I went to Kassel over the weekend, just to meet Michael Methe and his buddy Martin Bober, as well as to listen to their systems. For those of you who have never heard of Michael, I just want to say that he is very special to me and that his blog was the main inspiration for me to start blogging myself. He is well known in German audio circles, and his website is a database of meticulously documented DIY projects, modifications of commercial products, and experiences in the realm of audio reproduction. Following his winding road in the pursuit of perfect sound has brought me immense pleasure and has greatly expanded my understanding.
I took the train from Hamburg early in the morning, and before lunch I was in Kassel. I had two hours to stroll around the city and have breakfast before our meeting at Martin’s apartment. Although it was drizzling, the old town on that Saturday morning was quite inviting. I wandered through the city centre, admiring the facades of the historic buildings, and decided to have an espresso in a café opposite the town hall and the Hemingway Club. Only an occasional passer-by crossed the street, and the trams came and went, but not much else was happening at that early hour. After finishing my coffee, I set off toward our meeting point along a picturesque road on the northern bank of the Fulda River.
I quickly realized how charming this city is. Apart from its architecture and art—Documenta is hosted here, and galleries and public artworks are scattered throughout the city—Kassel is built on an interesting landscape of hills and valleys. The southern slopes are planted with vineyards, and several parks were covered in rusty autumn colours. It was a real pleasure to contemplate a landscape so different from the flat plains of northern Germany, where I live. I could hardly resist the urge to climb one of the nearby hills, but time was passing quickly, so I simply had breakfast at a nearby bakery.
At the appointed time, I rang Martin’s doorbell, and he welcomed me with a broad smile and a very warm manner. Martin is a hardcore Quad enthusiast, and his system consists of Quad ESL-57 electrostatic loudspeakers driven by Quad II Classic tube power amplifiers and a Quad QC-24 preamplifier. The front end consisted of a Thorens TD 124 turntable with a Denon DL-103 cartridge mounted on an SME 3012 tonearm modified by Volker Heinze.
I was so captivated by the performance of this system and by Martin’s personality that I decided not to interrupt the magical experience with routine activities like taking photographs or asking unnecessary questions. It was my first encounter with these iconic speakers, and I can say with certainty that they impressed me. In fact, their open and clean sound made me realize just how coloured my back-loaded horns are.
The imaging of these electrostatic speakers is also very special. I would describe it as holographic—the focus seems to extend toward infinity, so every instrument, even those at the edges of the stage, is rendered with remarkable precision. I have never experienced such imaging with conventional cone speakers, which usually focus on the soloist in the centre, much like a camera using a wide aperture to focus on a nearby object while leaving the background softly blurred. It seems that the flat diaphragm of an electrostatic speaker projects sonic images differently from the cone of a conventional driver.
I thoroughly enjoyed the ESL-57’s transparency, purity of tone, and exceptional imaging while listening to Schubert piano sonatas on Deutsche Grammophon pressings played on the old Thorens TD 124. In the end, however good these speakers are, they also have their shortcomings. The most obvious is their limited dynamic capability—the range from the softest to the loudest sounds does not quite match that of a good dynamic speaker or horn system. The bass is rather restrained as well, and the sweet spot is probably the narrowest I have ever encountered. Despite these limitations, these speakers are an absolute joy to listen to. Most remarkable was their ability to play with complete freedom from cabinet colouration, making listening effortless. I realized that I could listen to them for hours without the slightest hint of fatigue. It was the most relaxed listening experience I have ever had.
After taking a break and having lunch, we set off for Michael’s home in the nearby village of Espenau—a truly beautiful place surrounded by forest-covered hills. Michael’s new house is cosy and spacious, with large French windows and plenty of natural light. The interior is modern, stylish, and built with love and minimalist Nordic restraint. His professional espresso machine and his passion for good coffee further added to our collective comfort. His listening room on the top floor, however, presents quite a challenge due to its elongated shape and modest area of around 18 square metres.
Over the last 35 years, Michael has gone through an extraordinary variety of loudspeaker concepts: electrostatic, magnetostatic, open baffle, ported and sealed enclosures, horns, and numerous DIY and commercial designs. In recent years, however, he has settled on a slightly modified version of the open-baffle speakers featured in the Japanese magazine Stereo Sound in 1996, fitted with 8-inch PHY-HP full-range drivers. The system is complemented in the bass by a Neumann KH 805 active studio subwoofer and in the treble by Line Magnetic 597 field-coil tweeters.
The speakers are driven by DIY 300B monoblocks based on a modified JE Labs 300B SE circuit. As you might expect, the primary source is analogue: a customised Acoustic Signature turntable fitted with an Ortofon SPU cartridge mounted on a 12-inch tonearm by Michael Wiedemann. An Auditorium 23 step-up transformer and an Audio Note L2 Phono line preamplifier complete the setup.
I don’t have much experience with open-baffle speakers, only a few encounters at audio shows, and my impressions have always been mixed. On the one hand, they possess a seductive openness; on the other, the tone often lacks density and weight in the midrange and lower registers. Michael’s speakers, however, are different from any open-baffle design I had heard before. The most obvious difference is the landscape orientation of the baffles, as opposed to the more common portrait layout.
Compared with other open-baffle systems I have heard, these speakers delivered surprisingly full and mature bass performance, even with the subwoofer switched off. In fact, I was unable to tell whether it was operating at all. As Michael explained, the subwoofer is crossed over at around 40 Hz and rolled off gently so that its contribution remains extremely subtle.
We began our listening session with Enzo Pietropaoli’s Solo, an album consisting entirely of double bass performances, and I was immediately captivated by the articulation and energy in the lower registers. It is astonishing what these 8-inch PHY-HP drivers can produce in an open-baffle configuration. Spatial cues were rendered with remarkable realism, and I instantly felt transported into the recording venue.
The only unusual aspect of this setup is that, because of the room’s limited dimensions, the listening position is only about two metres from the speakers, creating what I would call a near-field listening experience. These are not small loudspeakers, and at such a short distance I found myself immersed in an overwhelming amount of detail, which became somewhat tiring at higher listening levels. This is, of course, entirely subjective and a matter of personal preference.
Personally, I prefer maintaining some perspective rather than being completely immersed in the sound field. I like to observe the soundstage from a distance and enjoy its natural presence. That is usually what I experience during live performances—the music unfolds on the stage in front of me, with clearly defined direction and instruments located several metres away.
With Michael’s setup, I had the impression of standing on the stage itself, with the musicians within arm’s reach. That may be thrilling for many listeners, but not for me. I suppose I am simply the type of listener who prefers to remain a quiet observer, safely hidden in the shadows.
In a room like this, I would probably have chosen a pair of compact speakers and tried to create a lively yet self-contained soundstage that could be enjoyed from a greater distance. That’s simply my philosophy: the room should determine the choice of loudspeaker, not the other way around.
Despite our different preferences, I could clearly hear that this system performs at a very high level. Even though the limited space prevented me from experiencing its full potential, its dynamic authority and remarkable resolving power left a lasting impression. Another aspect I greatly appreciate is the elegant simplicity of the single-driver open-baffle concept. Even with both the subwoofer and the tweeters switched off, the speakers sounded surprisingly complete and full-bodied. I honestly couldn’t tell much difference, which either speaks to the subtlety of those additions—or perhaps to my own hearing 🙂
Later, Michael told me that many years ago he shared my preference for far-field listening, but over time he gradually shifted toward quasi-near-field listening because he found it more detailed and involving. He also explained that this approach reduces the influence of the room by changing the ratio between direct and reflected sound at the listening position. With this philosophy in mind, he designed his new listening room together with two acoustic specialists, and according to him, the result is exactly what he had hoped for.
In the end, I would say that Michael’s greatest achievement is that, despite his complete dedication to the audiophile hobby, he has managed to maintain a healthy balance without sacrificing his family life. On the contrary, together with his wife Patricia, he has built a beautiful new home where, despite certain compromises, he has a dedicated space to pursue his favourite pastime alongside another passion of his—reading.
He confessed that at least a few people he knows have gone through divorces in recent years, largely because of an all-consuming devotion to music listening and the endless pursuit of assembling an audio system capable of reproducing every subtle nuance captured in a recording. It is somewhat sad that something as beautiful as music and its reproduction can lead to such complications. In the end, however, listening is a solitary act, and one does not need another person to share the experience.
The amount of time devoted to this seductive hobby often becomes crucial when it comes to relationships. There are countless examples of personal passions colliding with shared responsibilities, sometimes leading to broken relationships. I sincerely wish all of you, dear friends, to keep your balance and not allow the audiophile bug to lead you too far away from the path of ordinary life.
Thank you for stopping by, and as always, happy listening!