NEODIO Lilli

By Estève Fabry and Laurent Thorin

Very often in the audiophile world, the search for the ultimate realism in reproduction rhymes with gigantic speakers. However, a large size forces one to move away from the concept of a point sound source or even that of a “pulsating sphere”. What if reducing size was the way to approach the very essence of high fidelity? This is the question that Bordeaux-based designer Stéphane Even asked himself for the Lilli, a very small bookshelf-sized speaker that nevertheless outshines many large ones.

In acoustics, as elsewhere, perfect is often the enemy of good. We must not lose sight of the fact that distributing speakers far apart from each other on a front baffle with generous dimensions inevitably leads to the appearance of phase coherence problems within the reproduction, particularly in the midrange and treble. The sound image then loses relief and precision in localizing each sound element that composes it. Conversely, the smaller a speaker is, the more it can be likened to a point source. A phenomenon that also leads some speaker manufacturers to equip their production with coaxial speakers. However, while thanks to this the spatial coherence of the reproduction is attractive, the coaxial configuration can also pose certain problems in the case of an architecture that is not perfectly mastered.

Having a two-way speaker with two very small drivers therefore offers an interesting alternative to get closer to a point sound source, without having to run into the problems posed by coaxial architectures. And it is this path that the Neodio engineers followed to design the little Lilli, focusing more particularly on the reproduction of deep bass, the Achilles heel of many small-format speakers.

The Lilli therefore features a very conventional two-way architecture. The reproduction of the bass register is entrusted to a small woofer of only 100 mm, associated with a bass-reflex load. This high-end transducer, designed and manufactured to the manufacturer’s specifications in France by Kartesian, has nothing to envy to the best international productions. Equipped with a very high excursion, it ensures the reproduction of the deepest bass with great ease. Furthermore, its cone is based on an aluminum-carbon cone combining excellent rigidity with low mass. A specificity that guarantees the absence of surface ripples, for exceptional behavior that offers a particularly low distortion rate and excellent transient response.

The modest acoustic load of only five liters associated with the woofer occupies almost the entire internal volume of the Lilli, which a port located on the rear panel has the mission of decompressing. Although small in size, this bass section goes down with a beautiful ease, since Neodio does not hesitate to announce for the Lilli a frequency response extending down to 50 Hz.

The management of the treble is dedicated to a tweeter equipped with a large 28 mm diameter soft dome, which fits very naturally just above the mid-bass driver. Also produced according to specifications, it has a powerful neodymium magnet giving it high efficiency. Note: it is placed on the inner face of the cabinet, while the woofer is conversely fixed on the outer face. This choice allows the cones of the two transducers to adopt a coplanar location. A minor detail? Not necessarily, when you know that this guarantees a good phase alignment of the sound sources they constitute.

As we specified, the little Lillis use a two-way architecture. A point that implies, of course, the presence of a crossover. For this element, Neodio opted for second-order filtering. Its development is the result of a large number of tests and listening sessions to evaluate the impact, both subjective and electrical, of each of its components. These, all of high quality, are most often the result of in-house research. Varnished air-core inductors associated with polypropylene capacitors are thus put to use. Finally, all the internal wiring of the Lilli is made of high-quality Neodio Fractal 8 wire.

The speaker’s connectivity, for its part, is based on two banana plugs, in accordance with the reliable contact and low mass philosophy of the Bordeaux brand.

Finally, the Lilli’s cabinetry operates the synthesis between acoustic neutrality and compactness. Entirely produced in France, it uses high-density MDF boards of different thicknesses, in order to best meet the mechanical constraints generated by sound reproduction on the different areas of the cabinet. In addition, to avoid any coloration of the message and respect its clarity, the sides of the speaker are equipped with stainless steel discs associated with a viscoelastic material which is exclusive to Neodio.

THE INSTALLATION

Lilli was certainly conceived as a high-end product that consequently deserves a careful installation, but also as a versatile creation, capable of doing justice to a living room hi-fi system as well as an audio-video installation. As such, you can install it on a console on each side of a beautiful flat screen. But it is especially in stereophonic listening, with a hi-fi system, that you will extract all the quintessence from it.

For our part, we carried out a large part of our listening sessions with an Atoll PR200/AM200 Evo combo, the Heed Obelisk Super Integrated integrated amplifier, and on the occasion of a cross-test for this issue, with the Aura LCC1/LCP1. In all scenarios, we obtained excellent results and noticed that the speakers reacted instantly to changes made upstream. An obvious sign of maturity and transparency. We also identified that Lilli seemed to handle power perfectly well, as long as the amplifier is of good quality. Another guarantee of performance.

THE SOUND

Like many passionate disciplines, hi-fi feeds on myths. And that of small speakers is one of the most enduring.

In thirty years, we have tested a wide variety of micro-speakers, but this one is in a class of its own. First, because it is truly lilliputian, hence its name, but also because it belies the idea that a small speaker cannot provide a big sound and a lot of bass. This is moreover a spontaneous reaction when installing a pair of Lillis in a room of comfortable volume. However, whether spacious or compact, your listening space will perfectly suit these micro-diffusers.

Well installed, they are indeed capable of filling a room with insolent conviction. With friends, we even engaged in the exercise of blind listening, quite strikingly. Apart from particularly bass-heavy messages, one sometimes finds it hard to tell oneself that one is hearing a pair of speakers three apples high. The primary and fundamental quality of the Lillis resides precisely in this aptitude to produce a musical flow as powerful as it is energetic. Stéphane Even has never hidden his fascination for unrestricted systems, with which dynamics can express themselves without any limitation. He therefore placed this requirement at the top of his specifications. The least we can say is that the expected result is achieved.

As with his TMA amplifier, the sound expresses itself in total freedom, without inertia, without hindrances other than those imposed by physics. You cannot therefore expect the Lillis to reproduce a frequency of 25 Hz, nor the acoustic pressure of a pair of 38 cm cones. Nevertheless, they are quite surprising when it comes to providing you with substantial physical sensations. They are not timid, but extroverted, playful speakers, capable of taking you into a dantesque swing or a deep groove. With them, you can enjoy any type of musical style, always retaining the characteristics of high-end speakers, primarily through their excellent resolving power. This ability to highlight the fine nuances of the most subtle recordings, such as a Mozart string quartet or a Bach cantata, will delight as much as listening to more rhythmic music at other times.

Thanks to their excellent dispersion capabilities, they are just as surprising for opera or large orchestral masses, provided of course that you do not listen at full volume, even if pushing them to their limits will not have been that easy. Because the Lillis handle power astonishingly well. But you will undoubtedly have understood, to achieve exactly the result you desire, the choice of amplifier will be decisive.

Finally, as a beautiful miniature speaker worthy of the name, this compact Neodio is quite simply capable of disappearing in favor of creating a fantastic three-dimensional space by its degree of freedom and the quality of the punctuality of the sources on the horizon. Suddenly, the live performance invites itself into your living room, the walls disappear, the barriers fall, the show begins!

OUR CONCLUSION

As we recalled in the preamble, we remain true lovers of mini-speakers, all the more so when they are as bewitching as the Lillis. In a few tracks, we were seduced by this cocktail of finesse and strength contained in a pocket handkerchief. Undeniably, their development has been the subject of a careful and meticulous study to give rise to a completely convincing result, capable of meeting a large number of configurations. We will salute a product that is anything but a gadget, just to be considered as it is: a high-end speaker, in a minimal footprint.

Within an adequate environment, the Lillis are capable of musical prowess and prove once again that there is no point in deploying the heavy artillery to achieve a fluid, contrasted, and marvelously musical listening experience. Let us salute once again the research of Neodio to propose hi-fi solutions that go off the beaten track. In this instance, it remarkably blew us away.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

• ORIGIN: France
• PRICE: €4,500 / €5,900 (with Harmonie stands and support)
• DIMENSIONS: 210 x 154 x 270 mm
• WEIGHT: 5 kg
• SENSITIVITY: 82 dB (at 1 m: 2.83 V)
• FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 50 Hz – 20 kHz
• IMPEDANCE: 8Ω (3.7Ω minimum)