Loudspeakers

If you thought bespoke cabinet details and custom colourways were the preserve of the very high-end loudspeaker market, maybe it’s time to think again. AudioSolutions, hailing from Vilnius in Lithuania, offers an extensive customisation programme for its mid-level Figaro series – so extensive, in fact, that there are apparently over 500,000 possible configurations for the M2 floorstander auditioned here. Despite that, pricing begins at £9750. Not pocket change, of course, but hardly outrageous either.

In its standard guise, the Figaro M2 comes in Pearl White, Zinc Grey (pictured), and Dark Grey high gloss finishes, with the rear half of the cabinet black. But via the brand’s dedicated configuration website (www.my.audiosolutions.lt) you can specify various aspects of the speakers’ fit and finish. Options include not only numerous main and secondary cabinet colours (including Midnight Purple, Champagne, Lipstick Red, etc) but also the finish of the Figaro M2’s top plate and trim details, the internal cabling used, and even a second set of speaker binding posts for bi-amping.

Once your design is finalised, the website generates a price tag and a specific configuration code that is then sent to the manufacturer. AudioSolutions’ UK distributor says the lead time for a custom model is around a month.

Four strong

This flexibility of design is made possible by the company’s in-house production processes [see boxout], and is available on all models in the series, beginning with the £3350 B2 standmount. Between this and the M2 are the BL2, a larger standmount priced £4495, and the S2 floorstander at £7295. Three more floorstanders (L2, XLM2 and the range-topping XL2) take pricing up to £21,500. Other AudioSolutions lines are its flagship Virtuoso and entry-level Overture, although the latter hasn’t yet reached the UK.

Above: Numerous cabinet colours include Midnight Purple, Champagne, Lipstick Red and Zinc Grey (pictured)

Customisation aside, the Figaro M2 is a conventional loudspeaker utilising a quartet of dynamic drivers in a reflex-loaded cabinet. It is also conventional in size, at least in terms of height (1108mm) and width (272mm), though these room-friendly dimensions are slightly negated by a depth of 472mm. Adding a little width to the footprint are its outrigger feet. Made from polyoxymethylene (‘for springiness’, says company founder Gediminas Gaidelis), these are supplied with spikes and floor protectors but can also be upgraded with isolators from either IsoAcoustics or Neo.

Horn help

The Figaro M2’s single 6in/150mm midrange and dual 185mm bass drivers are custom made by SB Acoustics in Indonesia. Described as ‘ER’ (Extra Rigid) types, they feature paper cones impregnated with ‘sturdy’ fibre and ‘hard’ pulp. The result, claims AudioSolutions, is the pistonic motion benefits of a stiff cone material while avoiding aggressive breakup modes. The tweeter, meanwhile, is a 19mm silk dome design sourced from Tymphany, and mounted within a ‘Mini Horn’, which is fashioned to both boost efficiency and reduce distortion at high levels.

The three-way crossover (with separate bass and mid/high PCBs if the bi-amp upgrade has been chosen) sees the Figaro M2’s bass drivers operating below 400Hz, and the pulp/fibre midrange pushed up to a high 4kHz [see PM's Lab Report] before the tweeter takes over. Claimed bass extension is down to ‘30Hz in room’, aided by two reflex ports firing from the rear of the speaker. These, and the bass drivers, are connected via a single internal chamber, and there are also separate enclosures for the mid and tweeter units.

The cabinet features non-parallel sides that widen from the front and taper toward the back, to reduce internal standing waves. It is a box-within-a-box design, with an inner HDF enclosure and outer MDF shell bonded by viscous polyurethane. AudioSolutions says the inner cabinet ‘controls primary vibrations by absorbing acoustical power coming from the drivers’, while the outer layer acts as a mass damper. This design is inherited from its top-of-the-range Virtuoso series and is an upgrade over the original Figaro lineup of 2016, in addition to crossover and driver refinements.

Easy does it
The Figaro M2 is the sort of loudspeaker that attracts your attention from the first few bars of music but may have you scratching your head trying to sum up its appeal. The performance is unflashy, without a dramatic extension in the bass or a precisely etched treble, aspects that can make other models stand out immediately. Instead, enjoyment comes from its sheer listenability – this is an easy-going, uncomplicated sound where pretty much everything sounds smooth and inviting.

Setup with the cabinets on-axis with the seating position in the HFN Listening Room [HFN Yearbook ’25], and running off the Constellation Audio Revelation 2 pre/power system [HFN Jan ’25], these floorstanders stood their ground. The subtle difference in tone between the individual speakers could pull a mid/presence-focused track to one side [see PM's Lab Report] but the subjective impression was still one of good driver integration. There was also that reassuring sense of the cabinets ‘disappearing’.

Give the Figaro M2s a suitable mix and they will wrap you up in plenty of scale and detail. Led Zeppelin’s ‘Since I’ve Been Loving You’ [Led Zeppelin III, Deluxe Edition; Atlantic, 96kHz/24-bit] is typical of the band for having a brilliantly recorded, big-sounding drum track, and the speakers served it up with bags of punch and reverb. Jimmy Page’s guitar, meanwhile, was offered with a seemingly authentic tone, at first sounding slightly driven and jazzy, then more pinched and distorted.

Above: Seen here in Zinc Grey finish with Brass trim upgrade, the floorstanding Figaro M2 features a constrained-layer cabinet with outer MDF and inner HDF shells bonded by a viscous polyurethane infill

I don’t remember noticing the hum of feedback before from Page’s guitar, as he pauses between licks during the first verse, but this was a minor aspect that the Figaro M2 uncovered without making a show of it. And this delivery of unexaggerated detail had me sitting back in my seat admiring the production quality of the Zeppelin track, focusing on the Hammond organ one moment, the right-to-left pans of tom-tom drums the next.

North star

The Figaro M2 betrays no fatiguing treble edge, and a feeling of slight softness extends into its handling of some midband elements. But it can still sound fast and feisty when needed, ensuring foot-tapping with music that gets into a sprightly groove. A blast of Anna Of The North’s new Girl In A Bottle album [Play It Again Sam; 44.1kHz/24-bit], with its synth-pop soundscapes, kicked off a grin-inducing listening session that also took in the snappy funk of Chic’s ‘Good Times’ [Risqué (2018 remaster), Rhino/Atlantic; 192kHz/24-bit] and the title track of Airbourne’s Runnin’ Wild [Roadrunner RR 7963-2].

The last of these, which comes as close to sounding like AC/DC without being AC/DC, is pedal-to-the-metal hard rock, with riffs flying from both channels and an insistent 16th note bassline. What it lacks in audiophile nuance, particularly during the dense choruses, it makes up for in spirit, something the Figaro M2s made vividly clear.

Above: WBT NextGen binding posts seen here are an upgrade option – a bi-amp set, with associated split crossover, is also offered. Outrigger feet can be customised with choice of isolators

Bass extension is not as forthright as might be presumed from the double woofer design. Coming hot on the heels of MoFi Electronics’ deep-reaching SourcePoint V10 Master Edition [HFN Dec ’25], and revisiting some favourite test tracks, it was clear the Figaro M2s were not plumbing those same subterranean depths. That said, their low-end performance certainly goes deep enough for most listening, and works well with both large, rich effects and tight, precise details.

Bass bite

‘Lester’s Methadone Clinic’, by Sonia Dada [A Day At The Beach; Capricorn 42037-2], is a jazzy, be-bop track, with metallic slap bass behind staccato piano stabs, and three vocalists patrolling the frequency range. The Figaro M2s showed off their speed and attack in the low octaves, giving tangible form to the individual bass notes, and conveyed the resonant chest voice of the baritone/bass singers.

As PM reveals [see PM's Lab Report], the demands the Figaro M2 will place on partnering amplification – although this was never going to be an issue with the beefy Constellation Audio Revelation 2. Played loud, to really appreciate its wide, dramatic presentation, the orchestral ‘Overture’ to Daft Punk’s Tron: Legacy soundtrack [Walt Disney; 44.1kHz/24-bit] offered richly layered swells of strings and powerful brass fanfares. The Figaro M2 loudspeakers, at what’s best called a ‘serious listening level’, still made it all sound effortless.

Hi-Fi News Verdict

The loudspeaker market can seem overcrowded, but on hearing the Figaro M2 the introduction of Lithuania’s AudioSolutions to the UK seems a welcome addition, matching issues notwithstanding. Attractively styled and offering a quite startling degree of customisation, this three-way ‘artisan’ floorstander further justifies its price tag with a gently persuasive performance. As they say in Vilnius, puikus!

Sound Quality: 82%