Audio Kinesis Swarm Subwoofer Awarded 2019 Golden Ear Award by Robert E. Greene

You can debate the merits of The Swarm concept, or you can just come to Room Monroe at this weekend's Capital Audiofest in Rockville MD (just outside Washington DC) and hear it for yourself.  Gingko Audio Sextet is a collaboration project between AudioKinesis and Gingko Audio, with customs cabinets made by Salk. We will show you how you can grow from a pair of two-way monitors to a 6-piece system by adding up to four subs strategically to a full-range system.You can debate until the cows come home but hearing is believingVinh VuGingko Audio

To follow up on Duke's post, we did feature the Gingko Audio Sextet at CAF earlier this month.  We gave a demo to illustrate the effect of the Swarm concept by just playing the monitors first in a large conference room (35x22x10), then adding two subs (one powered and one passive), then another two, playing the same music track.  The effect was very noticeable by all attendees.  Here are some impressions that were posted about the rooms (we had two rooms at the show, the bigger showcased the Sextet):
“Gingko Audio had for me, the most realistic soundstage with their Sextet speakers that include 2 monitor speakers and 4 subs in a swarm arrangement. Excellent imaging, and the bass was spot on.” Rusty on Audio Circle

“There were two rooms running Ginko speakers and both systems were very good sounding. One was a $10,000 system running in one of the big rooms which sounded beautifully balanced, natural, and relaxed, without sounding lifeless. The small stand-mounted speaker in another room (I think it was $3,000) sounded very good too-very well balanced and natural sounding.” Larryi on Steve Hoffman Forum

“Gingko audio had small speakers in a small room and bigger speakers in a big room. I only spent a small amount of time in each room, but they both accomplished the naturalness and dimensionality that hits me hardest when it's there and leaves me least engaged when it's not.” willsw on Super Best Audio Friends

Thanks to Duke again for his very generous sharing of his expertise in designing the Sextet subs, kind of a Mini-Swarm version.

Vinh Vu

Gingko Audio

Here is how Greg Weaver of Enjoy The Music describes our Sextet/Swarm demo in his CAF 2019 show report:
"The Sextet is an ambitious speaker system that is a collaborative effort, building upon the Tubulous technology from Gingko Audio, the Swarm subwoofer system from AudioKinesis, and unique cabinet construction from Salk Sound. Leveraging the 1-inch soft dome tweeter and 6.5" paper-cone woofers used in both the Gingko Audio Clarissa and ClaraVu speaker systems, the Sextet is a fully configurable system that can be purchased as just the Sextet 2 (the pair of Sextet monitors - $4,995), the Sextet 2+2 (the monitors and two dedicated stands - $5,795), or with various combinations of the subs, including the full Sextet 6.2 (using two monitors, two powered subs – which also act as monitor stands, and two outboard subs – $8,995). The subs have switchable polarity, 0° and 180° to better integrate and help manage constructive or destructive interference.

The tremendous versatility here is that users can start with just the monitors, and later, as budget or space permit, add a pair of subs (Sextet Swarm 2-One powered sub with built-in amp and one passive outboard sub $2,000) which can be used as stands for the monitors, and/or then add the second Swarm sub system for the full Sextet 6.2, to maximum effect.

Vinh's demo was impressive, using the 6.2 system set up at follows. The left Sextet monitor was mounted atop a powered sub, with its mated outboard sub in the front right corner of the room. The right Sextet monitor was mounted atop the second powered sub, with its mated outboard sub in the rear left corner of the room.

Vinh now played a track with just the Monitors on. The sound was smooth and engaging but didn't really fill the room or convey the space and power of the music. Next, he turned on the left powered sub mated to the outboard sub in the front right corner of the room, then he played the same track. Knowing what to expect, I loved seeing the reaction from all the listeners in the room who may have not been familiar with what this would do. The look on most of the faces in the room was one of almost incredulity, of unbelievability!

Not only was there more bass fueling impact and weight, but the space of the recording completely opened up, filling the room, with more honest timbre and more realistic, three-dimensional staging. Finally, he turned on the right powered sub and its mated rear left outboard sub and started the same track yet again. While this was the more subtle of the two reveals, it was still handily impressive. More of everything, more weight, more space, more accurate tone and texture, more detail and dimension.

This was a masterful demo; one that clearly demonstrated why you need the extension provided by a full range speaker or a well-mated satellite/subwoofer system. It is not just deeper, more pitch defined, impactful bass, but the addition of the bloom and body, the more correct voicing, and the expansive space and dimensionality that it affords. I truly wish more people would demonstrate this effect. As such, my hat is off to Vinh, and the Gingko team. I hope they see wild success with this superbly versatile and enjoyable Sextet speaker system."