Novelty value is the first thing to disappear after you've spent
your hard-earned cash. Once you get past the diminutive size and
the metal cabinets of Alexander loudspeakers, the systems have to
stand up against more conventional box-type competitors at their
respective price points. That is, unless you're buying Alexanders
specifically because of the Mad Max styling or tiny footprint.

The SE3S takes the Alexander concept a stage further toward a
total system approach because it incorporates a dedicated stand
and specific siting instructions. Like its predecessors, the SE3S
is a two-way system based around an all-metal enclosure damped at
specific points; the usual 'rap the cabinet with your knuckles'
test does not apply here because the short, dull 'thunk' from the
enclosure doesn't seem to affect the performance despite being of
a higher frequency than is expected of a tightly constructed
wooden box. Also in keeping with its predecessors is the look of
industrial black and a large-hole metal mesh cage as a grille.

[Note: The review pair's grille was only a centimeter proud of
the cabinet edges, but production samples will have the grid
flush-fitted to avoid lawsuits in a territory where scraped
knuckles can mean a visit to court. Amusingly, that territory is
also the source of some of the most lethal heat sinks ever to
grace an amplifier.]

The SE3S contains a soft-dome tweeter and a woofer
with the crossover point at . Mounted in a vertical array
in an enclosure measuring only 230x120x150mm (HWD), the drivers
are jammed together closely enough to elicit whisperings of
'point source' at the back of you brain. Score '1' for the wee
Alexander in the imaging/dispersion stakes. The SE3S also
features receptacles for 19mm spaced banana plugs at the back;
score '1' as well toward KK acceptability factor.

This tiny speaker, too small for many spekaer stand top-plates,
comes complete with a dedicated stand made for Alexander by
Partington. Looking abit like that company's SAM series supports,
the SE3S stand differs from the tallest Partington in that it
uses three uprights instead of two and for a very good reason: it
has no top-plate. This cleverly conceived stand supports the
speakers on two spikes which hook under the top edge at the back
of the speaker. The front rests on a single spike which in itself
is not enough to give the speaker any stability. Then you look
again and notice two bolts protruding from the back uprights and
note their dual purpose.

The first function is the support the lower back portion of the
speaker, which now rests in a sloped-back pose. The second
function is accomplished by screwing the bolts in or out, which
changes the degree of slope. This detail, straight out of the Tim
de Paravicini Guide to Audio Bliss, means that the listener can
vary the arrival times of the tweeter and woofer output relative
to the listener's distance from the speakers. It takes a lot of
trial-and-error listening to dial in the correct slope, but
you'll soon detect the changes in coherence, smearing, imaging
specificity, soundstaging and dimensionality, transient accuracy
and a host of other characteristics altered by changing the
arrival times of the signals.

What I'd like to see Alexander supply with the speakers is some
form of template or protractor to aid the listener in setting --
however roughly -- the speaker's tilt. If designed for a listener
using the speakers with the tweeters at ear height, such a
template could be held up against the side of the speaker with
lines to show how the baffle should tilt for specific distances
between listener and speaker for between, for example, 7 and 15
feet.

Fifteen feet? For a speaker this tiny? Despite its size and a
recommended amplifier rating of only 25-75W, the SE3S sounds
positively gigantic if used as directed. With the speakers right
up against the wall and the cabinet tilted as required, the sound
was wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling, suggesting a large panel
rather than a bonsai box. I admit to testing the Alexanders in a
room and with gear quite unlike that for which they're intended,
but the Alexanders -- driven by the elephantine Musical Fidelity
A470 -- did a remarkably good job of filling a stage across a
7.1x7.5m room. This ability turned out to be the speaker's
greatest sonic virtue, especially when judged relative to a
frontal aspect no greater than most speaker stands on their
own...let alone topped with a two-way loudspeaker.

The necessary touches -- adjustable tilt, backs-to-the-wall
positioning -- augment the performance just enough to allow this
speaker to be taken seriously, but they do not make it a valid
rival for other #299 systems. (Remember: That's including the
stands, which must be worth #50-#75.) What bass is present is
clear and well-defined but does not endow the speaker with any
real weight. Recordings noted for bass-derived impact, like Willy
de Ville's 'Assassin Of Love', sound starved. The lack of any
real foundation creates a top-end prominence which couldn't even
be softened with vintage valve amplification.

Which is a real shame. The frequency-extremes -- cut off at the
knees and sizzling at the top -- obscure the speaker's undeniable
merits, like the aforementioned sense of scale. Within that vast
stage are clearly designated performers, exquisitely carved
details and a sensation of authentic three-dimensionality.
Everything has its place