At the last few Nordost demos I've witnessed, I've been amazed by the huge soundstage, deep bass, and tonal accuracy produced by Raidho's diminutive C-1.0 loudspeakers. Imagine my surprise when I learned that this little speaker, no larger than many a bookshelf design, lists for $18,000/pair. Then again, it produces a fuller, larger, and more coherent image than many a full-range floorstander of comparable price. It also has a pretty even 6 ohm impedance, and is said to be very tube friendly.
Designer Michael Boerresen, whose nametag said "Borresen," was quick to hand me the speaker's unique, extremely heavy ceramic-cone driver (pictured from the rear and described
here). Composed of aluminum heavily anozided with a hard oxide surface, the rigid piston cone is surrounded by two rows of neodymium magnets placed in push-pull configuration. The Raidho Ribbon Tweeter FTT75-30-8 is a sealed tweeter that also uses a neodymium-array magnet. As you might expect, given the partnership, internal wiring is all Nordost Valhalla.
How the Raidho C-1 or somewhat larger C-2 stack up against the Magico Mini, I'd love to find out. It's another one of those speakers that has to be heard to be believed.
