Floorstanding loudspeakers — Piega PREMIUM 701 GEN2

The Premium 701 Gen2 is a passive three-way tower from Piega of Switzerland, handmade near Zurich in an aluminium housing. It is the floorstanding half of the passive second-generation range, which Piega announced in October 2024 alongside the Premium 301 Gen2 bookshelf model, with deliveries from November 2024 and UK shipments from spring 2025. The list price was EUR 5,500 per pair in silver anodised and EUR 5,900 in black or white, and the UK price is GBP 5,600 in silver or black and GBP 5,700 in white.

Key specs that matter

Treble comes from the RM 01-24, a magnetostatic ribbon tweeter originally developed for the more expensive Coax line, and a 140 mm FSD-M driver covers bass and midrange. Two further 140 mm FSD-W woofers are mounted symmetrically around it. Piega rates the frequency range at 34 Hz to 50 kHz within plus or minus 2 dB, the sensitivity at 90 dB per watt at 1 m and the nominal impedance at 4 ohm, and suggests amplifiers between 20 and 200 W. The tower is 111.5 cm high, 17 cm wide and 22.8 cm deep, sits on a round stand 30 cm across, and weighs 20.9 kg.

Engineering and use context

In the RM 01-24 the foil diaphragm has magnets both in front of and behind it, a super-symmetrical dual magnet layout that Piega says lowers distortion and allows more dynamic output than the ribbons of the first generation, and every tweeter is built by hand. The woofers and the bass-midrange unit were designed new for this series and use Full Symmetric Drive technology. The first 701 was a 2.5-way speaker, so the move to a true three-way layout with a separate midrange band is one of the main changes of Gen2. The enclosure is an extruded aluminium profile with no joints, lined inside by a wooden matrix and filled with a damping material taken from the Coax series, and a tuned bass reflex system loads the woofers. The round foot is set apart from the cabinet so that the speaker appears to float. Finishes are sandblasted silver or black aluminium with matching fabric covers and white lacquered aluminium with a white cover, plus limited Misty Green and Shiny Ash versions with a black cover. Cables attach through PIEGA Multi Connectors II.

Pairing

The 90 dB rating lets low-powered amplifiers reach useful levels, but the 4 ohm load favours designs that are stable at that impedance and can supply current, whether a solid-state integrated or a separate power amp. The slim 17 cm front and the ported bass make the pair a practical fit in living rooms of around 20 m2.

Alternatives

For owners who want amplification built in, the Piega Premium 701 Wireless Gen2 is an active three-way tower with a sealed cabinet and 200 W of Class D power per cabinet.