THE Show Newport Beach 2016 • Hot Product

Nola's new Studio Grand Reference Gold ($19,800/pair) has all of the features of the larger speakers in the Studio Grand series, such as the alnico magnesium woofer with gold phase plug and alnico open-baffle midrange -- all in a compact, room-friendly footprint.

Best of all, it sounds like the larger speakers: open, spacious and airy, and more authoritative in the bass than you/d expect. Sensitivity is low -- 86dB -- but impedance is friendly at 8 ohms nominal and 6 ohms minimum.

In the words of designer Carl Marchisotto, Nola builds "about half" of the ribbon tweeter itself. The driver definitely imparts the immediacy of a ribbon tweeter, but without any glare or grain. Like so many other Nola speakers, this one sounds relaxed, refined, and resolving.