Recording - October 2017 - 44

ESI Audio uniK 05+ and uniK 08+ Active Monitors
what I was hearing, I think that number-
low as it is- is actually conservative.
Everyone I played music for on the
uniK 05+ was frankly stunned at how
good the bass was. Whatever ESI is doing with its woofer and porting, it works!
This monitor has bass for days, and it's
good bass-tight, clean, detailed, and
present, without being woofy or onenote or muddy or overdone. Mids are
clean and clear with no hiccups near
the crossover frequency, and as expected
from a well-made folded ribbon tweeter,

the highs are crystal clear with beautiful
transients, taking great advantage of
the very fast transient response of the
amplifiers. Speakers this small have no
business sounding this big.

In use: the uniK 08+

After my fantastic experience with the
unik 05+, I was reluctant to take them
down, but also very curious to hear the
unik 08+. It's a much larger and heavier
beastie, weighing just under 20 pounds
and pairing an 8" woofer with the same

tweeter and crossover frequency as its
sibling. Frequency response is rated
(without tolerances) at 37 Hz-25 kHz,
which is well into "no, you don't need a
subwoofer unless you're trying to impress
someone" territory.
I initially guessed that the uniK 08+
would basically be the uniK 05+ with
more boom, but that wasn't the whole story.
The sweet highs and rich mids were still
there, but for want of a better word, the
extra 12 Hz on the bottom made the bass
response more effortless. At my usual
listening SPL of 80 dB at 1 meter, the difference in headroom from the larger amps
was pretty obvious, giving the overall
impression that the uniK 08+ was delivering
the goods without breathing hard.
Stereo imaging was, if anything, even
better than on the uniK 05+, and the
sweet spot was comfortably wide for two
people sitting side by side, with vocals
and lead instruments seeming to float out
of the mix with finely etched clarity. Wow,
what an experience... after their stint in
my studio, I was reluctant to take them
down and go back to my usual monitors!

Final thoughts

There's a lot of competition in this price
range, including some really fine monitors
that we've reviewed in the past. ESI's
uniK Plus speakers stand proudly in that
company, and are well worth tracking
down for a listen if you can manage it.
They have their own character, and it's
one that I happen to trust-the clarity and
sweetness of a flat-ribbon tweeter married
to the controlled and 3-dimensional power
of a properly powered woofer.
The uniK 08+ is a real stalwart in the
8" 2-way crowd, giving a lot for the
money, but if you're tight on space and
worried that a smaller speaker will lie to
you about the lowest lows, the uniK 05+
might be the answer to your prayers.
Check them out.

PRICE: uniK 05+, $299.95
each; uniK 08+, $399.95 each
MORE FROM: ESI Audio,
www.esi-audio.com; dist. in
USA by Eleven Dimensions
Media, www.11dmedia.com
44

RECORDING October 2017
http://www.esi-audio.com http://www.11dmedia.com
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