Audiovector Trapeze Ri Floorstanding Speakers
A reference speaker should make music feel less like a stereo image and more like a performance taking shape in the room.
When High-End Sound Still Feels Too Technical
Some large speakers impress at first, then start to feel like a collection of separate traits: big bass here, detailed treble there, and a cabinet that dominates the space before the music even starts. Pinpoint imaging can be impressive, but a great performance does not feel like a flat dot between two speakers. The Trapeze Ri solves a different problem. It brings scale, tone, rhythm, and physical presence together so the musicians seem to occupy actual space, with width, depth, and a sense of weight you can feel.
Why We Chose the Trapeze Ri
We chose the Audiovector Trapeze Ri because it is the speaker that anchors Audio Two's Reference Room. Paired with serious electronics from Accuphase, Lumin, and Technics, it answers a simple question: what does it sound like when the system is resolved from source to speaker?
Ole Klifoth's original Trapeze idea was never about making another conventional hi-fi box. It was about linear dynamics, timing, and music presented as a performance. The Trapeze Ri carries that intent forward with modern drivers, cabinet control, and amplifier matching.
The answer is not just more detail. The Trapeze Ri gives music body, timing, colour, and impact without turning the room into a technical display. Its wide, angled cabinet is not a styling exercise. It is part of the acoustic design, helping the drivers integrate naturally while giving the speaker a visual presence that feels deliberate rather than apologetic.
What the Specs Won't Tell You
Bass With Weight, Shape, and Speed
The Trapeze Ri uses a front 12-inch bass driver working with an internal 8-inch isobaric bass system. The result is not just low-frequency depth. Kick drums have pressure, acoustic bass has texture, and electronic music carries power without turning into a thick blur.
A Big Speaker That Keeps Voices Human
The 5-inch high-speed midrange is kept out of the low-bass workload, so voices and instruments do not get pulled down into the weight of the speaker. That matters on vocal recordings, piano, strings, and acoustic music where realism depends on texture, timing, and the space around the performer.
Room-Filling Scale Without Hard Edges
The SEC AMT tweeter, rear energy control, diffraction treatment, and angled cabinet help the sound open beyond the cabinets without becoming sharp or showy. You hear air, placement, and depth, but not as a thin outline. The musicians take up a believable space, and the scale of the performance has a physical dimension because timing, bass pressure, and dynamic contrast are felt as well as heard.
Designed to Match Serious Amplifiers
The three-position damping adjustment lets the Trapeze Ri match different amplifier damping factors, including solid-state and tube designs. In practice, that means the speaker can be dialed toward the amplifier instead of forcing the system into one fixed character.
What Reviewers Hear
What Hi-Fi? heard a speaker with clarity, seamless presentation, excellent dynamics, punch, and bass power that stayed agile and grippy. Their verdict called the Trapeze Ri retro in inspiration only, noting that it is thoroughly modern in execution.
The Absolute Sound focused on the Trapeze Ri's rhythmic drive, deep and fast bass, low-colouration midrange, and coherent presentation. The review described it as an excellent musical communicator that brings fun, energy, and detail together.
The Audio Two Verdict
The Trapeze Ri is in our Reference Room because it shows, very quickly, what happens when the source, amplifier, and speakers are all working at the same level. It has enough scale to make a large recording feel physical, enough speed to keep rhythm intact, and enough tonal colour to make voices and instruments feel emotionally convincing rather than merely detailed.
This is the speaker we use when the system needs to show what great vinyl and streaming can really do. The musicians do not simply appear as precise points. They take up space, with depth, width, body, and the kind of presence that makes the room feel connected to the performance.
It belongs with electronics, source components, and setup care that let it breathe, because the reward is not just a bigger sound. The reward is music that feels more human, more present, and harder to walk away from.
The Industry Take: "Retro in inspiration only." — What Hi-Fi?
Tech You Can Hear
| What You Hear | Why It Happens |
|---|---|
| Deep bass that has pressure without losing shape | 12-inch front bass driver with internal 8-inch isobaric reflex system |
| Vocals and acoustic instruments keep their texture and timing | Dedicated 5-inch high-speed neodymium midrange |
| Performers occupy space instead of sitting as flat outlines | 3800 mm² Audiovector SEC AMT high-frequency unit |
| The speaker sounds connected from bass to treble | Linear-phase 6 dB/octave crossover at 500 Hz and 3,000 Hz |
| Large-scale music plays with less strain | 450 W power handling and low-compression driver design |
| The system can be tuned around the amplifier | Three-position damping factor adjustment for different amplifier types |
| The room feels quieter behind the music | Freedom Grounding concept manages movement-induced currents |
| The cabinet contributes less of its own character | Angled cabinet geometry, diffraction treatment, and double mechanical decoupling |
Technical Highlights
- 3-way floorstanding loudspeaker design
- 12-inch high-power bass driver with 4-inch voice coil
- Internal 8-inch isobaric reflex bass system
- 5-inch high-resolution neodymium midrange
- 3800 mm² Audiovector SEC AMT high-frequency unit
- Frequency response: 23 Hz to 53 kHz
- Sensitivity: 88 dB SPL at 1m for 2.83Vrms input
- Average impedance: 8 ohms; minimum impedance: 6.5 ohms at 20 kHz
- Power handling: 450 W
- Crossover frequencies: 500 Hz and 3,000 Hz
- Dimensions: 87.5 cm H × 42 cm W × 43.5 cm D
- Finishes: Nordic Oak, Black Ash, Italian Walnut, and White Silk; custom painted finishes available by request
Why Choose Audio Two
A purchase at this level deserves more than a product page. Reach out to Audio Two and let's talk through your system, your room, and what you're trying to achieve. We work with clients across Canada on exactly these decisions.