When I paid a visit to the Aavik / Ansuz / Børresen group in August last year, I had a brief opportunity to listen to a 01 in comparison with a 01 Silver Supreme. I would gladly have wanted to intensify this comparison at home - or rather test a 05 Silver Supreme right away. But since I still have to wait for the latter, I now have a pair of 01 Silver Supreme adorning my listening room instead.

I don't mean to be impertinent, but even the switchover to one of the best and probably most expensive two-way loudspeakers that the world market has to offer can come up to a tough withdrawal at the wrong time: I have just (re)discovered the beneficial sonic impact of frequencies ranging from 15 to 30 hertz and now - due to the constructive concept of the Børresen speakers - I have to do without real low bass. Or, were the noble Danish high-end transducers just deliberately showing up in Gröbenzell? Because after having busied myself with two Velodyne subwoofers, they will spend a few more days with me before they hit the road for my colleague Roland Dietl’s listening room. And it's certainly an appealing idea to listen to the Børresen gems in conjunction with the Velodyne subwoofers. But more on that later.

Since Michael Børresen does not compromise in his developments, be it Ansuz cables, Aavik electronics or the loudspeakers carrying his own name, he doesn’t rely on drivers originating from well-known and respected manufacturers, but designs his own. The Børresen planar ribbon tweeter, found in all 0 series models, is an entirely new technical development. Elaborate finite element methods have been applied to linearise the magnetic flux field, to facilitate driver movement and to ensure high efficiency and outstanding linearity. The efficiency of the ribbon tweeter is said to be an exceptional 94 decibels. It handles the frequencies from approximately 2.5 kilohertz upwards. The moving mass is extremely low at 0.01 grams. Therefore, it has the ability to operate at high speed and to reveal the finest sonic details. The enormous robustness of this tweeter allows it to manage extremely high transient peaks without causing partial vibrations that fatigue the ear. Moreover, the Børresen tweeter does without a transformer.