The Ensemble Concept

Why Ensemble ?

Of course there are many very good reasons as shown further along. First of all, beside having exceptional qualities, a true High End product for us is one that has a level of maturity that obviates the need for regular updates or Mark II, etc. versions. This means long product life cycles, long-term pride of ownership.

Small wonder then that 15 or 20 year old Ensemble equipment is still in treasured use. Ensemble equipment is a true asset.

What makes Ensemble different ?

Most hifi equipment appears to be developed on the basis of a small musical spectrum.

To get the full, rich flavour of music, Ensemble equipment is developed on the basis of acoustic instruments and unenhanced voices right up to the most demanding and complex combinations of these natural sources of sound – with the unquestionable quality of being verifiable.

Once you get reproduction to be a mirror image of that kind of demanding sound, every other music falls automatically into place.

On the other hand, the kind of music ( all too ) often heard at hifi shows, keeps you in an artificial environment, leaving you to guess-work, unless you happen to be the sound or mixing engineer of a recording.

Comparing Ensemble is therefore comparing sun-ripened tomatoes to greenhouse-raised ones.

The five fundamentals of Ensemble design and build quality

・Make all elements to have the same strong qualities and inherent balance.

・Eliminate interference on all levels.

・Pay attention to even the smallest details.

・Have parts specifically made where quality is extremely critical.

・Make form, function, and build quality constitute perfect whole

( a real ‘ensemble’ ).

Ensemble specific parts – a distinctive quality feature

In its perfectionist pursuit of quality Ensemble uses many critical parts specifically made to its own needs and designs – superior to the standard parts normally found in most other products.

Most visible are the Allino™ RCA connectors, RCA jacks as well as the speaker terminals and spades, with all conductive parts made of copper – 3 ½ times the conductivity of standard brass.

Beside a whole range of PROCAP™ film and GOLDEN GATE™ electrolytic capacitors, all the internal wiring relies on specifically made conductors in order to satisfy the exacting quality demands.

The same is the case with the transformers and inductors used.

What you get

Having set up – ’plug and play’ – an Ensemble system, it only takes a few bars of music and you find yourself in a space energized with music, the musicians projected in life size, in a space as wide and deep as it was recorded. Different from most hifi, you can walk around in the room, no red spot, no artificiality. The music is spatially precisely there as in a real concert or club – or quite simply as if you had musicians in your own living room. A new dimension of experiencing music at home.

What you will appreciate in the long term

You will appreciate the effortless, naturally balanced rendition that acoustically mirrors the music without ( tiring ) artefacts. You will be fascinated by the scale of expression, ranging from the delicate and subtle to the majestic and boldly dramatic.

The scale is wider and larger than that of many larger systems, inclined to drowning the subtler and finer textures or losing the natural proportions of instruments and performers – slam and ’power’ being their main concern.

This is certainly the reason why people are inclined to say good-bye to massive speakers after listening to our ONDIVA™ speakers.

The real test

People suffering from hyper-sensitive hearing conditions have reported that Ensemble equipment enables them for the first time to listen to music for longer periods without any strain

The bigger the better

In a world where miniaturisation has become a measure of sophistication, high end hifi seems to be still dominated by the notion of ‘bigger is better’, whether it is actual size or weight or power rating.

Ensemble equipment is made like musical instruments, with the size and capacity to perform optimally up to the very largest living room sizes.

Transposed into the world of the finest timepieces, you may well ask: Who proudly wears an alarm clock ?

A cable can make or ‘break’ a system

While some cables not only ‘break’ a system but just as well your bank account, Ensemble has for long put the necessary emphasis on developing cables that perform in a way as if they were not there.

Thanks to their complex shielding they give interference no chance, and therefore can transmit signals totally undisturbed, providing the deep silent background, against which the smallest musical inflexions and ambient information can rise.

These qualities have given the Ensemble cables the reputation of high performers in any kind of system.

Ensemble – A Profile

Ensemble (AG SA Ltd. Inc.) was incorporated as a Swiss company in 1986 by Dr Urs Wagner. The driving force behind all things Ensemble is a deep attachment to music,

a passion for everything genuine, and a constructive critical attitude.

’Ensemble’ means a group of people or objects in perfect harmony. True to its name, the Swiss company’s policy has been to build products that guarantee a supreme musical result as a ’plug and play’ system, and at the same time have the ability to make a big musical contribution as isolated units within an existing system.

Handmade in Switzerland, Ensemble provides that particular pleasure and satisfaction very high quality can give.

Right from its foundation the endeavour has been to provide the utmost long-term quality at prices that compare extremely well.

Ever so often we get people reporting that they would have to go to products three or four times more expensive to be in a comparable league of quality.

Given the high costs of Swiss manufacturing this means that Ensemble puts a maximum into the quality of its products rather than into advertising.

Ensemble gives a lot of attention to areas that are often overlooked, such as the control and suppression of mechanical and electrical interference. These disturbances often pass unnoticed because of their ’under cover’ masking effects. Only when they are undone, their absence becomes strikingly apparent, and the quality of sound takes on a new dimension of immediate, effortless naturalness and great clarity.

Music is energy, so to reproduce music well is to control that energy and avoid its presence where it should not be. For that reason resonance control, ie the prevention, suppression and redirection of unwanted vibrational energy, is a strong design feature throughout the entire Ensemble line.

The same applies in the electrical domain where effective measures are taken to give a wide range of parasitical interference little chance to sneak into the system and start its degrading work.

The human ear is capable of perceiving qualities that are well beyond the range of the best measuring gear, not least because of the extreme complexity of information music represents. With music happening in space, all the mirror images and echoes come into it as well, creating a specific ambience and atmosphere around the music and the musicians positioned in space.

Thanks to continuous work on many levels such as interactive interference, shielding, isolation, decoupling, resonance control, power correction, impulse handling, memory effects, conductivity – all this comes alive with Ensemble, drawing you deep into the music and making music listening a new kind of experience.

Ensemble products are designed in a style of timeless elegance, blending harmoniously into a wide variety of interiors.

With only the recording as the limit, Ensemble has come a long way to communicate a sensation, which has the quality and potential of becoming a priceless part of daily enjoyment, relaxation and well-being.