After the Pirol had made its very first, very positive impression, we got a start on the fine tuning. As already mentioned, there wasn’t any need to worry about tonality and dynamics. However, as the Kawero Classic and the Goebel entry-level model Epoque Aeon Fine had previously indulged me with a much deeper soundstage, I asked Michael Plessmann to tease somewhat more out of his creations in this regard. Giving the speakers a more precise alignment, he was able to achieve marginal improvements. But, however, after connecting his laptop to the active electronics of the two speakers one by one and shifting the frequency at which the first-order filter stepped in from a surprisingly low 50 hertz to an even more surprising 27 hertz, the sound immediately isolated itself entirely from the cabinets and the imaginary soundstage enlarged a good deal further into the deep. This would have left me happy all around – if the DSPs would have been capable of saving these settings. But to achieve this, Michael Plessmann had to first commission a software update from his German DSP supplier.

While waiting for the update to arrive, I had enough time to gain initial experience with the Pirol. As long as a loudspeaker isn’t as demanding on power amplifiers as the "previous", somewhat amplifier-killing Goebel Epoque Fine, I am not necessarily interested in the efficiency of a transducer. Be that as it may, the representatives from Soundspace Systems made it obvious that after all I ought to somehow think about it: Even when listening to the most familiar records, there suddenly was fine detail to be more clearly audible than with transducers whose efficiency lies around 90 decibels. Although this will not have the effect of me ordering the one or other low power amplifier for reviewing right away, it makes me better understand the preferences of my colleagues Saile and Bussler. Efficiency is something that's not to be sneezed at – even when the power amps in play then have power in abundance. Actually, I could get used to the active bass of the Pirol in the long run. Even if the bass level is clearly set to joyful listening, the lows of the Pirol remain rhythmically thrilling, resilient, nimble, fast and outlined. And such a constellation is a very difficult thing to achieve with pure passive concepts. One usually has to decide between the earmarks just described or immersing in pleasant low bass waves.