Differences from the O/96

Although the cabinets have exactly the same dimensions, the O/Bronze incorporates technology directly derived from the brand’s flagship O/Reference.

The main difference is the use of machined bronze parts for the driver chassis and port tubes. This drastically reduces mechanical resonances and improves stability compared with the O/96’s zinc chassis.

The O/Bronze woofer incorporates two copper Faraday rings, positioned on either side of the magnetic gap, to greatly reduce harmonic distortion and stabilise inductance. It also incorporates a copper heat sink mounted on the bronze phase plug to eliminate thermal compression when the driver is working hard. All of this improves linearity.

For the tweeter, the horn and front plate are entirely cast and machined from solid bronze, taken directly from the top-of-the-range O/Reference.

The extreme density of bronze eliminates microscopic surface resonances in the horn. This allows the waveguide to load the tweeter with perfect geometric precision, without metallic coloration or distortion.

Beyond what is visible, the entire motor assembly is different. The O/Bronze uses an ‘underhung’ design (with a voice coil shorter than the magnetic gap), using an extremely powerful neodymium/rare-earth magnet; the gap height is almost double that of the O/96. The bronze horn provides absolute mechanical stability. In listening, this translates into even silkier treble, more natural note decay and markedly more precise spatial focus of instruments.

Unlike the O/96, the rear port tubes are made from bronze and suspended in isolation, preventing vibrations from moving air from reaching the wooden cabinet walls.

Moving to the O/Bronze is more than a simple upgrade: it is a change of class

The O/Bronze is markedly faster and more punchy (“jumpy”), with far more transcendent microdynamics.

The O/Reference tweeter offers remarkably smooth treble while opening a much broader, three-dimensional soundstage in which the loudspeakers disappear completely.

Although bass extension is theoretically similar to that of the O/96, the O/Bronze’s bass is more articulate, tighter, deeper and markedly better controlled.

The Faraday rings also completely transform the clarity and behaviour of the midrange and upper midrange, freeing it from any grain or veil. Dynamic transitions are much more linear. Measurements show a markedly more even frequency response, making integration with the tweeter completely seamless. Voices, piano, string instruments... all gain physical presence and almost holographic clarity. Where the O/96 could sometimes sound more forgiving or “romantic”, with a slight warm coloration, the O/Bronze moves towards absolute transparency and strikingly truthful timbres, without ever becoming analytical or tiring.

In summary, the O/Bronze retains all the “analogue” magic and emotion of the O/96, while adding transparency, clarity and tonal accuracy at a markedly higher level.