Perlisten Audio S5t Speakers Review
This will be my third review of Perlisten Audio speakers, having had the incredible R7t floorstanders. Then the very talented S4b stand mounts, all of them have left a long lasting impression of how Perlisten Audio speakers perform and to such a high standard with their groundbreaking DPC array (Directivity Pattern Control) technology which has made such a massive impact in the HiFi and Home Cinema communities around the world.
Perlisten Audio is now one of the biggest brands in the speaker industry. Seeing that it only started a few years back, this is quite an achievement, but it is thoroughly deserved, as they have managed to burst onto the scene with cutting-edge design and technology. Under the helm of CEO and designer Dan Roamer and CSO Lars Johansen, they have gone from strength to strength, but the quality of their products defines this success. As a company, they have also managed to surround themselves with talented people with the technical know-how, and this also helps to reinforce the brand's appeal as having attended many of the HiFi shows they are always on hand to speak to people about Perlisten and the speakers and subs that they are demoing to the public, this is always refreshing to see and hear. They have a great partner distribution network, like Karma AV here in the UK, which distributes their products. Karma AV asked me if I would like to review another Perlisten, so I jumped at the chance. They sent me the S5t, which is the smaller floorstander sitting below the S7t, minus two bass drivers for a more manageable speaker size for medium-sized rooms like mine. I have had both the black and white finishes previously, but for this review, they sent the S5t in this gorgeous gloss Ebony finish, which looks truly stunning!
Build Quality and Features
The build quality of Perlisten speakers is completely flawless. With the S5t in this stunning gloss Ebony finish, they are some serious eye candy for us consumers. The Ebony is one of my favourites, especially in this beautiful gloss that these S5t come in. Although the S5t are some 20 cm shorter than the top of the range S7t speakers, they are still a big floorstander in its weight and depth and coming in at approx 44Kg most certainly a 2 man job to do the heavy lifting, the cabinets are rock solid thanks to the HDF (High Density Fibreboard) which they are fashioned from and are heavily braced inside, it really does make them feel totally bomb proof. The front baffle is relatively narrow at 24 cm in width but gives the beautiful cabinets a refined look and allows those gorgeous Textreme or, as in technical terminology, the thin-ply carbon diaphragms (TPCD) 180mm bass drivers to really stand out with their eye-catching chequered patterns. The DPC array sits in the centre, flanked by the 2 bass drivers above and below. The DPC array houses the Beryllium tweeter and the 2 mid-range TPCD drivers again above and below the tweeter housed into a fibre glass horn-shaped waveguide. This groundbreaking design and technology allows the mid and high frequencies to be more controlled and shapes the sound waves so that it minimises reflections, especially with vocals to be heard in such a way which as from my previous reviews it manages to give one of the best imaging and sound with incredible accuracy from any of the speakers that I have had here at The Speaker Shack.
The base of the speakers has a similar base plate like the R7t speakers that I reviewed, and these alone are incredibly weighty and allow the beautiful feet to be attached, giving a solid and evenly spread weight distribution for each of the speakers to sit on. Before you mount the plate you have the bass reflex port underneath the speaker which can be blocked by the supplied foam bungs so that the speakers can either be a ported or sealed design depending on your room size and application, I have gone with the ports open as I have found this to be my prefered option for the S5t in my room with the bass that I hear from the lower octaves, at the base of each of the speakers they have slots in both sides and at the rear of the cabinets to allow air to vent from the bass reflex ports.
The specifications for the S5t are very impressive indeed, with a measured output down to approx 24Hz in room response and all the way up to 32 kHz at the top end, which is slightly lower than the S7t's high-frequency response, which extends all the way up to 37 kHz. I presume they have tuned these to match the S5t speaker's size and enclosure, so it is all relative. Like all the Perlisten Audio line of speakers, they also have the THX Dominus rating, this really is impressive to have as these strict parameters are only given if they can match the high output required for continuous usage at high SPL levels and it goes to show how well-built and designed these speakers actually are and why they are so loved by the Home Cinema community. I remember having my old THX Ultra M&K speakers, which could really take a hammering when it came to reference levels and power that they demanded from an amplifier to meet this spec, and the Perlisten range has taken this further, meeting the impressive THX Dominus standard with an eye-watering 114.3dB SPL peak output. This is one of the reasons why they are so popular among the Home Cinema enthusiasts, but as proven, they also provide incredible performance for hi-fi and us 2-channel aficionados.
Setting Up and Equipment Used
For this review, Karma AV were kind enough to send me through 2 x Primare A35.2 power amplifiers to be used in bridged mode, which output a staggering 800 watts of power into each of the channels, so both speakers have their own monoblock for powering them, which I have to say the Perlisten speakers soak up and love, this is such a great pairing and its clear the synergy between Primare products and Perlisten speakers is exceptional.
I am also using the brilliant Chord Electronics Hugo TT2 DAC as the digital preamplifier controlling the volume and power to each of the Perlisten speakers, the Hugo TT2 is connected with the Chord Electronics M Scaler which is a seriously potent combination offering huge amounts of number crunching power for some stunning resolve and resolution of the music. I am streaming my music via the Bluesound Nano streamer and CD playback from my Cyrus Audio CD8SE CD player. I am connecting to the Primare A35.2 amplifiers with XLR cables to each of the channels and then using the beautiful Montaudio Chatham SH-1 Speaker cables to each of the S5t speakers.
Setting up the Perlisten S5t speakers and positioning is fairly straightforward thanks to an incredibly wide stereo image that they manage to project into the room thanks in a big part to the beamforming DPC array which gives a very wide sweet spot into my listening position, with some slight toe in they only take a few minutes to get right and in my room I know it well enough to know what works for my seating position.
Sound Quality and Performance
For this review, I am using lots of different music which I have stored on my NAS HDD and on CD, as well as streaming from Qobuz and Spotify for some of the music, mostly in high-resolution audio varying in sample rates and all the way up to DSD quality.
My first album is from the genius that is Boris Blank and his brilliant 2024 solo album Resonance, which is one of my favourites from this legendary artist who is also from the equally legendary duo Yello. His music is a journey into the electronic world of music according to Boris Blank and mixes ambient, Techno and electronic beats to create what can only be described as an ethereal and immersive experience with the right speakers. This album was originally commissioned for the FORTYSEVEN thermal spa near Zurich designed by the Swiss Architect Mario Botta. Blank teamed up with Stefan Bock and Stefan Zaradic to create the Dolby Atmos and Auro 3D mixes of this wonderful music to immerse people into an ambient and electronic experience like no other, but it also became a massive hit for us audiophiles with his musical genius that only Blank can do.
The Perlisten Audio S5t speakers are exceptional when it comes to projecting an almost holographic soundstage in front of you, thanks to the DPC array. It allows for stunning resolution with incredible depth and width to the soundstage, as I found out with previous reviews of their speakers. The S5t are no exception, and this album from Boris Blank is probably the closest you are going to get to this 3D experience, albeit going full surround sound with either an Atmos or Auro 3D system. Track 1 Vertigo Hero’s Part 1 is a masterpiece with sounds moving around the front soundstage at lightning speed from left to right and the Perlisten speakers pull you into this musical ride, bass is super tight and full of wonderful textures, those 180mm bass drivers energise my room with absolute ease allowing you to feel the bass notes pulsate through you and with Track 2 Resonance this is taken further with some seriously low bass notes that I could feel through my sofa and body, I could not stop grinning through this track as I cranked the volume higher and higher and thanks to those dual Primare A35.2 power amplifiers there is simply tonnes of power on offer which the Perlisten S5t speakers just love, these speakers can really go loud and with the right amplification like the ones from Primare it is the perfect combination. It’s not just the bass that is so impressive; the mids and high notes sound so natural and clean in presentation with stunning clarity that is projected into my room. Sounds move around the soundstage at lightning speed with real depth to the image. Blank is the master of electronic music, and what he does sounds sublime through the Perlisten speakers.
Track 4 Time Bridges sounds superb from the start, with a storm brewing from the thunder and rain effects, and it really does sound surreal with complete spatial context, the thunder and rain effects coming down all around you. The S5t speakers simply disappear from the soundstage, allowing you to get immersed in this track. Once again, the pulsating and beautifully textured bass notes massage my body and sofa; meanwhile, electronic sounds and effects come out from the centre of the soundstage and from left to right and echo around the room. It really is quite the experience, and the Perlisten speakers sound simply sublime playing this stunning music. I love electronic music like this, and at this level of components, it becomes seriously addictive to listen to, and the Perlisten S5t speakers can play so loud without any fatigue setting in such is the quality of the music I am hearing. I love all the tracks in this album and really hope Blank creates a follow-up to this one maybe Resonance 2?
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