Manufacturer: Goldenote Italy (formerly Bluenote Italy), http://www.goldenote.it/

Country of Origin: Italy

Model Name: Bluenote Ducale

Interfaced with: Tom Hills, the U.S. distributor of Bluenote/Goldenote, of Hudson Audio (http://www.hudsonaudio.com/)

Contact: HUDS143@aol.com, 201-768-0672

Additional comments: Tom is a seasoned audio professional who also provides repair services. His Hudson Audio, aside from Bluenote Italy products, also represents FJ and Omega loudspeakers, among others.

Conclusion First: Bluenote Ducale monitors are category-defying small speakers which offer dynamic and clear musicality that belies their size, with robust bass performance that is truly surprising.

SonicCircle Sound: At first, one might be tempted to group the Ducales with the “Intense” group because of their clarity of sound, but with small-scale vocal, chamber or instrumental music, they have an incandescent warmth.

TechTalk: Unlike some expensive loudspeakers that utilize cheaper parts, Ducales do not compromise on their parts, and utilize premium parts. Most notable is the use of the inverted ceramic tweeters from the vaunted Accuton of Germany. But what of the commonly perceived notion that “hard” tweeters sound too bright or harsh? Read on!

Buying advice: If you have a small to mid-sized listening room and can’t accommodate floorstanders, the Bluenote Ducales are one of the best options you got. They have the immediacy of the monitors and a surprisingly big sound that will impress you (and annoy your neighbors). 

Prelude: Oh, Allison!

There was a girl named Allison who’d transferred into my high school when I was younger. She was blond, had long, slender legs, and a beautiful face inflected with a petite, upturned nose and a light spread of freckles. In short, she was a bombshell. Girls were envious of her and boys wanted to woo her (actually, substitute your own filthy verb in place of the word “woo.”) We all expected her to fulfill her duties as a “typical” blonde: popular, good at cheerleading, bad at math. So imagine my surprise when she sat next to me in AP Calculus. She was my lab partner in AP Chem, too. In fact, it was established ruthlessly and quickly that she was much smarter than me or most of my other classmates; it wasn’t once or twice that I copied my homework from her, and she saved my incompetent ass plenty of times as my lab partner.

Why this preamble? Because although seemingly unrelated to audio, this story about Allison is actually a perfect analogy to describe the prejudices which derail the judgments of even the savviest audiophiles – stereotypes we often subscribe to, purely based on specs. There are many such stereotypes, too many to name. Pertinent to this particular review, I will choose one such stereotyping – that certain types of “hard” tweeters in speakers will lead to fatigue, that they will make the music sound “hot” up top, too brilliant in an “audiophile-style.” Now, it’s natural for all of us to make certain inferences based on our past experiences or knowledge. But if we ascribe certain aural properties purely based on such inferences, we would no longer be critically conditioned listeners who depend on objective and experiential criteria for our opinions. We’d all be just dogmatic fools married to our own fascistic speculations in our heads, which amounts to nothing more than a lot of hot air. Yet even the best of us are prone to making such errors of judgment. All too often, I have heard some seasoned audiophiles or industrial professionals condemn a product – a product they haven’t actually heard! – because of their prejudice for/against a certain technology. Every time, it makes me scratch my head. Because it makes no more sense to me than assuming – beyond ANY inkling of a doubt – that no blonde can kick ass doing differential equations.

Appearance and Specs

The blond bombshell that’s the subject of this review is a pair of Bluenote Ducale monitors ($3950; Tom Hills of Hudson Audio, distributor). There is one stereotype and preconception that this review has failed to buck: them Italians sure know how to design the objects of desire! These are some of the prettiest monitors I’ve ever seen. My particular unit was in light ash color with dark wood inlays – which looked fantastic – but the Ducales are also available in the darker Wenge color with light wood inlays. Choose your weapon, but either way, the Ducales look fashionably and tastefully Art Deco, without a hint of seeming gimmicky in design. The dimensions are boxy in the best of ways, with sharp hard edges and corners which correspond aesthetically to the linear inlays of wood streaking at the top and the sides. The Ducales look cute, but they are surprisingly hefty in dimension. That’s because there is a solid, bulbous MDF back box which adds to the physical depth of the speakers, which I suspect contributes to further damping of the speakers’ cabinets.

$3950 is not cheap for a pair of monitors by any means, but it’s not for the aesthetic build alone that the Ducales command such a price. Some speaker companies utilize cheaper parts and rely on their proprietary design principles to command high costs; nothing wrong with that approach, but being a pragmatist, I admit to feeling more assured knowing if the internal parts are of higher quality than most. Bluenote definitely didn’t pinch their pennies and hasn’t left anything to doubt when it comes to the quality of the parts used in creating the Ducales – The drivers are made by SEAS, and the inverted, pure 1-inch ceramic tweeters are made by Accuton. The SEAS drivers are specially treated polymeric units, built according to Bluenote’s specifications. The internal damping is achieved by Bluenote’s proprietary Speaker-Resonator™, made of pure wool and multiple layers of Pivilene, which purportedly allows the Ducale’s cabinet to “breathe,” like a “violin resonator.” The speakers’ phase integration is achieved by Bluenote’s hand-built crossover, with custom-made MFCap, proprietary polypropylene capacitors and air wound coils.

All very impressive and fancy stuff. But here, we must go back to the “blond bombshell” metaphor for perspective. In the quirky and idiosyncratic world of hi-fi audio, expensive, high-quality parts can ironically become a component’s liability rather than its strength. For the sake of this review, I’d like to focus on the Ducales’ Accuton ceramic tweeters. Now, there are many listeners who love the detail and quickness of the ceramic tweeters, and such listeners prize Accuton tweeters especially for their capabilities. Yet prior to this review, I’ve talked with some listeners who degraded what ceramic tweeters do, complaining that they make the music sound hard-edged, hot, and artificial. I was curious to see for myself if these claims and stereotypes had any merit.

Listening

I used Harbeth Super HL5 speakers as my reference. As “monitors” go, the Super HL5s are pretty gargantuan, with bigger cabinets and drivers than the Bluenote Ducales. The only reason why I considered such a comparison in the first place is that, from the get-go, the Ducales sounded bigger than their diminutive size. Way bigger. The bass extended down to mid-40Hz, and I’m not talking about murky, one-note bloat that some speakers refer to as bass. The bass performance was tuneful, nimbly taut and musical. In fact, I preferred the bass presentation of the Ducales over the bass presentation of the Harbeths. The Harbeths, with their well-known mid-bass bump, can sound a bit bloomy in the bass department despite their coherent musicality. In comparison, the Ducales’ bass sounded better defined and had a startling, dynamic impact. An obvious piece of music to test the dynamic impact and realism of a component’s low-end performance is Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. My preferred recording is the Gergiev/Kirov account on Phillips. There may be more polished, detailed interpretations, but nothing beats Gergiev’s blood-thirsty live account, which is unrivalled when it comes to eliciting the violent dynamism of Stravinsky’s score. The timpani strike which launches the onslaught of the “Adoration of the Earth” in earnest, rang out its violent explosion through the Ducales. It was truly surprising how effortlessly real the sound exploded in my room, given the Ducales’ modest dimensions.

Similarly, all music played through the Ducales seemed to gain in quickness and pace. This may be a deft aural illusion, but it’s a good one achieved by the faultless crossover technology and phase integration. The Accuton ceramic tweeters in the Ducales are simply superb in capturing all the quicksilver flashes of notes, capricious shifts of tonal shades in music, and the drivers match seamlessly with the tweeters, and the result is a pair of speakers that are as coherently responsive and sensitive as any pair of monitors I’ve heard. This quality was made apparent, especially in rock music; I can say with all certitude that at least with rock music, I preferred the Ducales over my Harbeths. Despite the Ducales being smaller, they excelled in lending rock tracks a gritty pace, a propulsive forward momentum. For anyone who would doubt my claim, I suggest you play Ronnie Hawkins & The Hawks’ “Who Do You Love,” which is compiled in The Band’s Musical History (Capitol). Go on. I can wait.

The transparency that the Ducales’ tweeters brought to musical reproduction was beguiling, as well. Many people assume “transparency” to mean a certain uncolored linearity a component brings to the sound; that is true, but for the sake of clarification, and for the purposes of this review, I’d like to add that I take “transparency” to mean a level of responsiveness to the tonal palette and touch that a component brings. I guess my definition implies that “transparency” is an active quality rather than a passive one. Listening to the Ducales will make my point apparent, in that rather than the speakers being passively “uncolored” – blankly and neutrally reproducing the sound – the aural effect is such that they actively seem to bring a deftness of touch and tonal sophistication to the music, much like how a pianist would bring his tonal palette and touch to bear on the music. A good demonstration of this, for me, was listening to Bobby Timmons’ quicksilver glissandos cascading downward in the background, in the title track from A Night in Tunisia (Music Matters’ immaculate reissue LP of the 1960 Blue Note classic). The effect of Timmons’ glissando is such that they are more a fleeting trickle – of light, of water – than they are notes. The amazing lightness of touch and wit that Timmons elicits out of those glissandos were the very same amazing lightness of touch and wit that the Ducales could capture: a perfect one-to-one correspondence between a recording and an instrument of reproduction. This is what neutrality and transparency mean, I thought to myself. Not a boring linearity but a faithfulness and honesty, an alert responsiveness.

The Ducales also excelled at solo voice and solo piano recordings. Listen to Gerald Finley phrase and shape the simply plaintive melody of Samuel Barber’s “There’s Nae Lark” into a beautiful falsetto at the end of the song (Barber Songs, an excellent new release CD from Hyperion). The tonal purity of Finley’s voice, again, was captured in perfect correspondence with the Ducales. I went through my old piano records, Schnabel’s Schubert sonatas on EMI LPs, Radu Lupu’s Brahms LPs on Decca, too many to count. With each and every one of these recordings, I heard tones, shades, phrases – music itself – captured in utmost honesty and purity.

As with any speakers, though, there are some caveats. Although they are small, the Ducales do not “disappear” in the room like some other monitors can do, such as the excellent FJ Minis (which Tom Hills of Hudson Audio also carries). You can definitely hear the box, but I must add that you don’t hear it as an intrusive imposition. Still, although the Ducales image very well, if you want your monitors to be the uber-imaging machine, you won’t find the Ducales are for you (but I think primarily wanting your speakers to be uber-imaging machines is problematic in the first place). Also, compared to the Harbeths, the field of sound captured by the Ducales is noticeably diminished. The Harbeth Super HL5s, with their bigger size and thin cabinets, can conjure up a soundstage which is bigger, rounder, more fleshed out. The Ducales, due to the limitations of the small boxes, do not do this as well as the Harbeths. Also, the body and scale of sound on the Ducales are obviously smaller than on the Harbeths, given the size differential. With big-scale orchestral music, such as the Mahler’s Second Symphony (Ivan Fischer/Budapest on Channel Classics), I found myself wanting to feel the brunt and sweep of the orchestral force, with a bit more flesh and palpability than I was hearing with the Ducales. But this is the inherent limitation of the monitor design, and I suspect that with the addition of a subwoofer of a listener’s choice, this reservation might effectively cease to exist. I must say, though, never at any moment did I long for an addition of a subwoofer when listening to the Ducales.

Conclusion: Allison Redux

Now, let’s get back to my story about Allison for a moment. Are some people correct to suspect that ceramic tweeters are too edgy and bright, no matter how they’re incorporated into the design? Just as people were wrong to assume Allison to be a blond dingbat who couldn’t excel at math, they are wrong to believe that the ceramic tweeters are artificial-sounding in an “audiophile-style” way. All doubts were laid to rest with my audition of the Bluenote Ducales. As the clichés go, no speakers are perfect. With gritty rock, solo piano and voice recordings, as well as jazz ensembles, I’ve hardly heard other speakers draw out so much purity out of the recordings, with such transparency. In certain orchestral works with a bigger scale and sweep, I did wish for a touch more refulgence, a bigger presentation. I did not get to compare the Ducales to the other top-flight monitors on the market now, such as Kef Reference 201/2, Totem “The One,” or Dynaudio Confidence C1, let alone the stratospherically priced Magico Mini II. I suspect that each will have different strengths and weaknesses, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Bluenote Ducales kept pace with those more expensive siblings, especially in the transparency and tonal purity departments.

In that sense, $3950 is not a lot to pay, especially if you are a discerning listener situated in a small living space (hello, New Yorkers!) or someone who wants an uncompromising second system in a study. I’d like to add that although the sensitivity rating of the Ducales is listed at modest 87 db, they present an easy load and they do sound better with tube amplification, which lends harmonic complexities and textural richness to Ducales’ sound; they sounded great with my Plinius 8150 integrated amp, but they were positively addictive with my Leben CS600 driving them with 28 wpc of KT77 power. At any rate, put the Ducales at the top of your wishlist if you’re in the market for reference-quality monitors. They look beautiful, but they sound even better. They are that perfect bombshell who defies conventions and stereotypes.

Features:

 
2 way double front reflex Book Shelf speaker
TWEETER : 25mm Ceramic inverted dome
WOOFER : 170mm treated polymer
FREQUENCY RESPONSE : 50Hz/20000Hz ±3dB
EFFICIENCY : 87dB
IMPEDANCE : 8 ohm
POWER HANDLING : 120watt.
CROSSOVER : 12/12 dB/Octave with a cut at 3100Hz
DIMENSIONS (LxDxH): 220mmx390mmx370mm
PACKING WEIGHT : Kg 28.00.
COLORS : Dark Wengé or Lighted Ash laquer.
INTERNAL DAMPING : Multiple Layers of 3mm Pivilene
LIST PRICE: $3950/pr

Distributor:

Hudson Audio

Tom Hills

10 Manor Road

Harrington Park, NJ 07640

201-768-0672

HUDS143@aol.com

Jonny Park’s Evaluation System

Loudspeakers

Harbeth Super HL5, 30^th Anniversary Edition with OFC wiring

Sources

Analog: La Verdier Platine with terrazzo plinth, Moerch DP-6 12” arm, Zu Denon 103 Grade 2 (0.1%), Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood

Digital: Sony Playstation 1 SCPH-1001, Squeezebox 3/MHDT Pardisea+ DAC

Electronics

Leben CS600 integrated amplifier, Plinius 8150 integrated amplifier, Hagerman Trumpet phono stage (on loan for review), ModWright SWP 9.0SE (on loan for review)

Cables and Interconnects

Audio Tekne ARSP-500 speaker cables, Audio Tekne ARC-500 interconnects, Cardas Quadlink speaker cables and interconnects

Racks & Accessories

Yamamoto Sound Craft audio rack, Core Audio Designs MOD3 audio rack, Core Audio Designs CLD turntable/amp stand (both on loan for review), CPCC Top Gun power cord, AKG K701 and Sennheiser PXC450 headphones