Amphion Ion + Loudspeakers in White baby grey grille

The high end is by and large a specialty market driven by enthusiasts—enthusiasts who don’t know the meaning of the word compromise. But what about the audio buff who doesn’t want to set his sights lower, only smaller? The answer just might come in the form of the $1350 Amphion Ion from Finland. On the surface of its black or arctic-white enclosure the Ion may appear to be nothing more than a well-crafted, size-challenged two-way, but its performance is nothing less than “grown-up.”

Here’s what I mean. In terms of tonal balance, the Ion plays it straight, with a poised midrange and a refinement that gripped my attention like the few mini speakers I’ve reviewed. Amphion hasn’t hijacked the treble balance to emphasize speed and detail, nor tweaked the port tuning to boost a narrow band of upper bass frequencies to suggest true bass. These dubious choices make for a good impulse buy, but in the long run, they’ll wear on you like a bad suit.

In the Ion’s case, refinement takes its cues from an inert enclosure, uncolored drivers, and clean execution. Amphion’s design philosophy centers on the fruit of over five years of R&D and is known as Uniformly Directive Diffusion (U/D/D). The principle is based on maintaining the natural balance of ambient/reflected information vis-à-vis the direct sound, as well as ensuring a linear spectral roll-off into the room. U/D/D is incorporated in all Amphion models, with the premium Xenon and Krypton units receiving “hypercardioid” advancements said to virtually eliminate reflections from the back and the sides of the speakers.