Audionec has been on our radar for years. Their unusual speaker technology, which might be described as 'Quads with tremendous extension and dynamics' had beguiled us time and again. They're also very efficient. Astride is their Server/DAC tech which we found to be among the best encountered. So moved were we, that we flew to St. Mesmes outside of Paris and arranged for an audition. Once heard, there was no turning back. Francis Chaillet and Herve' Brasebin proved expert in both the creation of music and musicology in general. Audionec is the fruition of those passions, which through years of effort, both mathematic and empirical, found its way to a full system expression. A full system was the natural destination. ‘A full expression at its best is better than the sum of its parts.’ Despite each effort being on its own a diamond; from amplification to digital filtering to incredible speaker technology, that statement holds true here. This tailoring over years is a rare advantage in the marketplace at large. And for the first time, we can now have Audionec speakers of any stripe in a fully passive version, making the cost of entry to the Audionec sound, greatly reduced.