Phil
Tongues wagged when renowned speaker-designer Andrew Jones left Elac without saying where he was headed. I don’t think Mo-Fi Electronics, the hardware offshoot of Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs, was on many people’s lists. The company didn’t even make speakers. That didn’t deter Jones; perhaps the clean sheet was a motivating factor. Whatever the reason, after a suitable gestation period the Sourcepoint 10 standmount arrived.
This was then followed by the EISA award-winning Sourcepoint 8: same design principles, same sonic signature (ish), aimed at smaller rooms. I went for the 8 after hearing the two models at Ascot ‘23. Both sounded worthy of further investigation. The Sourcepoint 10 just looked too big for my lounge room.
As it turns out, the Sourcepoint 8 also has an imposing presence. At 29x46x31 cm (WHD) this is not a small loudspeaker. The relative proportions also give the speaker a chunky look, the multi-faceted baffle adding to the solid vibe. That may or may not float your boat. I slowly came around to the look, even if it did rather stand out in my small (4.5 x 3.5m) room. The issue is my room, not the speaker. Your room will vary. And sonically it was an altogether different experience, the Sourcepoint 8’s slightly brutish aesthetic translating into a very refined sound. One that ultimately had me pondering. “Well they’re not that big, are they?”
What you get
The Sourcepoint 8 is a two-way speaker with a 1.25-inch soft-dome tweeter and an 8” mid/bass driver. On the rear of each speaker are two good-quality speaker terminals, plus two ports for more extended bass. Magnetic grilles are provided but I listened with them off.
The nominal impedance is 8 Ohms, dipping to 6.4 Ohms minimum. Neither figure is low. Together with an average 87dB sensitivity, the Sourcepoint 8 should be easy to drive. A 25wpc Musical Fidelity A1 amplifier generated high volume levels. The review speakers were finished in Satin Walnut, whose fit and finish were impressive. Satin White and Satin Black Oak are also available.
The dedicated 60cm stands are self-assembly and sport adjustable spikes. The three columns can be filled to increase mass. The build quality is good, my only gripe being a top plate that could have been a bit thicker.
The speaker costs £2,999 / US$2750 / €3,000 a pair, the stands £/$/€399. Several dealers are bundling them for less than the combined price. There are also currently some promotions on the speaker itself. So maybe shop around a bit.
Design considerations
The Sourcepoint 8 is a coaxial speaker, the tweeter sitting within the mid/bass unit; both fire along the same axis. They’re also coincident – the apex of the drivers at the same distance from the listener – so the speaker acts as a point source (hence the name). This means the different frequencies reach your ears at the same time, reducing phase errors.
The larger driver also acts as a waveguide for the tweeter to smooth its response, particularly off-axis. Detractors point out that the waveguide moves, leading to intermodulation distortion. A point Jones acknowledged in a phone call. He said it’s not an issue for larger drivers though, as they move much less than smaller ones; the 10” unit in the Sourcepoint 10 is fine. In practice, the smaller Sourcepoint 8 driver was also fine when he tested it. Just don’t expect a Sourcepoint 6 at any point, Jones said that would be a step too far…
The speaker baffle is multifaceted to reduce diffraction (the impact of the higher frequencies bouncing off elements of the speaker). Jones described an iterative process, with baffle options developed by the industrial designer being measured, refined, measured again and so on. Thirty times. Even the impact of the picture-frame surround – there for its mid-century looks – was assessed (it proved benign).
The net of all this is a speaker with a smooth frequency response that more than one person can enjoy without fighting over the listening position. Nor should you worry about head height when listening. Stand up and the Sourcepoint 8 will still sound good.
Positioning / optimising treble performance
After more than usual experimentation with position, the Sourcepoints ended up 70 cm from the front wall. That’s slightly more than usual. I’m guessing the dual rear-ports require more room to breathe. The speakers were also set to fire straight ahead – no toe-in – which seemed to optimise the treble performance. I asked Jones about this aspect…
“Regarding the treble balance and directionality, there exist some diffraction effects when listening directly on-axis (speakers pointing directly at you) that are somewhat more pronounced with a concentric design. I therefore always recommend listening slightly off axis, at about 10 degrees.
(With the Sourcepoint 8) up to around 20 degrees off-axis there is no change in treble balance right out to 15kHz. Beyond this it starts to narrow its directivity, though this is very well controlled with a gentle down tilt. Toe-in definitely can be used to adjust the sound balance to taste, and it always depends on the room reverberation characteristics anyway.
Also, compared to the SourcePoint 10, the Sourcepoint 8’s treble is set a little lower than average. So the 10-inch does have a slightly elevated response above 10kHz, done mainly to offset the slightly narrowed very high-frequency directivity, so that the room response is well maintained.
Some folks prefer the treble balance of the 8, some the 10. There is no right or wrong answer. Compared to a regular tweeter mounted directly on the baffle, without a waveguide, then the Sourcepoint 8 might appear a little rolled off. What you get in return is a much better room integration, better imaging, and better nearfield experience.”
In my room, firing straight ahead brought marginal improvements, akin to adjusting the tyre pressure on a Ferrari by a pound or two. Whatever, it’s still a Ferrari. The Sourcepoint 8 does reward a little care and attention to set up though.
Accompanying equipment
Source equipment was a Cambridge Audio Edge NQ streaming pre-amplifier (£5,000) used in fixed-output mode, feeding a Prima Luna EVO 300H integrated amplifier (£6,500). A REL T/7X subwoofer joined the party later on. Comparison was to a pair of Graham LS/6 standmounts, which (spoiler alert) came out the other side with a bloodied nose. That hasn’t happened before.
Listening
The Sourcepoint 8 impressed me straight away with a very dynamic and open sound that dug a lot of detail from the music. Bass was plentiful, yet better integrated into the overall sound than most speakers. The treble was, by the highest standards, slightly rolled off. You had to listen for it though, the only real impact being a slightly kinder handling of bright recordings. The Sourcepoint 8 played bright material – Metallica, Quincy Jones’ The Dude, Erich Kunzel’s Pomp & Pizazz et al – at higher SPLs without sounding harsh.
The soundstage was superb. Similar in width and height to the Graham LS6, the Mo-Fi’s depth was slightly better. It was what was going on within the soundstage that was key though; everything sounded so much more present, so much more realistic with shades of Klipsch Heritage speakers. Performers were also precisely placed, enhancing the musical experience. Take Voces8 for example, who perform ‘All Seems Beautiful To Me’ from Home with the singers positioned in a deep arc. Through the Sourcepoint 8 this arc was abundantly clear.
The level of detail was also impressive. In ‘Bimini’ from Michel Petrucciani’s Power of Three there’s a constant subtle interplay between the musicians. The Sourcepoint 8 excelled at exposing this. Little things were clear, like Shorter gently drumming his fingers on his sax at one point. On lesser systems, it sounds like an indistinct fluttering. Even through the Graham LS6, it’s not clear what that sound is. And yet the Mo-Fi speakers weren’t accentuating detail artificially. No spotlights were shone and the overall sound was very balanced. Through the Sourcepoint 8 I just had more insight into the mix. And through that a better understanding of the musical intent.
On went another detail retrieval torture track – the Live in Pompeii version of ‘Great Gig in the Sky’ by David Gilmore. Again, the Sourcepoint 8 displayed greater acuity. Bryan Chambers contributed more than I’d previously realised for example, particularly early on in the track where his low-level vocal was now apparent.
Overall, the Sourcepoint 8 sounded very refined. Words like filigreed and burnished peppering my listening notes…until it was fed high-energy material like grunge, dance, rock and full-tilt classical; at which point the speaker delivered a masterclass in dynamic bombast, even with my chosen volume levels bordering on the reckless.
Belting out Oasis’ ‘Wonderwall’ was wonderful. As were the Stone Roses on their eponymous album. Both decidedly lo-fi sound but it didn’t matter. Schiller’s electronic-fest Epic lived up to its name, the Sourcepoint 8 throwing a huge soundstage for the synths to roll around in. And Bruce Springsteen never sounded so live as on Live 1975-85. Again and again an initial track led to full albums being played.
With subwoofer
The Sourcepoint 8 seems to dig lower than its -6dB at 47Hz spec implies. Sci-fi soundtracks and synthy electronica in particular sounded fabulous. None more so than Telefon Tel Aviv’s Dreams Are Not Enough, whose ‘I Dream Of It Often’ was stunning. The power the Sourcepoint 8 conveyed was genuinely intimidating.
So no, a subwoofer wouldn’t appear to be needed. Hooking in a REL T/7x seemed silly. At least, in theory. It made a difference though, adding further menace to Dreams Are Not Enough. Hammering bass became pummeling, relentless bass, the emotional disquiet ratcheted up further. Brilliant. Even if everything still sounded fantastic after removing the subwoofer.
A process I repeated with track after track of bass-orientated music. The conclusion being that with the Sourcepoint 8 the T/7X is a luxury rather than a necessity. Were the Mo-Fi speakers staying I’d be tempted to try a T/9X to see what difference its extra 3dB of bass-depth makes.
Comparison
The Graham LS6 standmount has been my main speaker since its 2019 review. At £2,400 it’s 20% cheaper than the Sourcepoint 8. It’s also smaller, to a degree that matters in my lounge. And despite its size disadvantage, the LS6’s bass goes notably lower and is more taught.
The Sourcepoint 8 comfortably bested the LS6 in all areas, including low down. I preferred its bass thanks to the better integration with the rest of the frequency range. The Graham’s low-end sounded slightly contrived, which on the surface made it more impressive. I was listening out for it at the expense of the music though. Not huge differences. The Sourcepoint 8’s bass just drew a little less attention to itself.
Elsewhere it was a clean sheet for the Sourcepoint 8 with its much freer sound and superior dynamics. The soundstage was deeper, the musicians within it better delineated, the sense of realism notably better – probably this speaker’s strongest point. In addition, the Sourcepoint 8 was better organised, particularly on loud, complex music like the Telefon Tel Aviv. The LS6 sounded congested by comparison, struggling to separate the different strands. Slightly reluctantly given my affinity to the LS6 I had to declare game, set and match to Mo-Fi.
Final thoughts
The Sourcepoint 8 isn’t the smallest of standmounts. Neither is it svelte or slimline. Its chunkier looks may divide opinion. It’s a real sonic communicator though: a speaker that conveys the nuances of music whatever the genre. It does intricacy and refinement before switching to full-throated roar and back again, all in an instant. Orchestral works are handled with aplomb but the Sourcepoint 8 is equally at home playing Led Zeppelin, Infected Mushroom and the like – even at high volumes. It’s amazing how much intricacy exists within a wall of sound.
Bass is controlled but not artificially taught, allowed to breathe thanks to the two ports. Much like the speaker’s overall vibe, none of it sounds forced. Plumbing in a subwoofer took the sound even lower but the Sourcepoint 8 doesn’t need one per se. The bottom line is that this is a very good speaker. One that fully justifies its £3,000 asking price. Had you said £4,000 I still wouldn’t have blinked.
Having since put the Graham LS6 back into the system I realised (once again) just how much better the Sourcepoint 8 is and I bought the review pair. ‘Nuff said.
Further information: MoFi Electronics
