INDIANA LINE Tesi 561
Floorstanding loudspeakers
I like dating with any Indiana Line speaker every now and then. Their speakers follow a simple philosophy that can be summarized as ‘music first’, and they can skillfully juggle all the limitations that result from constrained budgets when developing economy line loudspeakers. The Tesi 561 were not different, and I found difficult to find any serious fault with them.
Function and form
Starting from the rear there is a simple plastic speaker terminal assembly; the terminals are gold-plated and are bi-wirable. I liked that the binding posts were close to floor so it would not be necessary to climb high with a speaker cable.
The Tesi 561 is a floorstanding loudspeaker that features a 160mm air dried cellulose pulp cone woofer and a 160mm mid-woofer with mica reinforced polypropylene cone and a center phase plug; the domed 26mm tweeter is dome is made of silk and rather unusually for this price range some attention was given to how the tweeter’s rear-firing energy was decompressed into the cabinets – there is a radial ventilation rear chamber from behind each tweeter. The speakers are available in walnut or black oak vinyl finishing that quite successfully imitates real wood veneer.
The Tesi 561 are high sensitivity speakers (92dB) and will easily cooperate with any amplifier. At the same time I found them to be not demanding in terms of room placement. The front-firing bass-reflex port helps here. It did not take even finishing the usual 5 minutes of my trusted pink noise stereo track before I was set and ready to listen. Still, I found interesting that the final placement was with both speakers quite apart, with their tweeter axes crossing in front of my seat so that I could only slightly see the outer planes of their cabinets.
Bass management
The pulsating bottom-end of The Kite (Hattler, Velocity), which is a well-recorded techno-pop piece, had very carefully dosed combination of weight, volume, and definition in bass. Although the Indiana Line are rather small speakers, they managed to develop the bass fully in the room so that it had physical presence in my chest. Sure, there are limits to how loud you can listen with the Tesi 561, yet at the level of 85dB I was still in the speakers’ comfort zone, although the room was not small at 90m3. Don’t get fooled by its diminutive size, they definitely don’t need a subwoofer. With a simple Android app (Spectroid) I estimated their bottom-end extension as 40Hz, which corresponds with what Indiana Line states in the Tesi 561’s manual, considering it is -6dB. Therefore it was remarkable that I could get this extension with the speakers as far as 1.5m from the corners of the room. I can imagine that pushing them back to the corners would generate too much generous bass.
Clarity & delicacy
The top end of the Indiana Line is very decent and clichés like “silky” would definitely apply here. The frenzy tempos of amplified acoustic guitars of Rodrigo y Gabriela were like a hurricane through the Tesi 561, yet subtle smoothening of transients was felt all the time. That is why I also missed a bit more of air and soft ambient rustles that I am used to hear with high-end speakers. The silky presentation of the Tesi 561 had one big advantage, however: my ears were not bleeding with some lesser recordings which are unbearable through the high-end speakers.
Tonal accuracy
The Indiana Line’s family sound always was and still is the sound of a sunset, with prevailing spectrum of reds and golds. This, in conjunction with soft dynamics, conjures up a sense of comfort and joy. The music embraces you instead of being spitted on you. This feeling was not dependent on how loud I played them, quite contrary, at the upper limit of their capabilities the small Tesi 561 as if became even more alive and the sound wove me in a warm and silky cocoon.
Spatial resolution
The Indiana Line Tesi 561 managed to create a rather good illusion of three-dimensional space. Each of the native instruments, that open Dead Can Dance’s phenomenal Rakim from their live set, was clearly heard from its dedicated position within the soundstage. The Tesi 561 were able to distinct between what was upper and what lower, what was nearer and what farther. No all speakers – irrespective of their price – can do this.
I think it is worth experimenting a bit with the Tesi 561’s height. At usual conditions I was seated with my ears some 12-15cm above the tweeter and I found myself sliding down in my listening chair to compensate for it. The optimum height was at the level of upper edges of cabinets, so I suspect the Indiana Line needs something under them – like spikes and marble blocks – to lift them up a bit. Other than that I there is nothing to criticize and the Tesi 561 have my sincere recommendation.
Recommended resellers
Horizon Trading Prague, Praha, +420 606 642 175
Manufacturer's website: http://www.indianaline.it
Associated components
- Source: OnkyoSACD C-S5VL
- Amplifier: BC Acoustique EX-214
- Interconnects and speaker cables: Sharkwire Line Magic No.1, Supra Rondo, Supra Dual
- Power conditioning: Supra LoRad, Supra MDS-06 MkIII
Gallery
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