The ONE Loudspeaker Reviews
- 2021 TAS Editors Choice Award for The ONE V3
Audience The ONE V3
$1695
The ONE, as you might infer from its name, is a single full-range driver shoehorned into a small box. The driver itself, the potent A3A, is the same transducer that achieved critical acclaim in Audience’s other loudspeakers. Properly set up, The ONE is capable of exceptionally wideband response, surprisingly forceful bass, and finely honed, low-level detail. The ONE is the second-best desktop speaker reviewer Steven Stone has heard (after the Audience 1+1). Steven Stone, 236
Mar ’21
- 2019 TAS Editors’ Choice Awards for The ONE V3 and 1+1 V3
$2960
Don’t let the 1+1 V3’s nearly identical appearance to the 1+1 V2+ ($1800) fool you; this newly upgraded version is a huge leap over its already superlative predecessor. The V3 employs a significantly redesigned version of Audience’s full-range driver, top-level Au24SX internal wiring, retuned passive radiators, and custom tellurium solderless binding posts. The result is far more resolution and detail (particularly in the treble), superior transparency, wider dynamic expression, and even greater midrange purity. The 1+1 V3’s midrange clarity, just one of the virtues of a crossover-less single-driver speaker, is on a par with that of many speakers costing twenty times the V2+’s price. The state of the art for desktop listening, and a terrific choice as a main speaker in smaller rooms.The ONE V3
$1695
The One, as you might infer from its name, is a single full-range driver shoehorned into a small box. The driver itself is the same unit, the A3A, that Audience uses in its flagship $72,000 16+16 speaker. According to Audience, the A3A has exceptionally flat response, claimed to be +/-3dB from 40Hz to 22kHz. Be that as it may, properly set-up The One is the second-best desktop speaker reviewer Steven Stone has heard (after the Audience 1+1).Read Full Review
June ’19 - Audience Wins The ONE 2018, 2017, and 2015 Editors’ Choice Award from The Absolute Sound!.
Audience The ONE
The ONE, as you might infer from its name, is a single full-range driver shoehorned into a small box. The driver itself is the same unit, the A3S, that Audience uses in its flagship $72,000 16+16 speaker. According to Audience, the A3S has exceptionally flat response, claimed to be +/-3db from 40Hz to 22kHz. Be that as it may, properly set up The ONE is the best desktop speaker reviewer Steven Stone has heard (after the Audience 1+1). SS, 236
All 2018 Editors’ Choice Award Products - The Absolute Sound 2018 Buyer’s Guide for The ONE Loudspeakers
Audience The ONE
“Properly set up The One is the best desktop speaker reviewer Steven Stone has heard.”
High end- Audio Buyer’s Guide 2018
Full Buyer’s Guide - Ron Brenay Produces a The ONE V2+ video Review in New Record Day, June 2017
Audience The ONE V2
“Yea, the Audience ONE has impressed me and does come with a high recommendation from New Record Day.”
Ron Brenay – New Record Day, June ’17
Read Full Review - The Absolute Sound 2017 Buyer’s Guide for The ONE Loudspeakers
Audience The ONE
“Properly set up The One is the best desktop speaker reviewer Steven Stone has heard.”
High end- Audio Buyer’s Guide 2017 Full Buyer’s Guide - Tech 50+ Boomie Award for Audience The ONE Personal Monitors
“The ClairAudient V2+ bookshelf speakers are among the best we’ve ever heard. What sets them apart is the clean, uncolored sound.”
Gary M. Kaye, Tech 50+ – February ’16
Read Full Review - The ONE Testimonial by Brett Allen, Owner of SnowGhost Recording Studio
I have been using the ONEs over the past year at SnowGhost Music and they have become one of the most important tools in my studio. Many people in the studio world are extremely familiar with classics like Yamaha NS-10s or Auratones, and swear by them for their uncanny ability to translate in the real world on many different systems. The ONEs share that trait, but also go a step further, in providing a level of detail and resolution unmatched for a single-driver, cross-overless design. I prepare mixes almost exclusively in mono on the ONEs before addressing any needs on my larger far-field speakers, and find that I have been able to cut my work in half. I could survive with a good pair of headphones and the ONEs. Thanks Audience, for not only updating a classic and simple speaker design philosophy, but also for far eclipsing it.Brett Allen, owner of SnowGhost Music
- The ONE Review by Hi Res Audio Central
” Audience ClairAudient’s The ONE reference monitor speakers deliver the transparency and speed of planar speakers, only they’re tiny and not fussy when it comes to positioning.”
Ron Goldberg – July ’14
Read Full Review - Positive Feedback Review of The One Loudspeaker
“In short, your happy youthful outback ain’t defined by your drunken uncle’s backyard wilderness no more”.
Jim Merod – July ’14
Read Full Review - AudioTechnique Magazine Reviews The ONE
The ONE
AudioTechnique Hong Kong
Issue 391 April ’14
Read Full Review - Trulygadgets.com Review of The One
“In fact, we challenge you to a blind listening test- we haven’t found a speaker nearly this size anywhere near this price range that can offer sound as detailed and full-spectrum. The better the recordings, the better your amplifier, the better these will perform”.
Greg May, trulygadgets.com – February ’14 Read Full Review
- Positive Feedback Online Writer’s Choice Award for The ONE
“These little guys will change the way you listen to every other speaker you ever hear. Be prepared to have your ears opened!”
Greg Weaver – Positive Feedback 2013 Writer’s Choice Award
Read Full Review and Award - Review of The ONE by The Street.com
“It’s a big investment for a desktop system – but you will be the envy of anyone and everyone nearby”.
Gary Krakow — December ’13
Read Full Review
- The ONE Loudspeaker Reviewed by Alan Sircom, Hi-Fi+
“This isn’t just another small loudspeaker, it’s the start of a revolution!”
Alan Sircom – Issue 68 – Oct. ‘13
Read Full Review - HiFi+ Review of The ONE October 2013
The ONE isn’t going to be for everyone, but those who like it will struggle to find better from any loudspeaker with a crossover ‘in the way’. This isn’t just another small loudspeaker, it’s the start of a revolution!
Issue 68 – Oct. ‘13
By Alan Sircom, editor - The ONE Review in Radio Gijyutsu (Radio Technique)
“This is an epoch making product.”Radio Gijyutsu (Radio Technique) – October ’13
Read Full Review (Japanese)
Read Full Review (English Translation) - SuperAV Magazine Reviews The ONE
The ONE
SuperAVMagazine Hong Kong
Issue 242 October ’13
Read Full Review - The ONE Review in “The Absolute Sound” Magazine
“The One ranks as the best dedicated desktop speaker I’ve heard. If you’re looking for an exceptional small-footprint monitor, The One is simply a must-audition.”
Steven Stone – October ’13
Read Full Review - Review of The ONE speakers in Hi-Fi Choice Magazine
“The ONE produces remarkable quality that belies its tiny size.”
Neville Roberts – September ’13
Read Full Review - The ONE Review by Bob Reina, Stereophile
“Audience’s ClairAudient ONE is an extraordinary speaker with superb resolution of detail, excellent dynamic contrasts, and subtle articulation of transients. It’s capable of providing satisfying, involving uncolored long-term listening over a broad range of music”.
Bob Reina – September ’13
Read Full Review - CE Pro Review of The ONE Loudspeaker
“In fact, I think the speaker’s overall detail and tonal accuracy is so good that it could be used as a recording monitor”.
Robert Archer – Aug ’13
Read Full Review - Stereomecmuasi Review of The One Loudspeakers
“It’s not a classical desktop speaker, it’s more a high end product. The performance you get is eye popping. It’s a boutique product but a very special ONE.”
Hakan Cezayirli, Editor – June ’13
Read Full Review
- 10 Audio Review of Audience ClairAudient The One Loudspeaker
”This impression of clarity, octave-to-octave consistency and harmonic coherence, and freedom from distortion is apparent on every listen, from day 1 to day 101 and beyond”.
Jerry Seigel – June ’13
Read Full Review - HP Soundings Previews The ONE Loudspeaker by Harry Pearson
“It doesn’t pretend, as most speakers in its size and price range almost always do. It doesn’t lie. It tells the truth and will get you far closer to a sense of the real thing than any of its competing competitors can or will do.”
Harry Pearson – Read Full Review - Audience at THE Show Las Vegas 2013Following is the complete list of show reports on the Audience room from THE Show Las Vegas 2013.For those of you who have long been waiting for the ONE loudspeakers – shipping will begin in about ten days. We also expect to start shipping the 1+1 mid May.AV Showrooms – Peter Breuninger
Positive Feedback – Greg Weaver
http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue66/ces2013.htm
By far the most interesting new speaker I heard at this year’s event was the Audience ClairAudient 1+1 ($1800 per pair) standing on Target stands ($150/pr). Sourced by the Bryston BDP-1 player ($2195) and BDA-1 DAC ($1995), the rest of the electronics included the prototypical Audience Wavepower amplifier and Wavemaster preamp, neither with an announced price as yet. The hotel wall current was tamed by use of two (one on the front end components, another on the power amps) Audience Adept Response aR6-TSS power conditioner ($6000), and all cables were from Audience, the Au24 powerChords ($2200/6 ft.), the new Au24 SE RCA interconnects ($1290/meter) and the Au24 SE speaker cables ($1995/2meter). I have one of the new Au24-SEs in house, and the initial results are WONDERFUL. Watch this space for a review this spring.The Audience ClairAudient 1+1—and they sounded EVERY BIT as good as they look
When I asked to give them a listen, the first thing Richard fired up for me was a Redbook FLAC file, “From the Beginning” from Emerson, Lake and Palmer’s 1972 release, Trilogy, on the Bryston BDP-1. I have to say that while I’ve heard this cut hundreds of times, this time it was revelatory! This system served up everything in a delicately layered, remarkably liquid, and compellingly involving manner. It’s amazing how much music you hear when you eschew the “evils” of crossovers! Well done, gents! Well done!
Stereophile/John Atkinson
The Audience ClairAudient 1+1
By John Atkinson • Posted: Jan 16, 2013Over at T.H.E. Show, Audience were demoing the ClairAudient 1+1 bipolar speaker ($1800/pair), which uses two of the small full-range A3S drive-units developed by Roger Sheker, one on the front, one on the back, loaded with two passive radiators on the speaker’s sides. The sound was dynamic, with surprisingly extended low frequencies.
The less-expensive The ONE ($995/pair), which uses just one A3S driver, was being demmed very effectively as part of a desk-top system (above), driven by a $550 Teac amplifier and a $695 QLA media player. AC conditioning was, of course provided by Audience AdeptResponse units.
The Absolute Sound/Neil Gader
http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/the-2013-consumer-electronics-show-neil-gader-on-loudspeakers-under-20k/Audience ClairAudient 1+1 has no minuses
Audience, (pictured above) the full-range driver specialists, has further refined its unique technology in the mini ClairAudient 1+1 ($1800) Boasting a newly sculpted angular front baffle to minimize diffraction effects its equipped with twin A3S full range drivers and dual passive radiators. Designed for intimate environs, it projected terrific mid range transparency, speed.
Part-Time Audiophile
http://parttimeaudiophile.com/2013/02/04/las-vegas-2013-audience-av/
Audience AV has branched out — have you heard? The company, already very well known for their superb Au24 line of cables and capacitor-based power conditioners, have been not-so-quietly rolling out a line of loudspeakers.
With prices starting at $995/pair for the new The One single-driver loudspeakers (shown in blue, below) all the way up to the $72k/pair ClairAudient 16+16, Audience is entirely serious — and seriously kicking ass.
The basic design rotates around s small, but full-range driver. The One uses … one. The 1+1 uses … two. The 16+16 uses … 32. You get the picture. As you move up the line, sensitivity, total output and impedance all climb.
The new, final, look for the ClairAudient 1+1 is a front+rear setup, that is, there are two full-range drivers, setup as a bi-pole, and two passive radiators on the flanks, also setup as a bi-pole. The result? 360° sound. Which is precisely what I heard — a bewilderingly wide, deep sounds stage that had me convinced, for the first 10 seconds, that not only was I being punked but that, perhaps, everything was wired out of phase. It wasn’t, but man, that was freakin’ huge.Moving to The One, the sound field was far more in line with what I expected, but I have to say that these little boxes have no right to make this kind of sound. Surprising, impactful, and compact. Completely unexpected — I’d love to get my hands on some.