Awards and Reviews — Treehaus Audiolab Field Coil Speakers

Awards, Best Of’s, and Reviews

Twittering Machines - Michael Lavorgna - The Preamplifer & 300B-2 SET Amplifier

“And I may as well get this off my chest right here and now—each morning when I came into the Barn during the Treehaus combo’s near 2-month stay, I’d put my coffee filled thermos and Strand bookstore mug and banana down on my desk, walk over to the Treehaus gear on the B-Side to power it up, and look forward to deciding what music I’d get to enjoy that day. There’s a point with some gear where sound analysis no longer holds sway giving way to pure musical exploration and enjoyment and this system reached that point very early on but I’ll try to do my best to stay focused on why this was the case here in terms of sound qualities…

This system with the Treehaus combo powering the O/Bronze on the Barn’s B-Side made listening to music an adventure in sound, the kind of quality in reproduction that makes the fleeting musical moment feel precious and vital. “What do I want to listen for?” Was very quickly replaced with “What do I want to get lost within,” the kind of hifi that highlights the real value of streaming where we can explore an endless library of music for as long as time allows and I took full advantage of my time with the Treehaus The Preamplifer and 300B-2 SET Amplifier wandering around too many albums to list here. Think of each day beginning with listening that felt like diving into clear fresh water just cold enough to startle and delight.”

Stereophile - Ken Micallef - The Preamplifier

“The Treehaus preamplifier revealed every subtlety and nuance in a recording. It was remarkably ego-free, allowing the system's other components to define the sound's color and tone. Along the way, it still delivered music with force and clarity I've rarely heard from other preamplifiers…

The Treehaus preamplifier's neutral mien, allied to its low noisefloor and impressive information retrieval, unmasked both downstream and upstream components. John Lee Hooker's menacing It Serves You Right to Suffer (Impulse! AS-9103/Verve Records 602475207733) places Hooker in your face, pacing the studio like an angry judge. With the Treehaus in the system, it punched hard, with the force of a freight train driven by a demon. Hooker's ragged vocals and his studio band of hard-scrabble blues guitar, relentless, pounding bass, and stomping and unruly drums struck with the impact of a blunt shovel blow. Despite a character that tends toward the silken, the Treehaus preamp allowed this cast of sonic marauders to engulf my listening space.

The Treehaus-based system made plain the character of the Lightnin' Hopkins album Lightnin' Strikes (Verve Records 602458538359), a less raucous outing but just as dynamic and engaging. This album came across like an acoustic traveling road band in my living room. This was a clear pattern: The Treehaus preamplifier consistently revealed a recording's soul and intent.

The Treehaus Audiolab Preamplifier is a beast in velvet gloves, with a silken, soothing personality that doesn't force itself on the music but rather invites it to bloom. With its subterranean noisefloor, clear, crystalline presentation, and cosmos-scale soundstage, it allows music of all styles to sing, swing, and engage. The Treehaus Preamplifier is one of the most exquisite preamps to ever grace my humble Greenwich Village crash pad.”

Part Time Audiophile - Graig Neville - National Treasure Loudspeakers

“The National Treasure was great on all types of music from hip hop to classical to pop to rock to new age to world music. I played all sorts of stuff at a variety of levels and the National Treasure was able to scratch the euphoric emotional itch that many hifi systems seem to lack. The ability to sit back, relax, and just let the music permeate through you without being overly critical and letting the artistry of the music resonate is a touchy-feely experience that many audiophiles might crave, some might call it the goosebump effect. But my form of ASMR is more akin to music as meditation, and yes when I was in college I would crank Led Zeppelin and take naps, so I’m odd – I know. But that suspension of disbelief for the National Treasure was wonderful, especially at this price point.

“The National Treasure begs to be ogled over and played, bringing an assault on the senses – tactile, auditory, and visual. If you have any consideration of a custom open baffle speaker that not only sounds amazing, but looks just as good, checkout Treehaus Audiolab. Highly recommended.”

- Graig Neville

“The overall picture is an interesting one – the midrange is involving and rich in the way many associate with the great speakers of yesteryear, but supported by a shiny Fostex supertweeter and the aforementioned ultra-tight punchy DSP bass, the overall picture is a little more like a quick, articulate modern speaker that breathes a bit more dynamically and has a touch more midrange richness. That said, the speaker really doesn’t strike me as overly rich, though I would tend to shy away from pairing it with particularly dark amplifiers. Rich Pinto managed to capture the magic of what felt like a sixty or eighty thousand dollar presentation in twenty, which for the customer willing to take care in setup, and looking for that perfect marriage of old and new could be just the thing. Definitely worth a listen.”

- Grover Neville

Part Time Audiophile - Marc Philips - AXPONA 2025 Best Sound of Show

“Rich’s big news for AXPONA 2025 was The LCR phono stage–yes, one of my typos resulted in Rich deciding to add the “The”–and this, along with the SME ‘table, wound up being one of the most musical analog rigs in Chicago. All the ingredients are here, of course, such as field coil technology, 300Bs, and baffles so gorgeous and irresistible that your credit cards will all stage a battle in Thunderdome just for the honor of ordering a pair for you.

...The more experience I have in this hobby, the more I realize it’s important to select audio components based on who you are as a person, and not how much money you have in your bank account. If you wind up with a system from Treehaus Audiolab, instead of one of the more mainstream brands, you’ll always have my unwavering respect because you made that choice for you, and not anyone else.”

Audio Bacon - Jay Luong - Best of Show

“The Treehaus Audiolab’s Phantom of Luxury speakers conjured impressively imaging in the compact demo space, with vocals firmly anchored and neatly integrated from the surrounding instrumentation. Even at a shorter listening distance, the soundstage retained a satisfying breadth and dimensionality, giving the room an airy, almost expansive feel. Instruments and voices emerged with a confident sense of placement, lending the presentation a weighted, immersive quality.

Midrange performance was fluid, drawing out delicate textures while steering clear of anything abrasive. Bass arrived with poise – rich and present without ever overstaying its welcome or clouding the mix. Treble shimmered with an understated brilliance, offering a touch of sparkle that was never distracting or overly exciting. The open-baffle system breathed in a way that felt articulate. The field-coil drivers (produced by Atelier Rullit) responded with speed and grace, tracing dynamic contours with ease and lending transients a soft-edged immediacy.

Altogether, the system walked a fine line – romantic without excess, detailed without demand. Making for such a memorable listening experience at the show. This will definitely be one of my regular favorites.”

Part Time Audiophile - Graig Neville - Reviewer’s Choice

- Graig Neville

- Grover Neville

Part Time Audiophile - Marc Philips - AXPONA 2024 Best of Show

“Why did I wait until now, at AXPONA 2024, to discover Treehaus AudioLab? I suppose it’s because another of PTA’s writer already called shotgun when it came to covering this brand. Maybe it’s because this gorgeous, handmade gear seems plucked out of the world of lifestyle audio where everything looks great while the sound is, well, just very good. I quickly learned that Treehaus AudioLab gear, from a sonic standpoint, is the real deal..”

The Audiophiliac - Steve Guttenberg - Best of AXPONA 2024

“Mind-expanding”

Enjoy the Music - Rick Becker - Best of Capital Audiofest 2023

“Rich Pinto presented a very fine speaker that lies at the intersection of fine art, industrial design, and high-end premium audio.”

Product Reviews

Twittering Machines - Michael Lavorgna - Phantom of Luxury Loudspeaker

“One foggy morning near the end of this review period, Roon Radio found its way to play “Girl from the North Country” from The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, his sophomore release from 1963 (yea, even Dylan was a sophomore at one time). And I was so taken, and taken back, with this music I decided to play the entire album… the bulk of the sound contained in Freewheelin’ came out of those full range drivers, with the super tweeters and woofers acting as minor supporting cast. With the Triode Evolution 300B driving that full range driver, Dylan’s one man band sounded rich, full, and lit up with life-like energy in Barn and projected into space in some ways hitting my ears very nearly like a pair of giant headphones. The Atellier Rullits have no discernible peak or peakiness that can haunt some full rangers—SHOUT—while being very resolving and wonderfully rich. Color me impressed.”

Punchy, powerful, and playful with a menacing manner, I’ve Got Heaven feels like a soothing balm for the mind-numbing endless flow of our normalized beyond the pale current events. Played loud and louder still, the Phantom’s also ‘get’ this kind of hard-driving crush of sound as well as the more delicate bits, filling the Barn with Mannequin Pussy’s manic energy. I’ve Got Heavenbuilds masses of sound from guitars, synthesizer, bass, drums, and vocals at times growing into massive crescendos of near mayhem and this energy, this force, was propelled into the barn by this system with gut wrenching seamless glory and thanks to the field coil power supply’s voltage level adjustability, you can dial in more tightly gripped guts or a softer focused bloom to suite your fancy.”

…And that bass, open baffle bass, is something to be experienced for its combined strengths of deep reach and free-flowing form. This music lives in and loves timing and the Phantoms deftly move with whatever flow you throw their way.

The Treehaus Phantom’s do have a phantom-like quality in that they create a compellingly tactile presence with the beating heart of music feeling rich and harmonically right with delicate beauty and/or guts and heart-pounding glory morphing with the music in play.”

Tracking Angle - Dave McNair - Shootout at the SUT Corral

“The Treehaus sounds like it looks—sweet and silky-smooth but detail-rich. Musical elements from my selection of test cuts took on a subtle saturation in color. The harmonics and dynamic profile that give a great recording such an enjoyable texture were portrayed by the Treehaus in a mesmerizing way. It simultaneously relaxed and energized vinyl playback”

Tracking Angle - Dave McNair - National Treasure Loudspeaker

“I found the sound as engaging as any proper high-end speaker system - and more so than many. It has a unique flavor to its sound and visual appeal, along with a legit performance-to-price ratio.

Whether a lover or a hater of open-baffle speaker systems, any serious audiophile who has the chance should put ears on these beauties should. You won’t regret it. You may fall in love. You’ve been warned.”

Copper Magazine - Tom Methans - System Review

“Because the drivers are free of cabinets, every cut sounded alive and present as sound seemed to emanate from a stage rather than a pair of speakers. Nothing about the system is sappy, tubby, or overly warm – rather it is revelatory of the recorded material…

Treehaus Audiolab does more than build a stereo system, it reaches back to the earliest days of craftsmanship, design, and sound while incorporating a contemporary sensibility.

I encourage everyone to experience the system for themselves. For those new to tube amplifiers and field coil speakers, don’t get too overwhelmed by unfamiliar terms and components. Just sit back and enjoy.”

Enjoy the Music - Rick Becker - Phantom of Luxury Loudspeaker

“The first thing that hit me with the Treehaus is the transparency of the music. Not just the music, but the musicians are right there in front of you. The high resolution obviously contributes to this presence, but you can have high transparency with lower resolution and vice versa. When you have them both, it is captivating.

The next most prominent feature is the dynamics, particularly the macro variety. A rim shot or the attack of an electric guitar string comes at you right out of the soundstage. Most of the music is anchored with precision on the soundstage behind the plane of the speakers, extending out beyond the front wall for however many feet is appropriate for the recording. Orchestras go way back, rock bands not so far. Soloists and small groups are typically closer yet.

The sense of air — not just the extension of high frequencies and their overtones, but the air in the venue — is real enough to be breathable. Violins can be sweet enough to be fattening, or raw and bitter, depending on the recording. There is no place to hide on such a transparent soundstage. The notes have a fast attack when played that way, and a rapid decay. The huge magnets of the field coil drivers have complete control of the cones, generating not only the notes, but the space between the notes wherein the ambient room tone resides. With the very high 102dB efficiency of the speaker, the music just happens as if there were no time delay between the laser or the stylus and the phantom musicians on the soundstage.”