Piega Coax Gen2 811

It's funny how we discover some music in unexpected, twisting ways.

- ROGIER VAN BAKEL

A friend recently sent me the real estate listing for a beautiful home in Deer Isle, Maine, about an hour from where I live. I gawked at the pictures and calculated I'd need to work for Stereophile for another 127 years before I'd have enough dough to buy it. Then I noticed something unusual on one of the walls of the place: lots of gold records. Google helped me figure out that the house had belonged to the late singer-songwriter Dan Fogelberg. I knew the name but was unfamiliar with his music.

Minutes later, I was playing the studio version of "Nether Lands," seemingly named after my country of birth. A beautifully orchestrated piece with restrained woodwinds and soaring strings, it reminded me of the best of Van Dyke Parks and of some post-Pet Sounds Brian Wilson songs. I played it straight through three times.

Part of the reason I was so smitten with the recording lay in the engaging, naturalistic presentation it received from the handmadein-Switzerland Piega Gen2 811 floorstanders ($30,000/pair) that had just made their way to my listening room.

Up-close and personal

The Piegas arrived double-boxed with four custom foam inserts per tower, two of which are circular and fit entirely around the speaker, life-preserver-style. The speakers were further protected by black drawstring bags made of soft cloth. My pair was finished in standard brushed aluminum, but the Gen2 811s are also available in white lacquer and a black anodized finish-plus in eight other colors that require a $2000 premium. Although the towers weigh 139lb each, it wasn't terribly arduous to unpack them and move them into position.