The Extreme 35 boasts an efficiency rating of . Let that number sit with you. A standard bookshelf speaker might be 85 dB. The Extreme 35 is so sensitive that a 1-watt amplifier will produce sounds loud enough to cause permanent hearing damage. You can drive these things to concert levels with a flea-powered 300B tube amp putting out 8 watts.
The first thing you notice is the . Normal speakers sound like they are shouting through a cardboard tube. The Extreme 35 has no cabinet coloration because the horn loads the driver so efficiently that the driver barely moves. The sound just floats in space, untethered.
Have you heard the Extreme 35? Are you planning a pilgrimage to Munich to demo them? Drop your hot takes in the comments below. Just don’t tell me your Bluetooth speaker sounds "just as good." Avantgarde Extreme 35
Does it have flaws? Yes. It is physically imposing. It is ruthlessly revealing of bad gear. It costs more than a Porsche 911.
Avantgarde did not cheat.
All that remains is the music.
The second thing is the . That 35-inch horn covers 150 Hz to 2,000 Hz. This is the golden zone—the human voice, the cello, the guitar. Thom Yorke’s voice on Nude was holographic. It wasn't coming from the left and right. It was a phantom figure standing 15 feet in front of me, breathing. The Extreme 35 boasts an efficiency rating of
I am happy to report that after spending 72 hours with the new Avantgarde Extreme 35, my anxiety is gone. It has been replaced by something far more unsettling: the realization that I have never actually heard a recording before.
