It was at the 2023 Munich High End Show that I discovered some truly remarkable loudspeakers, the Lorenzo Audio Labs LM1 from Spain. They were music to my ears; the speakers rendered music effortlessly with detail, transparency, nuance, and realism, making it seem like I was listening to live music. I was surprised and very impressed at the same time because they produced an excellent sound in a makeshift listening room in the hall, not in a dedicated listening room at the Munich High End Show. I tried to imagine how the LM1s would sound in my own listening room. I absolutely had to have them for a review to fully evaluate and (perhaps) get myself in trouble. However, unfortunately, there was no US distributor at that time.
Fast forward a year. It was a few months after the 2024 Munich High End Show when Bob Visintainer of Rhapsody Audio became the US distributor. Luckily, he's only 20 minutes away from me in Brooklyn. Visintainer is a serious dedicated professional and an audiophile representing some of the best sounding products. To name just a few, he handles Audio Note Kondo, Alsyvox, Magico, Goldmund, Pilium, Taiko Audio, and Diesis Audio. I showed my interest in reviewing the LM1s and astoundingly, he offered to send me a pair for a review. All I could say was "yes!" My Christmas came early! I was told it takes about three months to produce the LM1s and I waited patiently for those three long months, and finally Visintainer called me up to let me know the LM1s were on the way.
The delivery truck came with two huge boxes, each weighing at in at least 600 lbs. It was a first-class white glove delivery service and Visintainer came to assist me with two big burly guys for the setup. It was great that my building has a freight elevator large enough to accommodate the LM1s. Unboxing is a three-person job, but it isn't really difficult. The speakers were on caster wheels. I knew the LM1s were big, but didn't realize how big they were until they were in my room next to my reference Vimberg Tonda D loudspeakers. The Tonda Ds looked small, even insignificant compared to the LM1s. Sorry Tonda D. The LM1s were drop-dead gorgeous; this review pair was finished in a stunningly beautiful Macassar Ebony. Pictures don't do them justice; they must be seen in person
After unboxing the LM1s, they rolled out easily thanks to the caster wheels. The LM1s were first positioned a few inches further apart than the Tonda Ds were. I let them play for few weeks to put in more hours to break them in. Actually, right out of the box they sounded fabulous, and so I knew they were very special. Visintainer told me that the LM1s have 50 hours play time from the factory to ensure quality, and designer Miguel Lorenzo Castro wanted to make sure the fortunate proud owners would enjoy the music right away. The LM1s need actually about 100 hours for full break-in, but I was already in trouble after listening to the first track. The LM1s were simply in a different class than my reference Tonda Ds.
The majestic Lorenzo Audio Labs LM1s are cost-no-object, flagship loudspeakers. However, they don't use any trendy or exotic material drivers. Instead they employ paper cones with alnico magnets. They incorporate a four-way design (one 16" Great Plains Acoustics paper cone woofer with alnico magnets, one 11" Supravox midrange paper cone with alnico magnets, another uses Radian 1" tweeter compression driver with beryllium diaphragms. The last uses a 1" Visaton super tweeter with titanium alloy diaphragm. They are full range loudspeakers with phase-optimized crossovers. The crossover is a first-order design except for the horns which are a third-order design, and the crossover point is 200/1500/10,000Hz. The midrange and tweeter are sealed and the woofer is double rear-vented. The LM1s is easy to drive, sensitivity is 96dB with 8 Ohm; the recommended amplifier is 20 to 500 watts, and the frequency response of 20Hz to 35kHz.
The LM1s stunning cabinets are a massive 441 lbs. The cabinetry and finish are truly extraordinary. The cabinets are made with 5-axis CNC machinery, and are 100% handcrafted by a fourth-generation craftsman whose family has worked since 1888 using legendary artisan techniques. The wood veneer is rigorously selected for its beauty and durability; the cabinets are varnished in a high gloss finish with no less than seven layers of varnish. The bass reflex ports are hand-tuned with an exceptional tone wood. They are 62mm wide and manufactured with phenolic laminated wood and elastomer in constrained layers. This use of Panzereholz wood pieces, which are designed in-house and used in critical places, dramatically improves the sound. Solid steel feet are designed in-house with a lower bottom piece made out of Panzerholz to remove vibrations that come from the floor. Its binding posts are crafted just as thoughtfully, utilizing special wood to remove unwanted vibrations and reduce noise.
Castro is a perfectionist. He combines classic technology with the latest advances in materials, components, software, and manufacturing techniques. After countless hours using simulations and computer calculations, and listening for hundreds and thousands of hours and experimenting with different components and fine tuning, he gets the best desired sound. He goes the extra mile. The LM1 uses impressive welded passive crossovers without printed circuit boards and only top-notch components from the state-of-the-art makers Duelund, Jupiter, Mundorf, and Pathaudio are utilized. The Panzerholz parts are designed in-house and utilized in critical places such as the speaker terminals binding posts and on the speaker's feet. They are also used in drivers to minimize vibrations. No metal screws touch the drivers, isolating the vibrations from the cabinets to the drivers. The internal wiring is made with high-purity copper, silver, and gold wire in various sections. He leaves no stone unturned.
Miguel Lorenzo Castro is the designer and the founder of Lorenzo Audio Labs. His obsession with music has created these remarkable products. He's the founder and publisher of HiFi Live magazine, a Spanish audio magazine. Lorenzo tells me that after listening and testing many loudspeakers in his home and at audio shows, he wanted to offer a different sound, more real that connects the listeners emotionally to unknown levels. He's no stranger to audio design. His work is a departure from his earlier days as one of the designers of the Kroma Audio, now known as Kroma Atelior.
For this review I used several different amplifiers to evaluate the LM1s, from low to high power amplifiers, from a SET 300B to solid-state amplifiers; but mostly my Audio Note Kondo Ongaku was used. The LM1s were also driven by the Canary Audio M3000, Decware Sarah 300B, and a Pilum integrated amplifier. Vinyl was spun on the Dohmann Helix One with Schroder CB-11 and Etsuro-Urushi Bordeaux cartridge. Cabling was both Hemingway Audio Z-Core's Beta and Sigma, and Enklein Cable's The XerXes and SHT. Amazingly, all the amplifiers sounded great driving the LM1s. As long as the LM1s are fed with a high-quality signal, they shine at how good they can be.
Cut to the chase. First impressions were highly favorable. The LM1s sounded musical from the very first note. Presumably because of the rigid, lightweight, high-efficiency drivers, the LM1s sounded super dynamic! It was astounding. The horn loaded tweeter and super tweeter were indeed very special. They sounded open, open, open. The sound was fast, transparent and extended, totally musical, sweet, and engaging. As good as my reference Vimberg Tonda D was, it was no match for the LM1s. They're a game changer. I said to myself they better be superior as they cost about three times as much as the Tonda Ds. Tondo D is an exceptional loudspeaker regardless of the cost, and it competes with loudspeakers that are much higher in price. Of course, the higher we go up the ladder, at some point there's a diminishing of return. But listening to the LM1s was a revelation. They were involving and rewarding with all types of music. You don't need to go back and forth to compare the two. What can I say? The LM1s are in a class of their own. The LM1s rendered music brilliantly and effortlessly with solidity and proper weight delivering a transparent and resolved midrange, and a treble presentation that was impeccable with an exceptional richness of overtone and proper timbre. When done correctly, there's a magic in speakers that use a large high sensitivity single driver. I think it is superior to using multiple smaller drivers. A large driver moves air differently, effortlessly, and produces more realism and ease with weight and solidity.
I was stunned by how good the LM1s are. I was losing sleep listening through the wee hours in the morning. I couldn't wait to put on one of my favorites, Tchaikovsky's Variations on a Rococo Theme for Cello and Orchestra, op.33 (DG 413 819-2) performed by the master Mstislav Rostropovich with maestro Herbert Von Karajan conducting the Berliner Philarmoniker. I listened to this track over and over, hundreds of times and, simply put, the LM1s are the best I've heard. The LM1's rendition of the cello and the orchestra had an incredible solidity and weight which extended all the way up the frequency band. Rostropovich's performance was compelling; the performance was harmonically and textually correct. Yes, the LM1 has a magical ability to let you immerse yourself in music with great emotion. The subtle details of pitch variation and bowing texture of Rostropovich's performance were displayed with spot on accuracy sounding as if he were in my room. The sheen of the bow across the strings conveyed the resonance of the wooden body, and a physical focus and a sized image with an exceptional tonal and textural purity was conveyed better like I've ever heard before. The LM1s take my breath away.
The LM1s render voices and instruments with a palpable, natural, and organic quality. It didn't matter whether I was listening to chamber music or female vocalists. The LM1s naturalness in rendering of timbres was as close to what I have heard in a live performance as I've experienced in any loudspeakers. Listening to a beautiful recording of Rossini's Sonate a quattro (HMC 901776) by ensemble Explorations, (streaming through Taiko Audio Extreme and driven with a low power Sarah 300B SET) sounded marvelous and emotionally engaging. It was convincing and there was rightness to the string timbres had me listening for hours. Incredibly, listening to this extraordinary music, I was reminded that Rossini was only twelve years of age when he composed his Sonate a quattro in 1804. The LM1s rendered a midrange that was superb in tone color, rich in textures, and transparent with freedom from grain. The notes flowed wonderfully, and the complex mix of tonal nuances proved very engaging. The Sarah 300B was able to bring the performance to life and the music's underlining emotions was spot on. The Sarah 300B sounded powerful and it rendered music effortlessly with great ease at any volume level and handled dynamic swings with grace. This made the Sarah 300B to sound far more powerful than its 7-watts per side would suggest. The LM1's high sensitivity and exceptional quality make it possible to pair them with fabulous sounding SET amplifiers. The LM1s reproduced the ensemble exquisitely; they have uncanny ability to convey musical realism and emotional involvement. The more I listen, the more involved I get with the music and the more I understand how great the LM1s are.
Listening to the LM1s driven by the Ongaku was compelling. I was in audio heaven. Cassandra Wilson's vinyl recording of the New Moon Daughter (PPAN BST32861) sounded fabulous. The midrange was reproduced with a wonderful sense of musical realism and emotional involvement. The LM1's ability to reproduce Wilson's husky and hypnotic voice came with a three-dimensionality that was more authentic than I remember from the reference recording. I was startled first by the immediacy and solidity of her image, then by the complexity of her husky voice with a harmonic truth. The LM1's uncanny ability portrayed vocals as if I were hearing it live for the first time. She was in the room in front of me; her presence, realism, and tangibility was spooky, and I found it to be a my true testament to my nirvana.
The LM1s also reproduced large-scale orchestral music with great ease. The Orchestral crescendos are reproduced with great authority. When the music demands drive and scale, the LM1s respond gracefully without losing their composure. The combination of bass, dynamics, and overall sense of power made these the ideal choice for all sorts of music. Listening to Dvorak's Symphony N0.9 in E Minor, Op.95 with maestro Fritz Reiner conducting the Chicago Symphony, was a revelation. As I listened, I was struck by how much was being revealed. The LM1s were able to scale the dramatic heights of full orchestral crescendos with great ease. The familiar third movement was rendered impressively with dynamic shifts with convincing power. I was equally impressed with effect on my system's spatial performances. It was good as I have ever heard in other cost-no-object loudspeakers. The LM1s have an uncanny ability to portray a large sense of space and the instruments within the space, and the distance between them. The overall experience is like hearing a lifelike three-dimensional staging.
The LM1s are world-class cost-no-object loudspeakers in every way. The LM1s embody an achievement in design, engineering, craftmanship, and most of all, sonic performance. Lorenzo Audio Labs set a high benchmark for all others to be measured against. Sonically speaking in my system, the LM1 are as good as it gets. My twenty-five plus years audio search for reference loudspeakers is over. Regardless of cost, I told Visintainer that I'm keeping the review pair and wrote him a check. Hats off to Miguel Lorenzo Castro for creating this masterpiece.
Lorenzo Audio Labs LM1 Loudspeakers
Retail: $200,000 per pair
US Distributor
Rhapsody.Audio
212.229.1842
Lorenzo Audio Labs
