Floorstanding loudspeakers — Voxativ AMPEGGIO

The AMPEGGIO is a single-driver horn loudspeaker from Voxativ GmbH, a company registered in Stuttgart in February 2008 by Inès Adler, moved to Berlin in 2011 and now based in Zossen, south of the city. After more than a decade out of production the Ampeggio has returned in a reworked form, which Voxativ now lists as a 17th Anniversary Edition for 2026. The maker quotes a starting price of EUR 19,900 per pair, and in the USA it costs USD 19,900 with the AC-1.9 driver, USD 22,900 with the AC-2B and USD 28,900 with the AC-4B wood cone version, all in black piano lacquer.

Key specs that matter

Frequency range is 40 Hz to 20 kHz. Efficiency depends on the fitted driver, with 94 dB at 1 W and 1 m for the AC-1.9 and 97 dB for the AC-2B, and the cabinet is rated for 20 W sine input. The enclosure measures 40 cm wide, 120 cm high and 40 cm deep, and each speaker weighs 55 kg. Finishes are piano lacquer and a matt option called Berlin Black. Assembly takes about three weeks after payment.

Engineering and use context

There is no crossover and no electronic part in the signal path, so the amplifier drives one full-range unit directly through solid-core copper internal wiring and solid copper binding posts. The standard AC-1.9 driver has an outer diameter of 19 cm, a mounting depth of 8.1 cm and a weight of 4.4 kg, with an impedance of 10.3 ohm and a Qts of 0.66. Voxativ makes it with either a paper or a wood cone and builds it around its proprietary Endless Gap motor, which is meant to keep the voice coil in a linear magnetic field over a longer excursion. The maker designed this driver for back-loaded horn cabinets, and its own figures show output rising from 91 dB in the low bass to its rated level at 3 kHz, so output falls toward the bass and the rear horn is there to reinforce it. In the Ampeggio the rear of the cone feeds a folded horn whose mouth, contours and support frame were redesigned for the new version. Voxativ's Acoustic Stealth Technology shapes the inside of the cabinet to suppress internal reflections and standing waves. The cabinet is built from tone wood and receives at least 13 coats of hand-polished lacquer. The AC-2B option adds a hand-made wooden cone.

Pairing

Voxativ builds the Ampeggio for low-powered valve amplifiers, and the modest input rating makes single-ended triode designs of a few watts a logical match, with solid-state amplifiers of similar output also usable.

Alternatives

The Voxativ ZETH is a slimmer column with a downward-firing horn mouth and a 108 cm tall cabinet.