Swiss Speaker Space-Craft

Do your speakers sound a little constrained? Piega might have just the thing for you, says Ed Selley

- Ed Selley

Speaker brands comfortably outnumber electronic ones in the multichannel world. At any given price point, you'll have more speaker options than you will amplifier choices. As a result, the market is crowded and new arrivals can’t simply rely on looking smart. Handy for Piega, then, that behind the reasonably attractive cabinets of this 5.0 system, there's a lot going on.

Most notable is the tweeter that's common to all units. It might look a like a ribbon tweeter, but is something rather different. Piega is one of only a few brands – and one of the most consumer-friendly when it comes to pricing – to dress its speakers with an Air Motion Transformer (AMT). This is a folded diaphragm that effectively works like a shrunken high-frequency accordion. A back and forth motion creates treble energy but, because the unit itself is very large – effectively equivalent to a driver several inches across – the radiating effect is correspondingly greater. It's a treble unit that – on paper at least – looks perfect for the job of creating a wide, immersive soundstage, and claims a high-frequency extension all the way to 40kHz.

As well as the AMT, the three models that make up this set – the £1,600p/p Classic 5.0 floor standers, £900p/p Classic 3.0 stand mounts and £650 Center Classic Large – feature one or more midbass drivers that use a system that Piega terms 'MDS' (Maximum Displacement Suspension), which is designed to help them deliver a long throw without distortion or cone breakup. Unusually, the centre and fronts make use of a 5in driver while the stand mounts feature a larger 6.5in unit. This deviates from the absolute ideal of having the same driver in every corner of the room, but as the materials and technologies are the same, I'm not too concerned.