One of my readers in the USA has recently asked me to find more about this not so well known serie which include the 1801 Prelude, 1802, 1803, 1804, 1805 and 1815. see table below.
I am using documents sent to me by Violet of Passion Elipson and Patrick Pennetier from Hifi-Antique. So thanks to both for their help.
This little known  family of speakers from Elipson seems to be an attempt to capitalise on the success of the 1303, the first product designed under the new ownership of Mr Bonnet de la Tour and a departure from the plaster cabinets to more conventional MDF, in an attempt to conquer the traditional hifi client (and the dealers...).
It was a successful strategy, specially because the 1303 was a very good product keeping all the same design principles as the original spheres, i-e time alignment, and resonators to provide exceptional transient response and excellent midrange.
The 1800 series seems to be an attempt to simplify manufacture and get rid of the resonator(s), at least in the entry level model, the 1801 Prelude. 

From the review below, published by Stereoplay, a French magazine of some fame at the time, you can see that it is quite a good bookshelf speaker, equipped with a popular 17cm driver from Focal, the 7C02 and the famous TWM from Siare, which equipped the top of the range 4050. The filter is 12db/oct electrically, and very well made, but certainly not over the top - no impedance compensation for example.
It was sold for under 3500 francs at the time, a month salary of a electronic technician at the time.
The third harmonic distortion is less than 0.3% past 100Hz, a great achievement. It would certainly sound pretty good, and it is exactly what Yves Duopre says in his review.

The ISE show in Amsterdam, a merger between Infocomm and CEDIA expos is the go to venue for introducing new custom AV products in Europe.
Waterfall Audio has just released a new product there: Pro In-Wall behind the screen loudspeakers.
As what seems to be a radical departure from glass speakers, the trademark of the brand since inception over 10 years ago, it tackles the high-end of the Home Theater market, and maybe will make inroads into smaller commercial venues with the advent of smaller screening rooms equipped with 4K video projectors, aiming at lowering the cost of film-based screening rooms.
As 24/192 audio files are considered by many (including myself...) to be superior to vinyl, and with the advent of film production going digital, thanks to the likes of RED and ALEXA cameras and Super HD dics and projectors, it is only a matter of time before the distribution and projections of new movies will go entirely digital.
It will then be a case of upgrading the sound systems and for venues that cannot afford expensive systems like JBL Synthesis, Waterfall's new in-walls might well be the go! The technical details are still scarce, and I have not listened to them, but knowing Cedric's and Nadine's dedication to quality, I am sure they have a good surprise in store (or should I say in wall???) for us. Stay tuned!

FVH turned three on March 27th, and crossed the landmark of 20,000 visitors: Thank you to all my readers with a special mention for the 3,000+ who are regulars!
And you come from 125 different countries...
The most amazing statistic is that France is on top of the list, followed by the USA, Australia, the UK and Germany. These five countries amount for 50% of the visits.
The next 16 countries are all in Europe and number 100 is Cuba!
Only 10% of you read my prose on the go, the vast majority (83%) on an iOS device, so you are no that much vintage after all...
15% of you find us looking for vintage (that's a comfort...) and 5% looking for Elipson, and only 48 of you looking for Bryston - that's not enough!!! Just kidding...
I hope you will enjoy my prose for many years to come, as I take great pleasure doing all the research and to my own surprise, doing all the writing!

Quite famous in the 80s, Audioanalyse made their name by putting on the market some amazing Class A power amplifiers with the matching preamp, tuner, and loudspeakers. They also had Pierre Lurne designing a turntable for them...
These are serious pieces of electronics, and if you find a working set, then I would advise you to consider buying it (BTW, our friends at Hifi-Antique/Disquantique have one...).
Apparently, their day job was to create medical equipment, obviously a good background to produce high quality stuff, and probably generating enough profit that they could sink some of it into their passion for music reproduction. And i always liked their logo!

3A started in the 70s and had a large factory in Antibes on the French Riviera. They were often nicknamed as the "French JBL" and within a few years were established enough to make their own drivers.
They also claimed to have the largest anechoic chamber in Europe for testing their designs. That claim was certainly in tune with the owner's attitude!
These products were indeed often inspired by others, well enough manufactured to attract good reviews and were primarily sold in large retailers who were more interested in the fat margins than the most accurate sound...
Having said that, 3A still commands praise from a lot of owners, if the comments on various forums are to be trusted, and it seems that there are still quite a number of them still working. You can find a few for sale at www.hifi-antique.com (see photo).
3A did a lot of work on woofer servo control and active speakers, destined to the pro market.
I am personally quite interested by the Triphonique, an active subwoofer disguised as a coffee table paired with the 800 satellites, as well the Studio, an avatar of the Elipson 4040 or the Master 5 for the same reasons - see photos below.

Rumor has it that the company was reborn in Canada under the name Reference 3A. I am seeking confirmation before adding to the confusion.
You can also find a great collection of photos of these speakers over time by clicking here

Santa Claus included in His shipment of goodies this lovely, simple and inexpensive new toy - and I gather my friend Len Wallis had a hand in this this...
But between my own travels, visitors from overseas and...work, I have not had a chance to try this wonderful addition to my hifi kingdom.
We are experiencing a very strong storm here in Sydney, really the tail of a cyclone hitting the Coast 6 hours drive north, so it is a good time to set it up (a breeze...sic) and clean a few records and take the time to listen to the results.
First cab off the rank is "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme" by Simon and Garfunkel, a 1969 CBS record pressed in Holland and purchased in Paris for 49.00 francs, which was quite a sum at the time) which has seen many needles and turntables over the years (Dual 1219, Clement for a few nights, ERA 455, Rega Planar 3 since 194, and more recently Rega P1 branded NAD. BTW, as my daughter is in Paris for six months, I have pinched the glass platter of her (my old...) Planar 3 and installed it in the P1 which brings a significant improvement to the overall sound. 
Back to cleaning, after three spins clockwise and three counterclockwise and a good dry with the special doth provided, it has to be said that most of the surface noise is gone, and it brings clarity to the whole affair. For sure, there is still audible noise in the groove in between songs, indicating that the brushes are not doing a great job in the depth of the groove, but gently clean the upper part of it satisfactorily to bring back the music to a very low level of noise free enjoyment.
Next I tried my original 1968 US pressing of the "White Album" from the Beatles bought in Mexico City at the time. This record has been abused at parties, on portable plasticky japanese player a la Teppaz, then on the same turntables as mentioned before. It is so damaged that I bought the 30th anniversary pressing which is still in pristine condition. However the 1968 pressing is still quite not there after the cleaning, as the needle collects a nice little fluff of dirt after the second side of the record finished playing. I think I will have to try a second clean another day and maybe keep it as a collector item, rather than a playable pleasure...I will let you know.
(That's 25 years ago, mon Dieu...) 

Having said that, this Spin-Clean costs less than one hundred dollar and will restore most of your precious "galettes" to a listenable condition. To get something more efficient would cost about ten times more with a Clearaudio machine that would probably be my next choice up. But frankly, I rather spend the price difference on more records! Let me have your own cleaning stories...

You will probably agree that I have milked the CES franchise for a bit too long as the CES 2013 is in a couple of days...
So I thought I would recap here what speakers I really liked or discovered at the Show. I am not going this year, as I am going for a short trip to France to see my family and take care of my children that are or will be in Paris for their studies on an exchange from their Australian Universities.
Hopefully, I will have some time (between Cotes-du-Rhone and Camembert...) to research there some more French vintage products and I can entertain you again "on topic!
And to stay on my favourite brand, here is a shot of the new Thiel speakers on the Bryston stand (ah,ah, you didn't see this one coming, did you?).
The combination of Bryston amplification, 24/192 multichannel live recordings from iTrax and matching Thiel monitors and subwoofers ended up being one of the most sensational demos at the Show.

We are all familiar with the beautiful Nordic sound of Electrocompaniet electronics.
They evemn make their own version of the OPPO player.
But what is less known is their recent foray into loudspeaker design.
These fine little monsters are a very capable team and are built as two separate cabinets, my favourite arrangement, just in case you have not noticed already...
Very good demo and great conversation with the Director all the way from Scandinavia, who happens to know my ex-distributor in Norway, Martin Viktorin - small world!

Beautiful...
Beautiful to look at, beautiful to listen to, beautiful to talk about...
It is the nirvana for a lot of audiophiles in Japan, and for some of us, mere mortals, elsewhere in the World as well.
The closest system I have heard from the Pierre Riffaud/Tosca/Ocelia combo (punt intended...) I listened to at Point Musiques in Paris over my last trip.
It is craftmanship of the highest order, as well as technically very sound and painstakingly researched and executed. 
A few kilograms of finesse in a world of brutes - better than chocolate? You tell me.

Nothing to do with mushrooms, although these shapes...
Morel is an Israeli company more famous for their drivers (I am about to trial one of their tweeters...) than for their speakers, but hopefully this will change as these beautifully crafted products sound as good as they look. Stay tuned!

First spotted in Paris on an unofficial release, these speakers are taking advantage of the wide bandwidth of a 4.5" BMR driver to work from 300Hz to 6kHz. Rega has engineered a new tweeter just for the purpose to improve the high end over the BMRs that can go up to 22kHz, but tend to have some ringing over 5kHz.
In the bass, they use two drivers of different sizes in separate enclosures for a smooth and extended bass response. Again the BMRs have trouble getting the right level below 120Hz, hence the separate subwoofer arrangement.
Copmared to Naim, who decided to reengineer the BMR drivers, REGA uses a standard unit and spent the money on a complex filter and beautiful cabinet. And BTW, it sounds great as well!

Waterfall Audio have a very good business in the US of A, thanks to a good distributor who pushes the WAF factor into the CEDIA type market and also gets a lot of press in lifestyle and decoration magazines.
They teamed up with Tributaries, a relatively new range of high-end cables, where my friend Helma Paulson (ex Export Manager for Audioacess and Harman Kardon) is doing a very good sales job (she could sell ice to Eskimos, really...) and she almost convinced me that these cables were actually make a difference! Maybe I should ask for some samples....

Audiolineaire were present with their leathered speakers (unfortunately my photos don't do them justice...so, I won't post any) Focal were hiding in a private suite at the Mirage and couldn't find them (mind you it was lunch time whenI got there, so maybe that's where they were hiding...) and Cabasse were absent but for their Japanese distributor who distributes Devialet in the US - go figure!
In the New Year, I will give you a (short...) report on T.H.E. Show which is held concurrently at the Flamingos.
In the meantime, I thank all of you that ventured to this site, some more than once - I love Google Analytics - and I wish you a very Happy New Year and many happy returns in 2013.
I will try my best to continue to entertain and inform you. See you in January!

I will finish my review of the Show with my favourite products: loudspeakers and the cutest and smallest one on the left by Blumenstein Audio, the Orca full range, made out of bamboo ply (even the rear port!) and hand crafted in Seattle, USA. At 595$ a pair on their online store, these have to be the most minimalist, ecofriendly (only 6% waste of ply on the entire production...) and inexpensive on the market.
They use a single driver made by Feastrex in Japan.
Unfortunately, they were not live at the Show, so I cannot give you a listening review, but my experience with Fostex single driver designs makes me confortable with saying that they have to be amazing. I will try to get a pair home for a proper review later in 2013. They are distributed in Australia by Audio Salon.

Coming from Austria, it is another famous brand of piano makers coming into loudspeaker design!
Obviously, they have got the right tools for the cabinets, but in this case they also have come up with an inventive design.
I first noticed them during my rushed visit of T.H.E Show in Vegas last January but didn't have the time for a proper listen. This time I had a double audition and a chat by both the Technical Director and the Export Sales Director. The originality of the design is in the fact that only the tweeter is on the front baffle and the midrange and woofer are on the side of the cabinet. Although unorthodox, it does work and gives a very nice holographic image.

Amazing small speaker from Dynaudio, dubbed the World's first wireless high-end speaker, it includes its own class D amplifier and a wireless receiver compatible with your mp3 player, tablet, smartphone, computer or regular hifi system via a proprietary transmitter. Each pair of speakers come with its own remote, so building a multizone system is child's play. The speakers come in several configurations to suit your space, from the small one shown left to bigger floorstanding versions for a larger room. Quite clever and delivering a great sound

One of the finest sounding systems at the Show, also awarded best sounding speaker at the RMAF in Denver. Very smart combination of traditional drivers with adjustable RAAL ribbon tweeter in a magnificent cabinet - made in Germany. The other drivers are made by Audiotechnology in Denmark, Amazing!
Also well driven by the Thrax tube amplifiers reviewed earlier.
A beautiful looking and sounding combination.

These speakers might not be the WAF friendly design out there, but you have to admit that they do the job!
As a serious implementation of the open baffle principles, complete with class D amplifiers and DSP equalisation, they are a serious rival to the Ocean and Sphere from our French friends at Cabasse, and in the same price range. They share with Cabasse and Wisdom (see below) the Palme d'Or for anti-WAF design, Wisdom being the worse of the lot but the sweetest and most amazing of the three...
But you have to command the guys at Kyron for being passionate, persistent and professional.
They certainly deserve a listen and plenty goodwill, as they have spend a good deal of research, time and money on this fabulous piece of engineering.

New technology and proprietary drivers called BMRs - Balanced Mode Radiators. This is the first speaker on the market based on fully customised BMRs, a technology originally designed by NXT/HiWave and refined for Naim by Fink Audio Consulting. I encourage you to visit their website and read the white paper you can find there.
These are mighty speakers by a reputable company which made its name with amazing amplification in the 80s, often paired with Linn turnable and speakers.
NAIM is now French (ah, ah...) as it is owned by Focal, but rest assured the local management is still very Scottish: just listen to Doug, the Sales Manager (in the photo) and try to decipher his lovely Glaswegian accent... It is just another example of the rekindling of the Auld Alliance between the French and the Scotts against the English.
I have done so some 30 years ago by marrying into the Cassidy clan!

I have to admit that I have a sweet tooth for these speakers and for the i90 in particular.
It helps that the boss is always there, cheerful, knowledgeable, informative and patient, conducting his demos with enthusiasm, technical insight and passion, ready to take an order on the spot.
Some of the larger speakers are less convincing that the smaller ones, but I am biased as I will always trade bass extension for imaging and transient response...

A good surprise here, with a fabulous implementation of the separate midrange+tweeter cabinet and subwoofer in a very elegant package.
It is fairly similar in concept to my own Microphase and other like the Karla from Siare or our beloved 4260 Elipson.
Their immaculate cabinetry and clever design translate into one of the best sound, image and veracity at the Show.
I could certainly live with a pair of these at home and they have a very high WAF index, an added bonus!
Taking about bonus, here is another photo from the back: it is like cars, isn't it? If you can get the back to look good, then you are in front!

That has to be the most expensive full range driver, and then speaker on the market.
It does make sweet music, specially teamed up with good valve amplification.
I think I still prefer the Ocellias though, and they are cheaper and smaller too...

Finally you can listen to the top of the range Niagara in Australia, thanks to the new distributor, National Audio Group. This is wonderful news for anybody interested in High End speakers with an amazing WAF index. Although not cheap - it takes a week to assemble a pair! - the Niagaras are still quite affordable and competitive.
And they are a real work of love, art and passion.
If they are not at your local, then move and rush to your nearest dealer for a listen!
Waterfall and Focal were the only two French speaker companies at the Show.

This is certainly the less WAF friendly system at the Show, but it was the best sounding system at the Show and although it is not cheap, it is not out of reach at 130K$.
It includes these large planar systems and huge subwoofers.
I have net Jerry, the VP of Sales three times now, in Paris, Vegas and now Sydney.
To come back to the performance of the system, the absence of distortion, the dynamic range, bass extension and overall neutrality are quite outstanding.
The product is destined to custom installers and high-end home theatre installations of audiophile quality.

You know I am biased... Bryston had their big moment with the relatively new 28BSST 100w mono blocks. These Dynaudio speakers had to behave! Brian Russell was there conducting his cool demos and being Bryston ambassador and salesman extraordinaire as usual.
All the Japanese majors were there too, with Marantz with designer Ken Ishiwata in attendance,Yamaha, Onkyo, Denon, Pioneer and Luxman all well represented and some of the British establishment in force with Musical Fidelity, Arcam, Naim and Linn. Not a French company in view like Jadis or YBA, but some great names like BMC, Classe, Parasound, Krell, Burmester, NAD and Ypsilon.
BMC gets my vote for the best looking unit!

And no, I am not talking about the OA series which gave the swedish company Sonab their claim to fame a few decades ago...
One of my clients gifted me a pair of Sonab branded column speakers that I just had a chance to listen to, explore and measure for our own indulgence!
Unfortunately one of the drivers is pretty damaged - I originally thought it would be just cosmetic, but no - and the one speaker in good condition didn't match the expectation from the brand.
I trawled the web in search of a similar product, and it might well be an Australian design, made in the Far-East (which is not that far from Australia after all...) but I can't be sure, so I will not name the potential culprit!
First listening impressions on the "Good Book" by Louis Armstrong are that Louis has lost 20kgs and can't get his voice to come from his belly and the trumpet and drums sound like if we had a bad metal dome tweeter with too much level. So that was the end of my listening session on these speakers, as I quickly reconnected the Microphases and all was back in normal heaven.
But being curious by nature and nerdy by trade, I could not resist taking the stockings off the cabinets and reveal the inside story. Here are some pics that will tell you more than a long discourse:

So far, so good, I hear you say: nice Scandinavian looking tweeter, slightly damaged dust cap, 2-way bass reflex
Well, don't assume anything just yet and let's enter the beast's cavern...

So, I decided to get the AudioTools gear out of the cupboard and my fears were confirmed

Maybe it is worth spending a few bucks on a couple of resistors and replace the defective boomer (19.50$...), as I can find it at my newly discovered supplier, Wagner Electronic Services, in business for almost 30 years and just a few kms up the road from where I live. 
I have bought a new woofer and will endeavour to change it and fine tune the filter soon. I will keep you posted!