Stenheim Reference Ultime Two - The Delivery of My Endgame Loudspeakers

[dcc]

Two months ago, I reported about the home demo of two high end loudspeakers which lead me selecting the Stenheim Reference Ultime Two as my endgame speakers. https://www.whatsbestforum.com/thre...-ultime-two-vs-audionec-evo3-signature.37664/

After 9 weeks of waiting, the loudspeakers got delivered. Jean-Pascal, the CEO of Stenheim came to my place along with François from Ana Mighty Sound. The setup process lasted three days (from Friday until Sunday late afternoon). I took some pictures of the installation and setting up. Hervé Delétraz from darTZeel was in Belgium for the weekend and joined us on Friday and Saturday.

Day One

On Friday morning, the loudspeakers were delivered at my place. Stenheim had the good idea to use their demo flight-cases which are fitted with caster wheels. A few hours later, Jean-Pascal and François arrived from Paris. They helped me removing my previous loudspeakers from the listening room. A friend also joined after lunch to help us unpacking the loudspeakers.








The Stenheim Reference Ultime Two is a 3 way loudspeaker with a massive aluminium cabinet and six independent, internal chambers for the drivers and the crossover. The build quality is top notch. Because of their metal enclosures, these loudspeakers are heavy with a weight of 231 kg/509 lbs each.

It took 4 people to haul the flight-cases into my listening room and and to position the loudspeakers.





The first day was dedicated to an initial placement based on where the previous loudspeakers were standing. We let the loudspeakers settle and I spent the evening listening to music.

 

[dcc]

Day Two

The second day was dedicated to fine-tuning the placement. Hervé Delétraz from darTZeel joined the party to help Jean-Pascal and François.



The adjustments were done incrementally. We advanced the seating position by a few inches. The right speaker got moved a little bit towards the side wall and the toe in was reduced.

With an impedance of 4 Ohms and a 95 dB sensitivity, the Reference Ultime Two are relatively efficient speakers. However, with a load of 4 Ohms, they do appreciate some current.

I am bi-amping the loudspeakers with the Krell Evolution One mono blocks driving the bass and the Tenor Audio 175S stereo power amp driving the MTM.

The Thrax Libra preamp allows adjusting the output settings to ensure perfect matching with the power amps. It also allows bi-amplification with power amps having different gains as each output can be adjusted separately. Further reducing the levels by 3 dB on both outputs achieved a better and more cohesive sound.



All these efforts yielded to great and even more impressive results than those I heard during the initial home demo.



I took back the notes I wrote during the home demo and all the qualities I identified at the time were present but even better.

The Stenheim are highly transparent, fast with tight bass and an impressive layered soundstage. The integration of the drivers is perfect with an excellent tonal balance. The music flows with ease and there is no fatigue even after a very long listening session.

These loudspeakers tick all the boxes of my personal perception of naturalness. These are no show off loudspeakers.

Stenheim proposes optional X-bases but I am not considering acquiring them at this stage. I like the minimalist look of the loudspeakers without outriggers. The floor in the little barn is a very thick concrete slab covered with tiles and offers excellent stability.

François had still a trick in his sleeve to improve these already outstanding results. We spent the Saturday afternoon at testing loudspeakers cables.

At my request, François had brought some Hemingway Audio Z-core loudspeaker cables. I already tested the Z-core Alpha cables in my secondary system and they were on par with my more expensive Elpispandora cables.

Hemingway suggested testing either a pair of Z-core Alpha for the bass and the next higher up in the range (and way more expensive) Z-core Beta for the MTM or two pairs of Z-Core Beta. Both options proved to be very good combinations with an impressive increased transparency and better tonal balance compared to my current cables (Wireworld Eclipse 6).





Eventually, the combo with two pairs of Z-core Beta was the most convincing by a substantial margin. Replacing the Z-core Alpha by the Z-core Beta for driving the woofers brought more incisive bass with an enhanced clarity to the sound as well as a better soundstage.

I placed an order for two pairs of Z-core Beta which should land in a few weeks time. This would be the final touch to the main system for a while. François kindly loaned me his demo pairs until I receive mine.

 

[dcc]

Day Three

The final day was mainly dedicated to listening to vinyl and tapes. Jean-Pascal performed some small adjustments which were quite noticeable.



The loudspeakers were tilted forward by about a few millimetres. I could perceive an improved focus of the soundstage without losing width and depth.

The filter network offers subtle user adjustments for room compensation via a panel on the rear. My room presents a slight bump around 50Hz. Jean-Pascal suggested adjusting the low jumper from 'Flat' to 'Minus' to achieve the best tonal balance which was confirmed as soon as I hit the play button of the Studer tape deck.





Conclusion

the Stenheim Reference Ultime Two are exquisite loudspeakers that I wholeheartedly recommend should you be looking for loudspeakers in their price range.

I also would like to call out the quality and professionalism of the service I received from Stenheim and Ana Mighty Sound in coming to my place and spending all the time in ensuring that the loudspeakers were optimally set up.

The service does not end here as Stenheim has kindly proposed having one of their engineers coming to my place in a few weeks time. He will perform acoustic measurements and will assess how the setup could be further optimised.

I want to thank Jean-Pascal, François and Hervé for the outstanding customer experience.

 

[Elliot G.]

Congratulations!

 

[ashandger]

Congratulations on your amazing new speakers and many thanks for sharing the installation process info and images. Looks like you had a dream team to help you!! Great customer service by Stenheim and how nice of Hervé to drop by to help out. Enjoy in good health.

 

[SOS]

Looks wonderful! Enjoy your set-up and HAPPY HOLIDAYS.

 

[exupgh12]

Congratulations on your new loudspeakers, and thank you for sharing your journey.

 

[KeithR]

Endgame speaker, indeed. Enjoy them! Great to have Jéan Pascal and Herve around

 

[Golum]

Amazing speakers (had luck to hear them at JPP place in the pre-launch phase) so enjoy them in a good health!
On another note, what you wrote about the customer service from JPP and Herve just proves the awesomeness of those two guys.

 

[tomsch63]

Amazing! The speakers, the front-end, and the room! Congratulations!

 

[Tangram]

Fantastic summary! How wonderful that they are in place in time for the holidays. FWIW, your little barn and the gear in it is one of my favourites on WBF.

 

[Audiohertz2]

Fantastic setup , thanks for posting ...



Regards

 

[buzzlulu]

Revisiting this tread - beautiful photos and description.
May I kindly ask the width of the room and the measurements between the inside cabinets of the speakers as well as the measurements off the side walls.

I have a narrow room (11’ 7”) and I am trying to arrange a demo of Alumine 5’s

 

[dcc]

The room is 3.6 meters/11' 8" wide, 7 meters/33' long and 5 meters/16' 4" high at the top of the cathedral ceiling. The side wall on the right side has an opening behind and the front of the speaker.

The left speaker is about 50 cm/1' 6" from the side wall. The right speaker is about 30 cm/1' from the pillar that divides the opening leading to the dining room. The speakers are 2 meters/6' 6" away from each other or 2.4 meters/7' 9" if measured from the center of each woofer).

The SMT diffuser on the left wall artificially expands the width and allows a placement nearby the side wall. There is no almost no wall surface on the right side except at the level of the top woofers hence the speaker could be placed even closer.

 

[buzzlulu]

Thank you for the reply.
My room is 11'7" wide x 17 ' 9" long with a sloped ceiling 12'5" high on the left side and 8' high on the right.
Then again Alumine 5's are significantly smaller and less powerful than Ultime 2's so I am hopeful they can work.

 

[dcc]

Thank you for the reply.
My room is 11'7" wide x 17 ' 9" long with a sloped ceiling 12'5" high on the left side and 8' high on the right.
Then again Alumine 5's are significantly smaller and less powerful than Ultime 2's so I am hopeful they can work.

I discovered Stenheim several years ago when I had the chance to listen to the Alumine 5 in a room about the same size as yours. I was so impressed that when I wanted to change of loudspeakers, Stenheim was definitely on my short list. Because of the high ceiling of my room, I could aim for the Ultime Two.