This review first appeared in the September 2017 issue of high-end hifi magazine fairaudio.de of Germany. You can also read this Tune Audio review in its original German version. We publish its English translation in a mutual syndication arrangement with the publishers. As is customary for our own reviews, the writer's signature at review's end shows an e-mail address should you have questions or wish to send feedback. All images contained in this review are the property of fairaudio or Tune Audio - Ed.

Reviewer: Frank Hakopians
Analogue: TW-Acustic Raven with arms by Analog Tools and Pyon Sound, Dynavector XV-1S, Steinmusic Aventurin6, Lyra Titan I or Denon DL 103R cartridges, platter mats by Dereneville and Steinmusic
Digital: Abbingdon Music Research DP-777 DAC, Ensemble Dirondo transport, Innuos Zenith MkII server
Preamps: Accustic Arts Tube Preamp II Mk.2 linestage, Einstein The Turntables Choice phono
Integrated amp: Devialet D-Premier
Power amps: Tenor Audio 75 Wi monos, Audionet Amp I V2 stereo
Loudspeakers: Acapella La Campanella, Clockwork Event Horizon
Cables: Analog Tools Reference Series incl. phono
Power cords: Steinmusic Highline
Power delivery: Nordost QRT QB4 und QB8
Other: Steinmusic and Moll-Audio isolation transformers, Furutech sockets, AHP Klangmodule, Steinmusic Harmonizer, copulare and Audio Lignum racks, platforms by Symposium Acoustics and Acapella
Listening room: 23.4 m² with 2.64m ceiling
Review component retail: €13'500/pr

Thick-skinned brute or emo child? Syrtaki, olive oil and euro crisis. C'mon, that's all you can lift for Greece? Alas, I'm not about to hit you with a geopolitical examination; nor regale you with a treatise on Grecian mythology. With fairaudio's focus elsewhere, it's fitting that the country hosts an active hifi scene worthy of our attention. Just check out the website of the Athenian Audiophile Club. One quickly appreciates how much enthusiasm and coin the descendants of Socrates allocate to our shared passion. It's further shared by Manolis Proestakis whom I met at January's Norddeutsche Hifi Tagen this year.

Born in Crete, Manolis himself may actually be a descendant of Europa who, after being famously abducted by Zeus disguised as white steer, remained on the island. But Manolis is also boss at the Athens Tune Audio speaker house whose attractive website makes no bones over which speaker concept our man favours over all others. His four current models are hornspeakers. Manolis isn't just after higher sensitivity. He wants superior acoustical coupling between driver membranes and room air. And where little breaking happens and already lesser excursions manifest copious sound pressures, one can get by with less potent—and as such, often less complex—amplifiers including flea-power valves.


Acknowledged virtues aside, critics of hornspeakers often cite tonal aberrations. And though on dynamics nothing else beats them, the breed isn't necessarily king of micro detailing or soundstaging. Here Manolis Proestakis simply shrugs. If you believe him, well-considered construction and appropriate build materials will readily address such concerns. He favours Baltic Birch Ply for cabinets and even machines his midrange horns from solid Ply laminate blocks. The tweeter horns get a specially damped composite. He also prefers 6dB/oct. 1st-order filters where fewer top-quality parts create fewer barriers for the musical flow than steeper filters.
Marvellous author & Marvel authority.
Internal hookup wiring is solid-core OFC copper sourced from neighbouring Italy. These wires sleeve in cotton that's been impregnated in bee's wax. Sonic sweetness? Slightly unusual is the generous use of polished brass. Our Greeks not only use it for various plugs but screws, cable contacts and terminals. Tune Audio champion this copper-zinc alloy for its superior sonics over ubiquitous pure copper. For them, conventional speakers are just too ponderous and lifeless, period. Manolis demands full-range horns but frontal bass horns of any reach exceed in size what typical European homes can accommodate. Enter the rear horn. It amplifies the driver's back radiation with a folded but expanding line that's tucked into an enclosure. Given how Tune Audio's two 3-way models Avaton and Anima would be too big for my normal 24m² space, we quickly agreed on the next one down called Marvel. Small is relative of course. At 149cm, it's no dwarf. A footprint of 32x56cm simply makes for a house-broken attitude and the maker confirms that placement closer to the side walls or even corner ist erlaubt. Listening from closer than two metres isn't recommended, however. Noted!