Jason Wong

As someone who has spent years listening to countless audio systems, I've heard more than my share of single-driver speakers. To be honest, I was rarely impressed. Most suffered from tonal imbalances, weak bass, shouty midrange, or brittle treble. Even the better open-baffle designs often lacked weight and foundation. Still, I always believed the core concept made sense: one coherent driver, free of crossovers, delivering unified sound from a single acoustic source. The idea was compelling. The execution usually wasn't. Until I heard Brian Charney's work.

I first met Brian through a mutual client. When I learned he specialized in single-driver speakers, I admittedly approached with skepticism. Then I heard the Companions, and everything changed. They immediately became the finest speakers I had heard up to that point. When I later experienced the Concertos, it wasn't simply an improvement. It was a revelation on an entirely different scale.

The first thing that strikes you about the Concertos is their sheer sense of scale. They don't just play loudly. They expand effortlessly, filling the room with a vast and immersive soundstage. Height, depth, projection, and dimensionality are all rendered with remarkable realism. The presentation isn't merely reproduced. It feels present.

What impressed me most was how they achieved this scale without the coloration often associated with horn designs. The Concertos deliver openness and dynamic freedom without sounding forced or exaggerated. The result is expansive, natural, and deeply engaging.

The bass performance is equally extraordinary. From upper bass through the lowest registers, everything is tightly integrated, articulate, and musically convincing. There is no bloat, no looseness, and no artificial emphasis. Just clean, tuneful, full-range bass that serves the music.

If I had to identify a limitation, it would be that the very lowest sub-bass frequencies are slightly less prominent than some specialized systems. Yet considering the honesty, musicality, and coherence of what is present, that observation feels almost insignificant.

The midrange is simply beautiful. Natural, fluid, and completely unforced. Compared to the Lumaca, the Concerto captures much of that same magic while maintaining its own unique character. More importantly, the midrange doesn't exist in isolation. It flows seamlessly from the bass, creating a continuous sonic fabric that unifies the entire performance.

This is the advantage of a true single-driver design. Without a crossover, the entire frequency range emerges from one source. There are no discontinuities, no tonal mismatches, and no sense of separate drivers handling different portions of the music. Everything arrives as a coherent whole.

The treble is equally remarkable. Not because it shouts for attention, but because it feels effortless and natural. Using the Voxativ AC-2.6 driver, the Concertos extend cleanly and gracefully, revealing air, texture, and detail without grain, glare, or fatigue. The treble doesn't sparkle artificially. It simply illuminates what is already there.

Many listeners assume the finest treble comes from ribbons, electrostatics, or planar designs. While those technologies can reveal tremendous detail, they often achieve that precision at the expense of naturalness. The result can become hyper-detailed yet emotionally disconnected. The Concertos avoid that trap entirely. Their treble doesn't dissect the music. It serves it.

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the Concertos is their dynamic capability. They don't merely reproduce dynamic contrasts. They breathe with the music. Every shift in intensity, every transient, and every subtle change in energy is delivered with speed, control, and emotional clarity.

Even compared to many highly respected horn systems, including designs from Avantgarde, Edgarhorn, AER, and Voxativ, I've rarely heard anything this dynamically complete. Many speakers impress at first listen but begin to reveal weaknesses under closer scrutiny. The Concertos remain coherent and convincing at every level.

Much of this achievement comes from Brian's cabinet design.

These enclosures are far more than functional structures. They are sculptural works that feel discovered rather than created. The Tractrix horn is not merely an aesthetic choice. It is a mathematical solution expressed through physical form. Every curve serves a purpose. Every surface reflects acoustic logic. It is engineering and artistry working together in service of music.

This is not the work of someone refining established ideas. It is the work of a designer willing to rethink them entirely.

What Brian Charney has accomplished is more than an incremental improvement. It represents a genuine shift in loudspeaker design philosophy. The Concerto stands as one of the clearest realizations of the Tractrix horn concept, and while later designs such as the Lumaca expanded upon that vision, the Concerto remains the moment where everything came together.

Ultimately, the Concerto succeeds because it communicates emotion. It doesn't impress through exaggeration or artificial excitement. It reveals the intent behind the performance. It uncovers the humanity within the music.

These speakers don't simply reproduce sound. They create connection. They allow listeners to rediscover their music collections and experience recordings with a level of honesty and engagement that is genuinely rare. The Concertos don't add anything to the music. They simply reveal what was there all along.