Hi Everyone,
I wanted to share something special today—the first completed pair of the HornSolutions Masterpiece Mini Series speakers have finally arrived, and I thought it might be helpful to give you a sense of what makes this pair of speakers so remarkable.
To start, I should mention that we are the North American importer for HornSolutions. Over the years, I’ve personally had more than 500 pairs of speakers pass through my reference listening rooms. My passion for exploring audio gear is exactly what inspired me to sell my other businesses and fully immerse myself in the world of high-end sound. But more importantly I just love live music.
The Masterpiece Mini is fascinating because it offers three different configurations, each catering to different tastes and system philosophies:
Fully Passive: Use a stereo amplifier or a pair of mono amps into the passive crossover.
Active with Integrated Amplification: Three-way amplifiers and built-in processing in each bass cabinet. Simply add a preamp and source.
External Processing (as I have chosen): The ultimate flexibility—an outboard processor/dac/preamp with your choice of amplification, requiring six channels of amplification per pair of speakers.
Despite the scale of the speakers, the installation is surprisingly straightforward. You’ll need 37-inch doorways to get them into the room. The bass section—housing two 16” drivers—weighs approximately 450 pounds per section, while the horn flange section comes in at 250 pounds per flange without drivers installed. Setup involves placing the bass section in your desired location and bolting the midrange horn flange on top of the bass section. Then you simply secure the midrange driver to the “dragon’s tail,” and finally suspend the tweeter with the supplied metal cables to the horn flange.
Where this system truly sets itself apart is in its efficiency, rated at approximately 108db. This staggering sensitivity means you don’t need enormous, exotic amplifiers to unlock true live dynamics in the home environment. Instead, you have the freedom to experiment with different amplification approaches, knowing the speakers will always respond with effortless scale and composure.
At the moment, I’m using a seven-channel amplifier (6 of the channels) to drive the tweeters, midrange, and bass drivers via an eight-channel DEQX Pre-8 processor with the last two channels reserved for subwoofers, though I’ll soon retire the subs—these speakers simply don’t require any additional low-frequency support. I was VERY fortunate to have a DEQX technician fly in from Australia to set up the system, and I can say without hesitation that this is among the top three speakers I have ever heard.
One of the qualities that struck me immediately was the combination of macrodynamics and microdynamics. Large-scale swings—kick drums, orchestral crescendos, electric bass—are delivered with a speed and impact that feel indistinguishable from live music. But just as impressive is the microdynamic shading: the tiniest variations in phrasing, breath, and texture are preserved with uncanny resolution.
Another area where the Masterpiece Mini exceeded my expectations was soundstage depth. Horn speakers are often celebrated for their immediacy and front-row presence, but this system goes further—it layers instruments far behind the plane of the speakers, producing a three-dimensional holographic stage that is simply captivating.
Coincidentally, the night before installation, I had attended a live concert in Toronto. The reference was fresh in my mind, and within minutes of powering up the Masterpiece Minis, it was clear that the system was reproducing not just sound, but the feeling of being at a live venue.
And I’m still only scratching the surface. My Aries Cerat amplifiers have yet to be installed, and I’m confident they will unlock another level of refinement. But even as it stands, after two weeks of living with this system, I can say with conviction: these speakers are going to remain in my reference room for a very, very long time. I honestly don’t see any direction to move from here—perhaps only the ongoing joy of pairing them with different amplifiers will keep me busy.
Please enjoy the pics I just posted.
Robert Neill
President
Worldwide Wholesales
519-619-9924
www.worldwidewholesales.com
www.wellfloat-global.com
www.akikoaudio.com/en
www.hornsolutions.de
www.aries-cerat.com
www.in-akustik.de/en
www.arya-audio.com
www.brodmann.at
