Bookshelf Speakers — Børresen Acoustics Børresen 01 Silver Supreme Edition

The Børresen 01 Silver Supreme Edition is the silver-ring edition of the 01 stand-mount speaker from Børresen Acoustics of Denmark. It keeps the cabinet, driver layout and cryogenic treatment of the 01 Cryo Edition, and adds magnet motors whose copper pole rings give way to pure silver rings produced in-house. The European price was EUR 43,000 per pair, against EUR 29,700 for the untreated 01.

Key specs that matter

Silver was picked because it has the highest specific electrical conductivity of all metals, around 6 to 8 percent better than copper. Each silver ring is hand-cast and then CNC-machined. Børresen states that with these rings the inductance of the iron-free mid-bass driver becomes about 12 times lower than in a conventional iron-based driver, and that distortion drops by roughly 40 percent. On paper nothing else moves - the range is still 50 Hz to 50 kHz, sensitivity 86 dB and the load above 6 ohm, with a minimum of 50 W advised. Cabinet size stays at 36.8 x 18.4 x 41.5 cm and the weight at 11.5 kg.

Engineering and use context

The 4.5-inch iron-free cone driver and the planar ribbon tweeter with its 0.01 g moving mass are shared with the other two editions, so the silver rings are the only hardware change over the Cryo version. All metal parts, silver included, still go through the three-day deep-freeze treatment. The walnut veneer cabinet has a tapered shape and single-wire binding posts. The matching stand costs USD 5,500 per pair and brings the overall height to 110.3 cm, with a footprint of 25.8 x 45.0 cm and a combined weight of 18 kg per side. It comes with six Ansuz Acoustics Darkz T2S resonance control pucks, three for each speaker, made of grade 2 titanium with a coating of zirconium, tungsten and aluminium titanium nitride.

Pairing

Since the upgrade leaves the electrical specification untouched, the 01 Silver Supreme Edition needs the same class of amplifier as its siblings - a solid power reserve into the same moderate load. A transistor amplifier with current in hand suits a room of around 20 m2 better than a low-power tube design, given the moderate sensitivity. The stand pucks alone are valued at EUR 1,200 each when bought separately, so the six supplied with the stand add up to EUR 7,200 at single-unit prices.

Alternatives

The Børresen T1 Silver Supreme Edition is another stand-mount speaker from the brand offered in its own Silver Supreme Edition form.