Introduction
You know that feeling of waking up when you’re on holidays and opening up the window in the morning. Taking in a deep breath, and looking out over the countryside hills or the sea; some little sheep here and there, a couple of trees and in between: all that space.. That’s the AR6 in a nutshell. The soundstage might only be slightly above average in width - but the airiness between the instruments gives it a unique spacious feel.
Perfect Seal
You know back in the day - I mean like way back, hundreds of years ago - men had honest professions working with their hands. You’d go in training as a kid, and emerge a master blacksmith or woodworker in your late teens. A skillful artisan, that knows his trade. That’s the kind of guy Mike from Perfect Seal is. Or at least how I’d like to picture him in the spirit of the underdog, compared to the big established companies. Mike made his mark in the hearing aid business, but his main focus and interest has been reshelling and designing custom in ears. At the moment, Perfect Seal is still only one of the few companies worldwide that can work with both silicone and acrylic, as well as provide all kinds of hybrids with the two materials.
The current Perfect Seal lineup is the PS series, with models ranging from 2 – 8 BA drivers. It's aimed at both audiophiles and musicians. Perfect Seal also offers the Sportbud series for general music use in every day activities like working out, or working in the yard etc. But he’s taking a completely different direction with the ‘Ambiance’ series – geared more towards a reference tuning for audiophiles, although musicians will also enjoy them. The name couldn’t have been chosen better - the new line is devoted to a pleasant atmosphere, although each model will have a different ‘feel’ to it. Presenting the first model in the range: the 6 BA driver AR6.
Specifications
-6 BA drivers (1 low, 2 low/mid, 2 mid, 1 tweeter)
-5-way passive crossover
-4 soundbores
-Impedance: TBA
-Frequency range: TBA
-Price (acrylic/silicone): $950 / $1150
Impressions
Listening was done with a Hifiman 901S (minibox amp card). The reviewed AR6 is the acrylic model. The AR stands for ‘Ambiance Reference’, and I’d say it leans a bit closer to the first word than the second. While it’s not completely reference-tuned, there’s all the more ambiance. The AR6’ signature is neither particularly warm or bright, but is pretty neutral up until an upper midrange lift which gives it an overall pleasant and clear tonality.
But this is one of the rare cases where signature is secondary to a different feature: the soundstage. The AR6 was specifically designed for a wide and airy soundstage. The AR6’ soundstage is wider in width, than depth and height. Instruments and vocals diffuse out evenly in a half circle, creating a spread out but realistic soundstage. The clean mid-bass doesn’t interfere with the midrange, allowing a great deal of space and airiness between the instruments, and consequentially the instrument positioning and separation is outstanding. The AR6’ presentation is neither too forward or laidback, although the soundstage and instrument size can make the instruments positioning appear distant at times.
Bass
The sub-bass is fast, clean and precise, while hitting with good depth and control. The mid-bass’ tone is fairly neutral, with good detail, but a bit on the low side of impact. The mid-bass’ presentation does not interfere with the midrange, but does its work steadily in the background. Overall the AR6’s bass tone is very close to neutral, with good technical abilities.
Mids
The lower midrange is not very prominent, but this is where the designer’s intention becomes apparent: while it is not the fullest midrange, this provides a vast amount of space and airiness between the instruments. The center midrange has a neutral tone and is relatively clean. The upper midrange has a lift, which besides giving it a pleasant tonality provides a great deal of transparency and detail. Acoustics sound realistic and very inviting. Female vocals are clear and slightly forward while male vocals can sound a bit more distant due to the lower midrange dip. In accordance, average note thickness is on the lower side, although this in turn again contributes to the excellent separation. Try your best, and you will never be able to find a track that sounds congested. Overall, the midrange has good resolution, while the upper midrange lift gives it a nice tone as well as transparency.
Treble
The treble is clear, with good extension and sparkle. Its tone is a bit bright, with a hint of warmth. The AR6’ treble has good speed and decay, although the resolution can suffer with fast music. But the treble has good presence and energy, and sounds relatively smooth although there is a slight peak in the lower treble on occasion. As such it can lack a bit of refinement compared to TOTL’s, but overall the treble has all the important factors to sound exciting, while contributing to overall transparency.
The AR6’ standout trait is of course its soundstage and airiness. It’s second is its tone, marked by the upper midrange lift, and the clean and flat bass. The AR6 is the scout that goes ahead and climbs up high. It treads with light foot, but peers far around into the horizon. As such, the AR6 has qualities what will easily appeal to a large crowd. So how are these properties translated to music? I’m going off record here, as this is the part where it gets very subjective. In line with its name, I find myself reaching for ambient music: acoustics with beautiful female vocals, nice jazz where the transparency shines through or ambient electronic music because of the clear tones. Softer rock like Radiohead will also work wonderfully. While it has the tonality and treble sparkle for energetic electronic music, its bass is on the lighter side. The airiness and separation works as an ‘anti-congestant’ for rock music, although there is a tradeoff here for the average note thickness. But keep in mind opinions will differ as I have spoken to some that appreciate the soundstage presentation
especially for rock or metal.
Select Comparisons
EarSonics Velvet
The Velvet and AR6 share some key features: a wide spacious soundstage with a lift in the upper midrange that defines their tonality, and helps with detail retrieval. The AR6’ soundstage does have more depth and airiness. Their treble is more or less similar, both having a good deal of sparkle with the Velvet putting out more energy. This is partially due to the Velvet’s pronounced U-shape: the midrange is pushed back a great deal more, with the enhanced treble on the foreground. The AR6 finds more balance between the midrange and treble, and this is reflected in its soundstage: instruments and vocals diffuse out more evenly in all directions. Their biggest difference is in the bass department: The Velvet’s bass is significantly enhanced compared to the neutral AR6. So while they do share some similarities, the difference is in their presentation. The Velvet is the basshead iem, the AR6 the balanced ‘ambient’ one.
Rhapsodio Solar
You could consider the AR6 a bit of a Solar ‘light’, as they share a somewhat similar tonality. Both have an upper midrange lift and slightly enhanced treble. But while the Solar’s bass is also clean and fast, it is a great deal more enhanced, specifically the mid-bass. This provides more size, fullness and warmth to the midrange, at the cost of soundstage width and airiness. Note sustain is longer with the Solar; notes linger a bit longer giving the Solar slightly smoother and more laidback presentation in the midrange. The AR6 has slightly more treble presence, although the Solar has better note articulation with faster notes. Concerning soundstage, the AR6’ is slightly wider, while the Solar’s is deeper. The AR6 and Solar share some similarities; specifically the upper midrange lift and slightly forward treble. But if I’d have to summarize their main difference in one sentence, it would be: bass-fueled fullness versus soundstage space and airiness, where only preference will determine the outcome.
(Photos credit to Victor van der Boom)
@Kerouac Just a simple review, but I appreciate your comment mate