be only 0.01 grams. As good as the ribbon tweeter may be, what lets the speakers in Børresen's 0-series set out of the crowd are the bass/midrange drivers with their patented, completely iron-free motors. Thanks to four opposing neodymium-52 ring magnets and rings of pure copper in between, or pure silver in the case of the Silver Supreme Edition, Michael Børresen was able to reduce the inductance of the voice coil to less than 0.04 millihenry - not even a tenth of the value of conventional drivers. This is intended to benefit the excursion speed of the driver as well as its ability to reproduce detail and to ensure that it is an extremely easy load for the amplifier to drive, with only minor impedance fluctuation and phase rotation.

The 05 uses two bass/midrange drivers with a cone diameter of 11.5 centimeters and four bass/midrange equivalents with a diameter of 15.5 centimeters. The diaphragms consist of two layers of very thin carbon on either side of a four-millimeter-thick Nomex honeycomb core and feature a very good stiffness-to-weight ratio. The pure silver rings of the six drivers together weigh about three kilograms. All Børresen speakers are conceived as two- or two-and-a-half-way designs. Michael Børresen has, of course, had experience with prototypes with more ways. But, only with the restriction to a maximum of two and a half ways he could - as he revealed in the interview - achieve the desired seamless and completely homogeneous performance. The serial crossover, thanks to which the electric current is supposed to be phase-locked over the crossover’s entire frequency range, certainly plays its role in this. Vacuum-impregnated coils are also being used in the 05. Here, however, the arrays of small, military-spec foil capacitors are biased. The speakers therefore come with the appropriate power supplies, but they are only the baseline to start from.

Weeks before the two huge flight cases with the 05 SSE speakers arrived in Gröbenzell, Morton Thyrrested, who, among other things, is the sales representative for the German-speaking countries, had put a PowerBox D-TC SUPREME and a Mainz D2 on their way: Ansuz' best external power supply, which provides the 14 volts needed by the 05, and the third best model in their row of current power cables. Also included were Speakz D-TC SUPREME speaker cables, as all the cables commonly used in my listening room are terminated with spades. Børresen speakers are basically fitted with jacks for banana plugs only, since the Danes consider these to be by far the best connection variant available. Of course, Morton Thyrrested, who also operates an 05 SSE at home and had raved to me about its capabilities especially in combination with the coupling elements from Zikonium, the Darks Z2S, had also thought of supplying two corresponding sets of feet. The fact that the "accessories" mentioned above push the price of the test objects distinctly upwards, should only be mentioned in passing...

Talking of upwards: When the two flight cases arrived, their appearance made me expect anything but good to happen. Because of the six large carrier rollers under each case, it was impossible to manoeuvre them into the elevator, which would have made transporting them from the ground floor to the second floor much easier. The last resort was to hire a moving company to get the two cases to the third floor. Freed from their packaging, the 05, weighing 75 kilograms each, were then quite easy to move, as I experienced when they had to vacate their space for a couple of weeks during the testing of the enormously high-efficient and euphonious sounding Soundspace System Robin.

For the first setup of the 05 SSE in my listening room, the two main shareholders of Upper Level ApS, under whose umbrella Aavik Acoustics, Ansuz Acoustics and Børresen Acoustics join forces, Lars Christensen and Michael Børresen, made their way to Gröbenzell. I made them of course aware of the floor markings for the approved set-up positions, but then I rather took care of making fresh tea. When I returned, I was amazed when noticing the listening room to appear much larger with the rather tall 05 SSE than before with the not insignificantly more delicate looking Goebel Epoque Aeon Fine. The solution to the riddle was that the two had simply ignored the markings. Although the baffles of the 05s roughly came to match the same stereo basis line, which had proven to be ideal in my listening room over the years, the Børresens were now unusually close to the side walls of the room. At the back, the distance between the wall and the side of the speaker was just 25 centimeters, while at the front it was almost 43 centimeters. As a result, the transducers were strongly angled inwards aiming at the right and left shoulder of an imaginary person sitting on the listening chair. Visually, this was convincing straight away. The view of the back wall of the room was virtually unobstructed by the speakers: The study appeared airy and open.

The first tones, however, did not win me over for this setup variant. For me, the performance lacked of too much bass and the necessary accuracy in imaging - but that didn't worry Lars Christensen and Michael Børresen in the least: The previously burnt-in speakers would rather need an hour to acclimatize after transport, and besides that, the speaker cables had not yet been able to accumulate a single hour of operation either. So we treated the cables and the speakers to an hour of music and ourselves to Bavarian sausages, sweet mustard and pretzels. After that, the system already sounded much more pleasant – oh no, the author isn't a fan of wheat beer at noon. When the two Danes then added eight Darks Z2S feet to their speakers, the lows forfeited none of their energy, but gained extremely in definition. However, the most impressive thing about the 05 SSEs and their unusual placement was the size - and depth - of the imaginary soundstage. I never lived up to such a great acoustic encounter of the cinematic kind in my listening room before.

But for Lars Christensen and Michael Børresen this seemed to be a matter of course, and they remarked almost casually that a lot more euphony was possible with the tweaks Ansuz had up their sleeve. To prove their point, they then plugged first one and then a second Sparkz Harmonizer TC2 into the power strip that previously powered my two Velodyne DD+ 10s plus an Acoustic Revive RR-77 and now the Schumann Wave Frequency Generator and the Ansuz PowerBox. The positive effect of the plugs acting in parallel with the audio components was immediately audible thanks to the 05’s immense joy for detail and high resolution capabilities: The sonic image became even more fluent and supple, without sacrificing the excellent rendering of transients and fine detailing of Børresen's top-of-the-line model. The now rich, but certainly not fat, low frequency response made the use of the Velodynes dispensable. Yes, I know that the beneficial impact of the subwoofers is by no means limited to the bass range. But it were also the transient response, the transparency and the precise imaging of the 05 SSEs, that made the author perfectly happy. By the way, only one of my two listening chairs was available at that time, since the second one was just being reupholstered. After the day's exertion, we turned towards Lars Kristensen's second hobby, to which Michael Børresen wouldn’t say no either: gin and tonic. This time it happened to be an X-Gin with bits of crushed cocoa beans and, to the dismay of any real gin connoisseur, Schweppes Dry Tonic Water. Nevertheless, this combination proved to be extremely harmonious.

The next morning we moved a pair of seats into the study and let ourselves be spoiled by the sound of the 05 SSE. Since for all involved it seemed needless to further adjust the speaker positions, I left my seat to Michael Børresen, took place near the Studer A80 and played a few pieces from tape, some familiar and some own recordings. The 05’s developer particularly liked the way how colourful, defined and powerful the low end of the tape recordings sounded over his creations, which other sources usually fall short of. With the good feeling in mind to have brought the 05 SSEs to perform optimally in my room, we then soon made our way to the airport.

In the evening, I raved about the test objects in play to my wife. Unexpectedly, she could not share my euphoria in the least. Eventually, we switched seats. In the mobile rocking chair next to the - currently only - listening chair, one only got a bland set-off of the impressive sonic image that could be savoured in the central position: Tonally, everything was in order, even the resolution was convincing, but the musicians seemed to be grouped exclusively around one speaker only - not even a trace of the previously impressive three-dimensional soundstage remained. It didn't either help to position the chair’s armrests left and right of the imaginary center line of the room: Now it wasn't possible to enjoy the music on either of the two seats on that extremely high level with which the 05 SSEs had previously delighted the person sitting in the central listening position. When sitting alone in front of the Børresens, they made you revel in music and almost completely forget about any sort of hi-fi criteria.

Nevertheless, I should attempt to draw up a brief description of the sonic outcome: Only the Goebel Aeon, whose bending wave driver reproduces the range from 160 to over 30,000 Hertz, had previously played so homogeneously and seamlessly in my listening room. The 05 SSEs definitely stand up to these also in terms of transient reproduction and speed. In addition, the Børresen flood the room with perfectly proportioned low frequency energy. And that is by no means a matter of course in my room: The upper bass range always seemed a bit too light, no matter on which high level the speakers performed in other disciplines. Already with the LumenWhite DiamondLight I longed for a bit more warmth in this frequency band, while the Goebels could do a touch better here as well. I don't know what the reason is, but with the Børresens there are no disturbing first reflections in spite of their placement close to the side walls, and they also compensate for the room-related frequency dip quite naturally. They seem to be largely immune to the influences of their surroundings. But all this is far surpassed by the large, precise and three-dimensional sonic image the 05 SSE is capable to display: This is absolutely amazing!

What gets me worried, however, is the fact that the Børresens only allow one centrally seated person to enjoy music to the fullest. So I call Lars Kristensen, seeking for advice. He tells me that he knows about the effect, as there are probably only a few speakers around that need to be so focused on the listening position as the 05 SSE. But this has never caused criticism on the part of his customers. He instead endorses being courageous for egoism. And this leads us to the matter of conscience - even if the 05 SSE is pecuniarily out of reach: Do I want to live with a loudspeaker that allows only me alone to listen to music as never before, without being able to share the experience with manufacturers and distributors who present their products in my listening room? And, at least as equally important to me: Do I really want to give up mutual listening experiences with my spouse for a few percent more of sound quality? Where does courageous egoism end and audiophile autism begin?

It quickly becomes apparent to me that I cannot limit my involvement with the Børresen speakers to two weeks, as planned, and that I have to start looking for a setup in which the 05 SSEs are able to demonstrate their capabilities to two people as well. In doing so, I make it towards the proven speaker positions again, although losing too much size in the imaging for my taste. So I move the Børresens a bit closer to the side walls again. With a minimum distance of about 60 centimeters and a slight angle to the two listening positions, a compromise is found that is acceptable to me. The armrest of my chair, however, now does stick out a little beyond the imaginary center line of the room: That much egoism I might be allowed. Because even on the neighbour seat, the exceptional performance of the 05 SSE becomes largely accessible.

I deliberately wrote about a compromise, as Lars Kristensen - naturally - knows his speakers inside out: The current set-up of the Børresens lets one give up a shade of intensity during powerful impulses by at the same time diminishing the dimensions of the imaginary stage a bit. But I can easily get over that, since the 05 SSEs still have plenty to offer in these disciplines - or in other words: plenty more than 99 percent of all other loudspeakers. Besides that, it doesn’t take a huge effort to move the Børresens from one marked position to another and readjust the feet to then fully enjoy the benefits of the Børresen as a part-time autist!

But I won’t get to that for the time being, as the seat next to me is often occupied not only during the musical aperitif hours. Among others, also my colleagues Dave Marras Grünwalds and Roland Dietl did not miss the opportunity to experience the Børresens - after all, when does one ever come across the occasion to listen to speakers of this class elsewhere than on trade shows? My colleague Roland Dietl knows my system quite well and was impressed how differentiated and stably positioned the precisely outlined instruments were. He was convinced about not having heard anything better in my room so far. As you can already see from this example, I fortunately had enough time alone and in company in getting to know the Børresens very well.

While I started out playing the familiar test tracks every now and then without ever being disappointed, it was much more exciting to (re)discover new and forgotten music thereafter. For example, the 05 SSEs made Kit Downes' album Obsidian a very special experience by offering an extensive indulgence in organ sounds in a huge room. Even Kiyoto Fujiwara's very superficial demonstration of his virtuosity on the double bass on an otherwise sparsely orchestrated version of the "Concierto De Aranjuez" got lifted by the Børresens to a bearable level due to their rich portfolio of tonal colours. True acoustic delicacies, on the other hand, turned out to be Tord Gustavsen's ECM albums, most notably The Ground in its 96-kilohertz version. But which of your favourite discs, files or tapes you might ever choose, I am convinced that the 05 SSEs will not disappoint you - no matter if you want to listen to them alone or in twos!