PIEGA Premium 701 Wireless Gen2 active speakers review
Swiss loudspeaker specialist Piega has given its premium floorstanding speaker 701 a new update. The second generation has evolved from a 2.5-way into a 3-way system and also brings many other fine improvements.
The name of the Swiss loudspeaker manufacturer Piega is derived from the Italian word for fold (piega), providing a direct reference to the ribbon technology for which Piega is at least as well known as it is for its stylish aluminum speaker cabinets. The family business was founded in 1986 in the tranquil town of Horgen in the Swiss canton of Zurich and has been run by Manuel and Alexander Greiner since 2018 in its second generation.
At Piega, there is understandable pride in their production. The high-quality sound transducers are handcrafted in two workshops directly on Lake Zurich. There, the speaker cabinets are cast from aluminum, and all drivers are produced—from the cone to the innovative ribbon drivers. The Piega Premium Series stands for timeless designs, versatile sound, sophisticated technologies, all at a comparatively fair price.
Now the popular Premium series enters its second generation, starting with the Premium 701 Gen2 floorstanding speaker and the more compact Premium 301 Gen2 bookshelf speaker. In today’s test, we focus on the Piega Premium 701 Gen2, which had its big German premiere at the Central German HiFi Days 2024 in Leipzig. To mark the occasion, Piega welcomed notable guests and partners in the “Dresden” room on the 4th floor of the Alte Handelsdruckerei building. Together with Leica, Celexon, and furniture manufacturer USM, they transformed the 70-square-meter listening room into two stylish living room environments.
Naturally, Piega’s subsidiary “Rose x Piega” was also on board with the brand-new HiFi Rose 160 DAC and RA280 integrated amplifier. For many visitors to the MDHT 2024, this lifestyle-oriented, high-quality presentation of these premium brands was one of the show’s highlights. Fortunately, shortly before the Leipzig HiFi show, traditionally held in our publishing house, we were able to welcome the Piega Premium 701 Gen2 to our listening room on the ground floor of the Alte Handelsdruckerei. It felt like a reunion with an old acquaintance.
The first-generation Piega Premium 701 was already here for testing in Leipzig back in 2018. Even then, the elegant Swiss floorstanding speakers convinced us with their spaciousness and natural reproduction, earning the speaker a rating of 8.7/10. We welcomed the Piega Premium 701 Wireless of the second generation into our listening lab—a wireless 3-way variant of the 701 Gen1. Together with the Connect+ module, we experienced an equally multidimensional and rich sound. This active loudspeaker earned a remarkable rating of 9.3/10. Now the Premium 701 Gen2 is up for review—we’re excited to see which sound and rating regions we can reach this time.
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Second Generation
How can a premium loudspeaker sound even better than it looks? This question drove Piega’s ribbon specialist Mario Ballabio and chief developer Roger Kessler. The path to the goal involved revising the Piega ribbon, which has proven itself for over 20 years. It was not just slightly optimized but radically improved. It took more than 30 prototypes before everything fit. The new ribbon is named “RM01-24”—RM are the initials of the developers.
However, the new tweeter is not the only change in the Premium 701. The speaker has transformed from a 2.5-way system into a 3-way system. That’s a major change, as it affects the fundamental way the speaker functions. Placing both generations side by side, it becomes clear that there are more differences than similarities. You can see that we are indeed dealing with a genuine second generation.
Design
In virtually every detail of the speaker, Piega showcases its know-how in design. As is fitting for Piega, the new Piega Premium 701 Gen2 is made of aluminum. The cabinet is cast in one piece, which not only looks chic but also offers acoustic advantages. With the front grille attached, the Premium 701 Gen2 is a slim, almost inconspicuous column. The floorstanding speaker now stands on a circular base, 30 centimeters in diameter, making it appear naturally angled in the room. You don’t see that often with speakers, but it’s quite stylish.
It looks as if the speaker is floating and helps integrate the speaker into living spaces. We tested the black sandblasted version, and we must say: it’s truly a gem! The new Premium 701 Gen2 still speaks the same clean industrial design language for which Piega designer Stefan Hürlemann is known worldwide. The front grille is slightly curved and fits perfectly into the oval-shaped cabinet. It’s held magnetically but is a bit tricky to remove since it’s framed by the cabinet.
In our editorial team, we’re not sure if we even want to remove the grille because the new 701 looks absolutely harmonious with it as well. Of course, tastes and preferences vary, and true hi-fi fans generally swear by the version without the front panel. After all, the drivers of the floorstanding speaker are absolute eye-catchers. The ribbon with the central bridge is unmistakably Piega—here, sound and design go hand in hand.
On the back are two bass reflex ports. Another innovation compared to its predecessor: previously, there was a front-facing port. Also at the rear are the connectors. Cabinet, drivers, and connectors are all of the highest quality, just as we have come to expect from Piega. Altogether, the speaker, which is just about 1.10 meters tall, weighs a solid 28 kilograms.
New Drivers
Because both the drivers and the functionality of the Premium 701 have changed, the cabinet now has an optimized size that’s slightly smaller than its predecessor. Nonetheless, Piega’s developers promise even better bass reproduction. We’ve already mentioned the brand-new RM0124 ribbon. This is an evolution from Piega’s Coax series and features a magnet on the front, as well as a strictly symmetrical arrangement of the rear and front magnet arrays. It’s intended to provide better linearity and more precise impulse response from the ribbon.
This supersymmetric driver, known as SSD, also requires fewer magnets, enabling more sustainable production. In addition, the new tweeter combines the best features of Piega’s tweeters (Coax, LDR 3056, LDR 2642 MKII) and is, according to the manufacturer, the most advanced ribbon ever developed by Piega.
The Premium 701 Gen2 has now evolved into a 3-way system, so Piega naturally improved the other drivers as well. The midrange driver (FSD-M) and the woofer (FSD-W) also reflect Piega’s expertise and innovative spirit. The midrange driver features an inverted dust cap and measures 14 centimeters in diameter. It’s based on the MDS driver used in the previous generation and has been optimized for the playback range up to 3.5 kHz, after which the tweeter takes over. To improve sound, Piega focuses on strict symmetry of the motor and the suspension.
They also use a new vibration-damping aluminum die-cast basket. The diaphragm’s dispersion behavior has also been optimized. All these improvements can be found in the woofer as well—except that it’s optimized for reproducing lower frequencies. Interestingly, the woofer also has a diameter of 14 centimeters. Usually, woofers are larger than their higher-playing counterparts. However, since the Premium 701’s cabinet measures only 17 centimeters, there’s simply no room for a larger woofer. Before we move on to our practical sound test, we can already say that this does not diminish the speaker’s powerful bass sound.
Sound Test
Our setup for playing the new Swiss guest consists of the Arcam Radia A25 stereo integrated amplifier and the Cambridge Audio CXN streamer. Both devices fit wonderfully into the price range of the Piega, which is positioned in the mid-upper class with a pair price of about US$6,300 for the black model we tested. The Arcam Radia A25 supplies the speakers with 200 watts each at 4 ohms, which suits the Piegas very well.
They are recommended for a power range of 20 to 200 watts. Their sensitivity is 90 dB/W/m. Piega specifies a commendably honest frequency response tolerance of just ±2 dB. Within this range, the Piega Premium 701 Gen2 achieves a frequency response of 34 Hz to 50 kHz. Thus, the 3-way floorstanding speaker can handle deep bass without issue.
We start our sound test with the “outernational” band Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek. Their fusion of Anatolian folk and psychedelia meets “Cool Hand” with a sweet, summery indie vibe. The lead singer Derya Yıldırım’s voice sounds so gentle and delicate—instantly captivating. The 701 creates an incredibly wide soundstage, always balanced and rich. Every element has its place and stands firmly where it belongs. One particular detail in this piece is the cowbell, played throughout the song. It hovers distinctly, well-separated, and extremely three-dimensional in the room. The vocals, doubled in the chorus by a soft synthesizer, seem to dance right out of the speakers.
We then ask ourselves if the Premium 701 Gen2 can also handle harsher tones. We find out with the next track: A Tribe Called Quest’s “We The People…” from their 2016 comeback album “We got it from Here… Thank You 4 Your Service.” This political hip-hop track features bombastic drums, a distorted megaphone voice, shrill sirens, and booming bass synths. Certainly not easy fare for a high-end speaker.
However, the Piega masters this dense composition effortlessly. On the contrary—the Swiss speaker shows off its impressive bass strength here. The drums hit relentlessly, while the speaker remains cool and steady. It also conjures up remarkable depth, dissecting the instrumental superbly. We’re equally impressed by how it reproduces the scratchy megaphone voice. With eyes closed, it genuinely feels as though someone is standing right in front of us with a megaphone. Instant goosebumps—respect!
Experiences
When discussing the sound of audiophile loudspeakers, people often mention how the sound image detaches itself from the speakers. Rarely have we experienced this phenomenon as clearly as with the new Piega Premium 701 Gen2. We hear it very vividly, for example, in “Metronomic Underground” by the English-French avant-pop band Stereolab. At the start of the track, there’s an indefinable sound on the left channel. Amazingly, we can actually locate it quite distinctly to the left of the speaker. The sound is so three-dimensional and tangible that it feels as though we could walk over and pick it up—unreal!
We wrap up with “Wagging Tongue” by Depeche Mode in a remix by Wet Leg, a British indie duo from the Isle of Wight. Here, we experience such a penetrating bass that it effortlessly fills the entire listening room. Once again, the breathtaking spatial imaging of the speakers comes into play. We turn the system up louder and notice that listening at higher volumes can indeed be even more fun—naturally, within reason, since we don’t want to disturb our colleagues upstairs.
The expansive reinterpretation of the Depeche Mode track floats almost ethereally and meditatively through our room, and we feel like witnesses to a true high-end experience. We could keep listening forever—and we do, for quite a while. From acoustic to electronic music and back again, the Piega Premium 701 Gen2 is simply enjoyable and proves to be a flexible, versatile speaker. Sometimes delicate, sometimes downright brutal—yet always clean, spacious, and immersive.
If you ever get the chance to experience the Piega Premium 701 Gen2 yourself, don’t miss it. With this new edition, the Swiss speaker manufacturer has surpassed itself, and we eagerly look forward to all the further innovations Piega will bring in the future.
Tech Specs
- Device Class: Floorstanding speaker
- Price Category: Upper class
- Manufacturer: Piega
- Model: Premium 701 Gen2
- Price (RRP): from approx. US$6,300 (per pair)
- Dimensions (W/H/D): 17 × 111.5 × 22.8 cm
- Weight: 20.9 kg
Technical Data (according to manufacturer)
- Design: 3-way, bass reflex
- Impedance: 4 ohms
- Sensitivity: 90 dB/W/m
- Frequency Response: 34 Hz – 50 kHz
- Power Handling: 20 – 200 W
- Room Recommendation: from 20 m² to 45 m²
- Individual Sound Adjustment: No
- Inputs: 2x speaker terminals
Rating
- Bass Reproduction: 10/10
- Midrange Reproduction: 10/10
- Treble Reproduction: 10/10
- Spatial Imaging: 10/10
- Playback Quality: 10/10
- Features/Build Quality: 10/10
- User-Friendliness: 7/10
- Intermediate Result: 87 out of 90 points ≈ 9.7/10
- Price/Performance: Very good ≈ 9/10
- Overall Result: Reference Class ≈ 9.6/10
Verdict
With the second generation of the Premium 701 floorstanding speaker, Piega’s developers demonstrate all their expertise and powerfully emphasize that they are always finding ways to further optimize their innovative technologies. The new 701 speaker is a complete revision of its predecessor, resulting in an enormous leap in sound quality. This speaker doesn’t just look great—it truly shines when it comes to listening enjoyment.
Special Features
- New driver development
- 3-way system
- Round base
- Made in Switzerland
Advantages
- Timeless design
- Excellent spatial sound
- Rich, powerful bass
Disadvantages
– None
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