Polish manufacturer Virtual HiFi has launched the Virtual HiFi Supernova, a three-way, fully passive open-baffle loudspeaker designed by Grzegorz Rulka, the engineer behind Cube Audio and Qualio Audio. Built to order in Poland and priced at €20,000 per pair, the Virtual HiFi Supernova is pitched directly at buyers currently choosing between cost-no-object European and American statement speakers.
The Virtual HiFi Supernova’s open-baffle approach to scale
The Virtual HiFi Supernova pairs two 15-inch SB Audience Nero neodymium woofers per side with a 7.5-inch SB Acoustics Satori TeXtreme midrange, mounted on an in-house, 3D-printed waveguide. Top-end duties go to a large Mundorf AMT tweeter that Rulka says is not a standard catalogue part — Mundorf does not normally sell it separately, and Virtual HiFi has it supplied to special order. The three drivers hand over through a crossover built from Jantzen, Mundorf, Duelund and Clarity Cap parts, chosen position by position on a listening rig rather than sourced from a single brand’s catalogue.
Being a dipole, open-baffle design, the Virtual HiFi Supernova has no sealed cabinet to store and release energy late, which Rulka argues removes a layer of coloration that conventional enclosures can never fully eliminate. Rated frequency response is approximately 25Hz-22kHz, with 90dB sensitivity and a 4-ohm nominal impedance, so the Virtual HiFi Supernova is happy with either a strong solid-state amplifier or a push-pull tube design running KT88, KT120 or KT150 output tubes.
Steel instead of wood
Rather than the usual MDF cabinet, the baffle structure uses constrained-layer damping: 3mm high-strength steel, a 2mm elastomer interlayer, and a second 3mm steel plate, bonded rather than bolted together. Virtual HiFi says this sandwich is stiffer and better damped than a 28mm MDF panel of similar thickness, which is also why each loudspeaker weighs 56kg. Despite the mass, every pair ships with silicone wheels for positioning and swappable Vibron isolation footers for the final listening position, plus a dedicated steel transport cart for moving them from pallet to listening room.
Independent validation
Ahead of the commercial launch, reviewer Srajan Ebaen of 6moons followed the Virtual HiFi Supernova from prototype to finished product and lived with a pair at home, closing his review with a single word: “Heroic.” Virtual HiFi is using that endorsement, alongside a 30-day home trial with free return shipping in both directions, to lower the barrier for buyers weighing the Virtual HiFi Supernova against established six-figure alternatives.
Pricing and availability
The Virtual HiFi Supernova is priced at €20,000 per pair including VAT, with worldwide delivery included in that price. Each pair is built to order against the buyer’s room and system, with a typical lead time of four to six weeks. Ten standard RAL finishes are offered for the baffle at no extra cost, with custom colors and special car-paint finishes available on request. As a launch allocation, Virtual HiFi is offering the first five pairs sold at a 20 percent discount.
Key specifications
- Configuration: three-way, fully passive open-baffle loudspeaker
- Frequency response: approximately 25Hz-22kHz
- Sensitivity: approximately 90dB / 2.83V / 1m
- Impedance: 4 ohms nominal, 2.9 ohms minimum
- Woofers: 2x 15-inch SB Audience Nero neodymium per side
- Midrange: TeXtreme cone on an in-house 3D-printed waveguide
- Tweeter: large Mundorf AMT, supplied to special order
- Dimensions: 42 x 21 x 129cm (W x D x H) per speaker
- Weight: 56kg each
- Price: €20,000 per pair, built to order, worldwide delivery included
Buyers weighing a dipole statement speaker against a sealed flagship design may also want to compare the Lorenzo Audio Grande, another recently launched flagship loudspeaker in a similar ambition bracket. Full specifications and ordering details for the Virtual HiFi Supernova are available on the official Virtual HiFi product page.
