Listening starts with Anette Askvik, ambassador of the upcoming High End show, with her latest album "Lyden av Snø". With their superb production, these songs offer a great opportunity to experience the benefits of the SPL-X 10. The album's line-up featuring Ole-Bjørn Talstad on piano, Jørn Erik Ahlsen Alkanger on guitar and Mathias Eick on trumpet might not seem a natural fit for exploring the effects of a subwoofer. But far from it, because - it can hardly be emphasised often enough - the performance benefits particularly in its spatial and atmospheric dimension, provided the woofer is properly integrated. For a woofer to really blend in with the loudspeakers, it must offer fine-tuning options and has to play absolutely precise. Otherwise, instruments and vocals will sound fragmented. With a fairly low crossover frequency of 60 Hertz, the SPL-X 10 adds body to low piano notes and the guitar, and the soundstage opens up so that the musicians stand on a credibly dimensioned stage. At the same time, the vocals remain a cohesive whole, which is particularly evident at the beginning of the title track: lower vocal parts are seamlessly integrated in terms of tonality and also match the focussed imaging of the voice perfectly.

Reproducing a concert grand is a particularly demanding task for any system, so we want to take a closer look at it with Debussy's Sonata for Solo Piano 'Pour le piano', played by Saskia Giorgini (album 'Images'). The first movement begins vibrantly, and the SPL-X 10 effortlessly follows every tempo change, immediately conjuring up an image in the mind's eye of fingertips darting nimbly across the keyboard. At the same time, it expands the richness of colours, finding just the right dose of warm timbre for woody notes. In this recording, it is also particularly evident that only the SPL-X 10 can bring out the authoritative momentum of the grand piano; without compromising tonal integrity or sharpness of the imaging at the same time, the grand piano stands life-size on the stage.

Achieving such live credibility with a large orchestral recording is one of the greatest challenges for an audio system. What is more, a symphony orchestra illustrates the potential value of a subwoofer more directly than almost any other musical performance, with the possible exception of techno. So here we are, listening to Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances, performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of its music director, Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Even before the first swell of the orchestra, the SPL-X 10 is clearly noticeable: The cellos and basses have credible authority, also transparency and spatial separation benefit considerably from the support in the lower registers, whereby not only the lower burden for the speakers is audible, but also the extended spectrum shows its effect. During the short timpani strokes in the second movement, the SPL-X 10 once again demonstrates its speed, and in the further course of the middle section it becomes clear that the drama of this work is conveyed much more intensely with the subwoofer. As the final movement approaches its furious finale with large cymbals and quivering timpani skins, the Velodyne's hour has come: the air vibrates, the tension is palpable.

Time to get to grips with the new Velodyne in terms of ultimate punch, of course with fine electro: the EP ‘One Mind’ is a joint project by Amelie Lens and Charlotte de Witte. The two stylistically very different star DJs each bring their own characteristics to the two tracks, Amelie Lens spices up Charlotte de Witte's flair for catchy vocals and the right BPM with underground charm. Regardless of the club-like level, the SPL-X 10 stands out with its absolutely precise timing, allowing short, dry beats to crash in and end abruptly; at the same time, abyssal bass loops knead the room - simply marvellous.