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!