CARE ORCHESTRA model CELESTIAL ROSE EVO Review [English].

by hiendnews team & D. Dravopoulos

Like our previous review of fine Italian made Care Orchestra model Deep Breath EVO speakers, we stay focused on the two-way bookshelf ones as we think they are a specialty of the brand. So, time passed and we arranged a new audition, this time with the company’s ‘green’ model, the Rose Evo. Roses are slightly smaller than the Deep Breaths, they deliver a healthy 87.5 dB of sensitivity and a frequency “window” of 58 to 21 kHz. As always, the speakers are in a small cabinet with a bass reflex port. The tweeter is of the silk dome genre, and the woofer is 5.9 inches long. Bass reflex stands at the back together with the binding posts. Rose EVO standmounts are also available in “RAL” lacquer finishes in the color of your choice.

Slightly smaller and lighter than most of its category stablemates, for example, the ProAc Response D2 and JBL HDI 1600 bookshelf, this Care Orchestra is shipped in a luxury wooden crate of generous size. Although two people are required in ideal circumstances to lift the crate containing the two Rose EVOs inside, it’s possible for one person to unpack the contents and reassemble the crates for storage. Their products are typical ‘Italian’ in every aspect; they reminded me of Pathos in that their amplifiers also came in a great wooden crate and not on typical cardboard, and in the fear of unhandy delivery guys.

Listening Rose Evolution

Because the Rose EVO (as the younger brothers of the Breath EVO) requested to be installed within a few good inches of the wall behind it, due to their reflex ports, we placed them a meter and a half away from the back wall of the salon. And because they are small, some might also ask if they are capable of anything near the bass performance of their bigger siblings and also our lovely ELACs, ProAcs, and JBLs, all of which have far greater enclosure volume and bass-driver radiating area. Those questions turned out to be easy to answer. While ProAcs, especially with our well-engineered tube or hybrid amplifiers (e.g., Jadis or Pathos Acoustics), are well-known for creating the illusion that center-fill information is originating with height from a place slightly behind the plane of the loudspeakers themselves, the Care Orchestra Rose EVO pulled the center very slightly forward and at the same time allowed more distantly recorded instruments and voices to sound as if emanating from places behind the enclosures. I found this performance in this regard very satisfying and as close as any to the best “soundstaging” capabilities of any just under 2k Euro priced pair. But I don’t think this model would quite satisfy the bass-loving listener (or some metal or disco heads – including also Björk’s avant-garde pop fans) without a subwoofer, for whom the nearer-to-heaven room experience is a bookshelf speaker with great hefty bass notes.

Rose EVO lacked the ability of the bigger and more expensive new revision of EPOS ES14N, ProAc Responses or JBLs stand-mounts to sound really big when desired without special care of amplification matching. Otherwise, and with a wide range of reasonably priced well-designed solid-state amplifiers like NAD or current Cyrus integrated ones, for example, they sounded spatially correct and pleasantly substantial. The latter quality was especially evident with simple recordings via Tidal or Spotify streaming services, which were the starting point paired with a quality budget digital-to-analog converter (like Pro-Ject or Musical Fidelity great ones). On the Paganini Concertos, the violinists appeared to be standing just a few feet from one another, toward the center of an imaginary stage, yet remained clearly distinct from each other. The soloists and virtuosos were extremely well served in terms of resolution, without any annoying words such as ‘grain’ or ‘brightness’ spinning our minds.

Notes just flow with excellency and decay, reminding us of the historical first generation of Sonus Faber’s smaller but finest examples. This kind of very cute, green two-way Care Orchestra rewarded close-up or near-field listening with an even greater sense of spatial depth. I found them convincing on a higher level, especially with the little help of the extra body oomph of tubes presence (such as a tube preamplifier and solid-state combo or push-pull integrated ones), and for some reason more so when enjoyed also from a 5 meters distance.

Diggin’ the lower notes, with pop, hard rock, metal, and—of course—jazz recordings, the electric and acoustic bass notes were taut and not at all rounded, with a bit less tactile impact than I like but with no sluggishness or other timing ‘errors’. The notes in the midbass region seemed just right—not too prominent, not too laid-back, not too loose. Just don’t expect to reach the levels of 40-45 Hz weight and pressure that some other similarly priced models out there are born to. Again, they need the support of a classy subwoofer. I’m far more concerned about mid- and high-frequency performance. Perhaps unsurprisingly for such a fine example of Italian two-way speakers in school, they are almost flawless keeping in mind the criteria of their 1.5k–2.5k € category. Midrange is characterized by excellent liquidity and good dynamic scale (especially microdynamics). At lower volumes or ‘one-digit watts” generously revealed the hall sizes and ambient of any good recorded space.

New Celestial Rose EVOs 2-way speakers tuned in bass reflex: nominal impedance 8 ohms, frequency range at +/-3dB 58-21,000Hz sensitivity 87.5dB, dimensions 195x270x235mm WxHxD. Retail Price: 1,950 euros including VAT.

They carry the sort of musicality whereby, from the very first notes, I was compelled to follow the melody and drama together with the details—not at the cost of brightness or leaning of textures. Its treble in quantity and density was in perfect keeping with the rest of its range. Significantly better than any rivals coming from overseas markets up to this price point.

The Rose EVOS didn’t produce the same forceful note attacks on higher volumes as, for example, the ProAcs or ELACs around the 3–4K euros category, but otherwise did an admirable job of maintaining listener involvement by communicating other, very critical elements. Such as ambient retrieval, distance from the performers and also letting substantial tonal qualities of your amp & source combo really pass and shine. Care Orchestra’s ‘green’ speakers strong suit seemed to be the way in which they nailed the timbral colors of instruments and allowed also to clearly see through the recorded stage areas with realistic doses of saturation. Anyone expecting clinical, perhaps overly analytical and often bleached-out reproduction of timbres will likely ‘erase and rewind’, then surprised by the small green EVOs masterclass flow, balance and transparent performance.

Retail Price: 1,950 euros including VAT.

Conclusions

Rose EVO is a specialized product: a well-constructed and beautifully designed Italian example of two-way standmount speakers offering different combinations of strengths than the majority of the mid-range category offers today. Capable of beating out many I’ve heard in terms of ambient retrieval, flow, and balance. Their ability to involve themselves in drama and critical exposure of details at the same time with no hint of listening fatigue is something that characterizes this model. My enjoyment of the Care Orchestra Rose EVO Italian-made speakers is obvious. The longer I sat with them and tried nice combinations of solid-state power amplification with a tube or even passive preamplifiers (if ‘compatible’), the more I enjoyed listening through any kind of them. Anyone who is in search of a bookshelf pair and values above all exceptional coherency, liquidity and tonal purity needs to check out these worthy beauties. Easy to drive, with a nominal impedance of 8 ohms and 87.5 dB of sensitivity, they deliver the goods both to our eyes and hearts. As small loudspeakers many times can be among the most flawed components, especially in terms of dynamics expression and ‘body’ of sound images, here is another rare example to audition. Sometimes, Celestial Rose EVO reminds me of the gorgeous first-ever edition of Sonus Faber’s ‘Guarneri’ and that is the greatest compliment for such a design of its price. Highly recommended.

Care Orchestra Speakers

(handcrafted in Italy)

Care Orchestra web site

pre-ordering also in Greece at: