Present in Munich with most of his staff, Matthew Webster, YG Acoustic CEO, answered our questions about the launch of a new Ultimate range, which includes the Gemini project. Definitively named Titan for its commercial release, the new pair of ultimate speakers was recently heard again in excellent acoustic conditions in Tokyo and will also be presented in France at the Paris Audio Video Show at the end of October. In two interviews with Matthew, we explain everything about this crazy project.
Matthew Webster, on the eve of the last High End show in Munich, you have presented a pair of speakers at Motorworld, just across the street, that are even more ultimate than the Reference XV 3 Signature and Reference XX, which were on display in one of the showrooms. Can you explain this project to us?
The Titans are the first in a new Ultimate series, even superior to the Reference series. They were introduced for two reasons.
As the result of more than three years of research and design, these speakers push the boundaries of science and engineering at YG even further. To achieve this, we felt it was important to set ourselves no limits, with the aim from the outset of the project to explore all possible avenues using all existing technologies, without any restrictions on our thinking.
When I talk about technology, of course this implies better enclosures, better filters, and the most flexible and accurate drivers possible. But I also mean by this notion a scientific approach to conducting numerous analyses on the hearing capacity of the human ear and human listening, particularly on critical points in terms of response and perception of music. In hi-fi, the ideal listening experience is when the speaker and the entire system disappear completely, giving way to pure music and a feeling of seeing the artists right in front of us. There is something magical about this, but like all magic, there are rational explanations behind it, which must be measured in the finest detail in order to be fully understood.
With the Reference XV 3, you found a four-speaker solution with bass independent of a mid-high speaker. However, with the Titans, you have returned to a two-speaker structure?
Over the past five years, we have learned a lot by trying out several solutions, with two or four speakers. But for the Gemini project, we returned to a seven-speaker system for the first Ultimate model in order to achieve completely symmetrical sound dispersion around the tweeter.
All the speakers are therefore aligned in phase across the same frequency range, in a cabinet measuring over 2.15 m (84.5 inches) and weighing 455 kg (1000 Ibs). But the incredible thing we managed to achieve is that even at very low volume and with very small ensembles, the sound never sounds too big and, on the contrary, retains enormous realism. Conversely, if necessary, these speakers are also designed to reproduce very large masses and recreate the concert experience when listening to large symphony orchestras.
You mentioned two reasons for developing a new series. What is the second?
The second reason is that, in this world, there is always a desire to go to extremes. That’s why we launched these speakers at Motorworld, rather than at the High End Show in Munich just across the street, where we also had a room.
This venue showcases vintage and modern cars that have sought to push the technological boundaries of their time, sometimes with fundamental technical advances, some of which come at a very high price. Right next to our showroom, there were McLarens and Bugattis with over 1,000 horsepower and worth several million euros on display. It was also with this aim of surpassing other models on the market that we came up with the Ultimate series.
You compare the Titan and therefore hi-fi to high-performance sports cars, which often makes people cringe, even though it’s clear that in both worlds, the products have both a utilitarian and an emotional function. In the same way that there is a customer base for McLaren, but not always sports car enthusiasts who love racing, do you think there could still be true audiophiles or music lovers in the Titan price range?
I mentioned earlier the technological aspect and the thinking behind the development, but one of the underlying reasons for the Gemini project, and more generally for the Ultimate series, is above all to be able to meet a demand and satisfy a certain category of listeners. I am a music lover myself, and formally, I never think of our speakers, however expensive they may be, as luxury products, but rather as very high-tech products capable of reproducing music with the greatest possible fidelity. YG’s primary and ultimate goal is the musical experience.
Some of our customers have purchased several versions to integrate them into different locations, or sometimes the same models in different colors, to have a red or orange pair in addition to a more classic one. Ultimately, the important thing is that they can enjoy the same sound reproduction quality wherever they are. Now, thanks to YG’s reputation, many of our buyers are musicians who want to recapture the emotions of a concert and the immersion of a live performance when listening to music at home.
With the Gemini project and the first Titan speaker, despite numerous tests during the development of the three passive, semi-active, and active versions, the first time we really moved beyond the concept of engineering for listening was in Munich. And in that large room with its dark floor, for the first time, the product’s shape and chrome finish reminded us of an airplane from the age of exploration. That’s ultimately what we did when we set out to create the Ultimate range: we took flight to reach new sonic explorations.
Despite the size of the speaker, you remain faithful to closed-back technology, i.e., without vents, as with all your other speakers. Can you tell us if you have tried others and why you have chosen this one again?
During all our research and measurements on the human ear, we always came back mainly to phase response. The fluidity of the phase response is clearly the best solution for giving the most perfect impression of realism possible. In a closed cabinet with perfect rigidity, it is much easier for us to achieve this fluidity of response and very low distortion.
I really like jazz and classical music, but I also listen to a lot of electronic music with very pronounced bass. If the bass response is too tight and too precise, I don’t like the sound. So, to allow for more emphasis while maintaining relentless wave control, we avoid vents and uncontrolled waves, which is why we remain faithful to the closed-box technique.
From the presentation of the Titan speakers and again during these interviews in Munich and Tokyo, you mention numerous analyses of the human ear during the development of the speakers. Who do you work with for these analyses?
Everything we do and analyze is done in-house at YG Acoustics. Before joining the company, I worked in many industries, coming from a background in computer programming and mathematics. I first did industrial modeling, then models related to medical research, then financial modeling, always with strong mathematical applications, based on a thesis specializing in astrophysics. When I started with YG five years ago, I immediately wanted to understand why certain speakers or certain drivers gave me sensations, and others did not.
Before joining, I was already a customer of the brand and had already received some suggestions for improving the XVs. When there was a change, investors asked me if I wanted to join the company, and I said yes right away. But what I didn’t realize was how much we would have to use mathematics to understand why certain products produce such magical effects when you listen to them. Sometimes, a difference of just 5 mm can turn a fantastic speaker into an average product. But why?
So, I started by analyzing all the speakers I could listen to, both YG’s and our competitors’, placing them wherever possible. I tested the most expensive ones as well as the most affordable ones, pro versions, etc. Little by little, we created matrices that allowed us to understand how a speaker sounded best, or more precisely, in the most vivid way possible.
When you go to a concert, depending on whether you’re sitting at the front or the back of the auditorium, there’s an average difference of 18 dB between the two points! But very often, your ears don’t care, because your brain immediately corrects for you to integrate you into the idea of a live concert. If you measure the phase, there may also be large differences, but in the crowd, you don’t notice them.
On the other hand, when it comes to reproducing these results with speakers, you have to control absolutely everything. That’s why we use CNC machines with double temperature correction, which offer a precision of 0.01 mm. For the same reason, we manufacture our own filters, as it is impossible for us to find equivalent models elsewhere. We must do all this to ensure that the extremely sensitive human ear is as satisfied as possible.
Is it because of this need for control that you have also developed active models?
Yes. In the audiophile world, some people love high-efficiency speakers. These are very sensitive and immediately give an impression of fluidity. But if you want to take these speakers down into the low frequencies and give them great depth, you have to deliver the most powerful current possible. With one amplifier per speaker, active speakers have the advantage of a very fast response, with no delay in energizing the cone, and with power delivered each time on a single frequency band.
When I arrived at YG, most of the staff didn’t want these speakers, not only because of their preconceived ideas, but also from a financial point of view, as they saw no market for this type of product. After the initial developments, the response was even more negative from retailers, who not only didn’t see the appeal for their customers, but also thought that some of them would switch from selling a system with sources, amplifiers, speakers, and cables to a system with only a pair of speakers…
Fortunately, I soon met John Stronczer, CEO of Bel Canto, whose brand designs excellent electronics for both sources and Class D amplifiers. When we started talking about the future of hi-fi, he was as excited as I was about the asset, and we immediately started working on a joint project, which four years ago became the Vantage 3 Live. We built a prototype with a DSP filter, validated it, and presented it to customers of our respective brands, resulting in several immediate orders. Clearly, this is not what everyone expects from a hi-fi speaker, but I don’t think YG can be and remain a modern brand without also offering active speakers.
We talked a lot about the new Ultimate series and its Titan model, which was presented in Munich, then in China and Japan, before arriving in Paris at the end of October. What is your philosophy for the future?
On our technology roadmap, we are about five years ahead of upcoming products. But not all of them will be released. We have great ideas and excellent simulations for headphones, or for a surround system with multiple pairs of speakers. Every time we make cheaper speakers, I’m happy to be able to extend our technologies with products that are more affordable than those in the Reference series. We’re trying to achieve something more affordable than the Peak series, with almost the same sound quality, and conversely, now that we’ve launched the Ultimate range, it makes sense to add models to it.
If I were on my own, I would choose to launch twenty-five models tomorrow. But that would not be commercially viable and would completely obscure the clarity of the products, in addition to overloading the development teams and running the risk of losing quality on certain models. So, before choosing which model to launch, I want us to try to find out exactly which one will add the most value compared to the existing ones.
When we launched the Peak series, we made the mistake of underestimating demand by a factor of almost 10. In two weeks, we had orders for what we thought we would sell in two years. It then took nine months to deliver to everyone, as we did not have the assembly capacity to meet such high production levels. With this launch, we learned an important lesson: now, we consult extensively with major distributors and resellers before launching a new model.
Thank you very much.
20/10/2025
