We had a set of Opera Prima Speakers in store, so we decided to take a sit down and really have a good listen and let you know our thoughts on them.
We coupled them with the Unison Research Preludio Valve Integrated Amplifier, Unison Research Unico CD Player, AudioQuest Aspen Speaker Cable, Atacama Speaker Stands, and Titan Audio Elektra Mains Cable (into the amplifier) with the Titan Audio Styx Mains Block.
The Opera Prima speakers are everything you would expect from an Italian manufacturer. The craftsmanship is simply stunning with a real emphasis on detail. The cabinets, in this case, finished in Cherry, are perfectly smooth, with beautifully curved corners which are clean and precise and there is a real feel of "passion". The beautiful blend of leather and wood, are just the cherry on top and as you would expect, the finish is simply pristine.
I took a little time at the beginning before properly sitting down for a listen, and made sure I got the speakers perfectly set up, and it was definitely worth the extra effort.
Having finally got the speakers set up I sat down for a listen.
Instantly the speakers drew my attention, listening to several acoustic styled tracks, the detail is excellent and very open. I didn't feel that I needed to judge them, they are very enjoyable to listen to with an organic sound which was natural and enjoyable.
There is no sense of brightness with the Prima's even though the top end is clean and open.
I moved on to a few tracks that carried a little more weight, and the Prima's dealt very well with this. The bass is very solid and precise, well controlled and because the speaker is ported to the front you can place them close to a rear wall.
The 3 dimensionality really began to come through as well and voices were naturally reproduced.
Overall this is a very well balanced speaker and one which is quite easy to drive so will work with both solid state and valve amplifiers.
The classic Italian styling coupled with a musical sound will suit many people and is a pleasant change from so many forward bright sounding speakers which seem to be flooding the market at the moment.