In addition to the speakers, the employees of Die Dritte Dimension also brought along two grounding cables, which were used to connect the grounding terminals of the Stenheim speakers in their store to a Shunyata grounding system. However, as these weren’t either long enough to reach my Synergistic Research Active Ground Block SE or did they have the right plugs, I simply connected them to the ground contacts of a Furutech Schuko plug and plugged this into a normal power outlet – with surprisingly great success: the music unfolded against a quieter, “blacker” background, which benefited more than just the fine dynamics. Even the most subtle spatial information became audible, and the imaginary stage seemed larger. I find it particularly positive that this improvement, which is not of an insignificant nature, does not require a special grounding system: two cables with a sufficient cross-section and a good plug are all it takes to achieve a noticeable enhancement. So far, I’ve just really liked the Stenheim speakers, they were fun to listen to. It was only in the course of the following days that I wondered what the reason for this spontaneous feeling of contentment could be. Part of it was certainly due to the dynamic performance – perhaps because of the relatively high efficiency? – but even more so because an acoustic imperfection in my listening room was now only noticeable when I strongly concentrated on it, thanks to the Stenheim speakers. The very steep drop-off around 64 hertz had almost disappeared, whatever the reason for that may be. In any case, the Alumine FIVE seemed to harmonize extremely well with my listening room.

Jean-Pascal Panchard shared my opinion exactly the same way after having got his first impression of the system in conjunction with his FIVE SX speakers during his visit. However, he suggested moving the two heavyweights a little further apart and angling them slightly less toward the listening position. I didn't dare moving the speakers closer to the side walls because I was afraid that the first reflections from there would prevent the speakers to disappear completely from the soundstage. But the developer did know his creations better, of course: Experimenting with small lateral adjustments and angling, the Stenheims rewarded with a slightly larger image, even in depth, and a touch less highs with a hint more low-frequency energy. The sound detached itself from the cabinets at least as well as before. Could this be due to the asymmetrical positioning of the tweeter and midrange drivers on the baffle? Jean-Pascal Panchard also encouraged me to experiment a little with room adaptation. When the speakers were delivered, the two jumpers formed a horizontal line, which should correspond to a fairly linear frequency response. After a little trial and error, I decided to add one decibel more bass energy: the sound just got a touch warmer, rounder, and ultimately more appealing.

Despite my previous contentment, after Andante Largo owner Suzuki san having paid me a visit, I simply couldn't resist trying out his plates developed for speaker spikes – and, of course, writing about them. In short: the Silent Mounts help the Stenheim speakers achieve a slightly larger and more vivid soundstage. The instruments got a touch sharper in focus, and the inner dynamics and rhythmic accentuation also benefited from the spike inserts. The standard Stenheim plates were clearly inferior to the Silent Mounts in terms of sound, which made me leave the latter under the speakers.