More musical than your usual dock’n’ speakers combo, the L is able to fill a room with quality iPod sound
Launch price £1000Dropping a four-figure sum on an iPod dock may not be your bank manager’s idea of sensible spending, but then he probably hasn’t heard the Model L.
At first glance, Geneva’s rather large system looks like an oppressively size centre speaker. But fortunately for all our sensibilities, it’s rather more than that, combining an iPod dock, CD player and FM radio.
Amp it up
It has amplification rated at a formidable 50W per channel, which drives two 1in tweeters and a pair of 5.25in mid/bass drivers.
There’s also a pair of analogue inputs, a decent remote control and a display so big and bright you could read it through blanket fog.
Stand in
You’ll need the stand (an extra £150 on top of the £850 main unit) because all of the L’s connections are near the bottom of the cabinet and it’s a big boy to balance on the top-plate of a speaker stand.
Once positioned (Geneva provides a long mains lead) and with an Apple Lossless file playing via the iPod dock, the Model L impressed us with the scale and brio of its sound.
Wide soundstage
A technology Geneva calls EmbracingSound allows a dramatically wide soundstage to be liberated from the Model L’s single enclosure, and in terms of punch and drive the L wants for nothing.
Voices are expressive, high frequencies sparkle without hardness and the frequency range is well integrated. Wind the volume to antisocial levels and the L gets louder with no loss of composure.
It’s a similar story with CD playback: fast, attacking and poised. FM radio, too, is expressive and clean. So if you’re looking for an iPod-based, true all-in-one with a lot more musicality than the norm, you need to hear the Geneva Model L.
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