My first encounter with Amphion was in Basevalley studios in Holland, I was very impressed with the sound quality, but while I was working in Holland I only got a chance to produce using these monitors so I was intrigued to see how well they performed in a mix scenario.

Look Fantastic

First of all they look fantastic, I love the way they look like a very modern upside down NS10 as the tweeter enclosure is white and the woofer is black. They have a 6.5 inch aluminium mid/ woofer and a 1” titanium tweeter with a passive radiator on the rear of the cabinet.

Passive Radiator

The Amphion One18’s have passive radiator. It is interesting to see that in the last few years more and more speaker companies are doing this. Passive radiators are used instead of a reflex port for much the same reasons—to tune the frequency response, particularly in small volume enclosures and when small diameter drivers are used, for better low frequency performance. I'm a big fan of enclosed speaker cabinets rather than  bass‑reflex or ported design. Sealed‑cabinet monitors generally lack the power handling and efficiency of ported monitors, but they can provide far better time‑domain performance at the low end. The One 18’s do not disappoint in this field, the bass end is tight and well defined with the right amount of chest thumping low end should you choose to crank them up.

Sound Fantastic

I have had a week with the speakers and I’ve got to say they sound fantastic. The first thing I noticed was the immediate improvement on the stereo image compared to the monitors I’m currently using, the clarity of the Amphion speakers has to be heard to be believed. I have played the mixes that I've been working on through other systems and they translate very well to other listening environments.

My current speakers are known to reveal the smallest of details so I was interested to see how well the amphions performed against them.  All I can say is they have at least as much detail as what I’m used to and possibly out perform my existing system.

The Price

These speakers are by no means cheap, at £2100 for the pair, and pairing that with their Amp100 which comes in at £899 your looking at £3000 for the setup plus the cables. However if your are looking for speakers of this quality (PMC, Barefoot, Unity Audio, PSI Audio) you will be expecting to pay a similar price.

We Like Them

I'm not the only one in the team that has tried these speakers, Russ is also a big fan after experiencing a pair in a studio in London. After reviewing these monitors I am seriously looking to buy a pair of amphions so I can have the pleasure of them permanently in my studio. We are awarding the Amphion One18 speakers Editors Choice.

Technical Specifications

• Operating principle: 2-way, passive radiator

• Tweeter: 1" titanium

• Mid / woofer: 6,5" aluminium

• Crossover point: 1600 Hz

• Impedance: 8 ohm

• Sensitivity: 85 dB @ 2.83V/1m

• Frequency response: 45 - 20 000 Hz +/-3dB

• Power recommendation: 30 - 150 W

• Measurements (h x w x d):380 x 191 x 305 mm

• Weight: 12 kg