RADIANT ACOUSTICS CLARITY 5.2 Review
Nordic Hi-Fi, which also owns Argon Audio, has launched an entirely new speaker brand – with technology from Lyngdorf, but a less intimidating price tag.
Denmark is a speaker nation. There is hardly any place on earth with more speaker manufacturers per capita than here. And there are more than we realized.
We found this out when Peter Lyngdorf invited himself over for coffee in my listening room to talk about his latest project: Radiant Acoustics.
Radiant Acoustics is a new brand under Nordic Hi-Fi, which also houses Argon Audio and Vestlyd. The brand’s first product is the Clarity 6.2 speaker. But why yet another speaker brand when there are already so many (and Peter Lyngdorf himself owns several)?
For Peter Lyngdorf, it’s about synergy. Beyond HiFi Klubben, the hi-fi entrepreneur owns several companies (DALI, Lyngdorf Audio, and Purifi, to name a few), and he wants to bring their technologies to a wider audience. This has led to a collaboration between several of the companies with the goal of making great sound accessible to more people.
The speaker’s core is the bass element, a 6.5-inch version of Purifi’s Ushindi driver. It’s recognizable for its unique edge suspension, which resembles a mountain range rather than a semicircular arc. This design reduces distortion and allows the diaphragm to have a long excursion. The Ushindi driver is packed with patented technologies focused on minimizing distortion in both the mechanical and magnetic systems. And they have succeeded. According to Peter Lyngdorf, Purifi drivers have the lowest distortion in the world.
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“Purifi has developed some fantastic speaker drivers, but not many have done much with them yet,” says Peter Lyngdorf. And adds:
“That’s likely because they’re quite expensive. But we wanted to create something that more people could enjoy. And that resulted in Radiant Acoustics.”
The tweeter is an AMT driver, custom-made by DALI (when you own a speaker factory, there’s no need to go elsewhere). To precisely control dispersion, the driver is placed in a waveguide and equipped with a dispersion lens. The result is even dispersion across the tweeter’s range. Even at 20 kHz, the level has only dropped by 6 dB off-axis. That’s impressive for such a large diaphragm.
The Radiant Acoustics Clarity 6.2 is sturdily built. Though the cabinet is small, it is braced inside, stabilizing both the cabinet and the bass driver. The front is a sandwich construction with 21 mm MDF and 15 mm aluminum, with a rubber gasket in between.
The speakers come in matte black, matte white, and walnut finishes. Unnecessary decorations like cloth grilles are absent.
On the sides of the cabinet, you’ll find two more Purifi Ushindi drivers. These are passive radiators without a magnetic system or voice coil, serving the same purpose as a bass reflex port. It’s an expensive solution, but a correctly sized port to tune the small cabinet would be impossibly large and long.
“Many claim their speakers are uncompromising. But that’s nonsense. All speakers are full of compromises. But ours have some of the best compromises!”
The Radiant Acoustics Clarity 6.2 is a stand-mount speaker, or compact speaker. But don’t call it a bookshelf speaker. It requires a stand with precise height. Before I was allowed to test the speakers, I had to confirm the exact height of my ears in the listening position over the phone. The reason is that it’s crucial for the tweeter to be precisely at ear level – or at least angled directly toward them. The speakers have a wide horizontal dispersion but are very sensitive in the vertical plane.
The speakers are designed to face straight forward, but in my room, I found they worked best angled toward the listening position (“toe-in”).
The connection is straightforward: The two gold-plated terminals only support banana plugs. Peter Lyngdorf dislikes screw terminals for bare wires – he believes they always lead to poor connections over time. I fully agree; all my cables have attached banana plugs.
REQUIRES A POWERFUL AMPLIFIER
The Radiant Acoustics Clarity 6.2 is not an efficient speaker. At 1 watt, it delivers a sound pressure level of 82 dB. It’s not as bad as it sounds. Since the speaker has a 4-ohm impedance, and most other manufacturers specify sensitivity at 2.83 volts (equivalent to 1 watt at 8 ohms), Clarity 6.2 has a sensitivity of 85 dB by that measure. Still, it’s quite inefficient. The manufacturer recommends a minimum amplifier power of 100 watts per channel.
I used a NAD C 298 amplifier providing 2 x 340 watts at 4 ohms. It was more than adequate, though the volume control had to be turned up quite a bit before the speakers came to life. The amplifier’s output stage is based on Purifi’s Eigentakt amplifier modules. So it was Purifi throughout the chain.
THE SOUND OF RADIANT ACOUSTICS CLARITY 6.2
With its elegant simplicity, the Radiant Acoustics Clarity 6.2 looks like a Lyngdorf product. Does it sound like one too?
Yes, it does. The speakers follow Peter Lyngdorf’s philosophy of having no “sound” of their own – or at least as little as possible.
Many speakers that come through the listening room each year sound great and charming. Terms like joyful, engaging, and grand come to mind. But it’s rare to find speakers that sound this neutral.
Isn’t the goal to enjoy the music?
Yes, but if every recording sounds equally charming, you’re listening to the equipment, not the music.
I’ve rarely heard the acoustics of the jazz club Stampen so clearly in I’m Confessin’ from *Jazz at the Pawnshop.* Or been able to separate the voices in the choir on *Koyaanisqatsi* so easily.
I’ve heard both rendered with more sensitivity, but never as transparently.
Disturbed’s cover of *Sound of Silence* can challenge many speakers with its orchestral crescendo paired with acoustic guitar. But not the Radiant Acoustics Clarity 6.2. However, I wish I could have tested them with a high-powered amp like the Musical Fidelity M8xi.
I wouldn’t say the NAD amplifier ran out of steam, but it would have been interesting to try with an amp that has even greater dynamic reserve.
The bass is deep. The datasheet lists 35 Hz as the lower limit, an impressive feat for such a small speaker. This is a passive speaker with no DSP tricks.
Only a few small stand-mount speakers reach the bass depth of Radiant Acoustics. From memory, I can only think of the Buchardt S400 MKII.
COMPETITORS
The Radiant Acoustics Clarity 6.2 may be affordable by high-end standards, but they’re still pricey.
For the same money, you could buy the Bowers & Wilkins 705 S3 Signature, another exceptional speaker with a superb finish. Choosing between B&W’s charm or Clarity’s restraint comes down to personal preference. The DALI Rubicon 2 is built in the same factory as Radiant Acoustics. They cost about one-third less and deliver a huge soundstage but aren’t as refined as the Clarity 6.2.
The Revival Audio Atalante 3 has a dry, revealing sound with perhaps slightly better vocal reproduction but lacks Clarity 6.2’s precision and control.
Few stand-mount speakers reach the bass regions of Radiant Acoustics. If you want organ music (or full-range stereo for home theater), there’s no competition.
CONCLUSION
Peter Lyngdorf’s mission with the Radiant Acoustics Clarity 6.2 was to bring technology from his companies, especially Purifi, down to a price range more people can afford. The result is a highly unique speaker, uncompromising in many areas. The drivers and cabinet quality are typically found at twice the price, or even higher.
If you want charm (what Peter Lyngdorf might call distortion), this isn’t the speaker for you. The output faithfully reflects the input, with extremely low distortion and coloration, meaning you’re listening more to the rest of the system than the speakers themselves.
This places demands on the amplifier, which should have ample power and dynamic headroom to get the best from these very power-hungry speakers. If you have that, and if you like the distinct look, the Clarity 6.2 could be an excellent choice.
+ Rarely does one encounter speakers so free from coloration and distortion. Deep bass from a mini cabinet. They’re not cheap but sound like they cost more.
– The playback style is restrained and neutral, so if you prefer a warm, charming sound, you may want to look elsewhere. Requires a powerful amplifier.
Tech Specs
Design: 2-way with passive bass
Radiator: 6.5-inch
Purifi Ushindi Tweeter: Custom-made AMT with waveguide and lens
Frequency range: 35–20,000 Hz (–3 dB)
Crossover: 2,400 Hz
Sensitivity: 85 dB Impedance: 4 ohms
Recommended power: Minimum 150 watts Power handling: 250 watts
Connection: 2 banana plugs
Dimensions: 22.2 x 36.4 x 22.6 cm
Weight: 12.5 kg
Color: Black, white, walnut
Price (stand): $1,000/pair
Web: radiantacoustics.com
Price: $4,800
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