Cabasse Pearl

[f1eng]

Just bought a pair of these having been a Gold Phantom advocate for years.
So far it seems to be no competition :

- repairable so no need to worry so much about extra warantee or insurance.

- amazing customer service - they sent me a CAD drawing of the base to get some brackets made (imagine Devialet doing that?), and have replied to loads of questions about room size and positioning etc in a really knowledgeable way - eg explaining the impact of positioning near to front wall like they really know what they’re talking about (bass reinforcement / early reflections muddying soundstage etc)

- less prone to damage 
- no side woofers meaning easier to place 
- 12 inch woofer seems at first glance to stomp all over the 2 small woofers that have to “force” the bass out with clever DSP, and I imagine these will stay low at louder volumes as less effort required
- in built bass correction scans the room and adjusts 
- 4 sound signatures to further adjust bass for quiet through to outdoor listening 

- and personally i prefer the completely spherical looks. Proper Star Wars!

I’ve yet to position properly and pair them up to test sound quality properly, and stability over WiFi etc... but having 70 years making speakers, and a sister company that specialises in the software side I have very high hopes

Will report back again ....

I have been a fan of Cabasse ever since enjoying a colleague's 4 way actives when I was working in France 30 years ago and these look fantastic, particularly the remote.
I looked at their web site and I think they get their unit conversions, or maybe their way of specifying driver diameter, wrong. The bass driver is quoted at 25cm/13" but 250mm is around 10" actually, and using the normal convention of the diameter being the PCD of the mounting holes the actual piston may be quite a bit less than a Phantom because the "inside out" suspension of the Phantom bass drivers gives them the same piston area as 2 8" drivers, so probably quite a bit more. Whatever I believe their specification!
I take the point about vulnerability but why would room position be effected by the bass driver position? Bass is omni-directional so whether from sides (Phantom) or rear (Pearl) the influence og the bass on the room will be the same at the same location, surely.
Also, to achieve the bass spec from the cabinet size it will also be using DSP and the amplifier power specified confirms this - I think this is a good and intelligent solution so have no criticism at all. I think Cabasse have been a pioneer in this.

I am very interested by your conclusion!