The French Surprise

Cabasse Rialto has been blowing minds

Spherical speakers not for you? Cabasse is listening. Meet Rialto.

While the Pearl Series employs a visually polarizing spherical shape in its design scheme, there is a method to Cabasse's apparent yet charming madness. Spheres are easier to make non-resonant as there are no joints and eliminate standing reflections as there are no parallel surfaces. But, while some people love them and find they visually disappear in modern rooms, others think of eyeballs, Death Stars, and bowling balls and just cannot.

Enter the Rialto, Cabasse's first "just add music" system designed around traditional box-speakers. Each unit sports a triple-coaxial driver configuration with three amps: 300 W driving treble and midrange, and 450 W on bass.

The main speaker features a top-mounted touchscreen and dial, and of course, you have full access via the Cabasse app. Plug Rialto into power, give it your Wi-Fi credentials, and you have high-fidelity sound anywhere you set it down.

Jean-Michel Polit of Cabasse, demonstrating the size-defying prowess of the Rialtos at AXPONA 2023.

Amazing Everyone at AXPONA

At AXPONA this year, the Cabasse Rialto was the punch nobody saw coming. The whole weekend, we watched people leave the Cabasse demo room shaking their heads in awe; excited or shocked, or even troubled that such a small all-in-one speaker system could play with so much scale, detail, and room-filling authority. Some show attendees were even suspicious of what we had stowed behind the Rialtos on the other side of the Cabasse banner we brought (pictured above), thinking we had goosed the setup with a subwoofer. We had not!

Ken Micallef of Stereophile was one of the color-me-impressed crowd. He gave these "amazing speakers" a very positive shoutout in his show coverage, describing them (in noise-floor terms) as "dead as a mortuary" and writing, "...the Rialto presented stomping sounds that seemed to suck every bit of air out of the room." (That could go either way, but he meant it as a good thing!)

Rialto also impressed folks at The Absolute Sound, who gave it the 'Best Sound for the Money' award for 2023. Considering the hundreds of brands represented at the show, it is high praise indeed. We observed that the key to this positive response was the element of surprise. Customers and members of the press did not expect such a small-profile speaker to sound so large and alive. A ton of beautiful music poured out of these little boxes. And when customers at the show found out this wasn't just a speaker but everything you needed to make music, more than a few Rialtos were sold on the spot.

Great Support

Cabasse is not a brand that's well known in the US, but they are well-established in France, going back to 1950. They have an office here in California, headed by Alexandre Paul, North American sales manager. Also, Jean-Michel Polit, Cabasse's global sales director, has traveled from France for two audio shows and has spent nearly unbroken days demoing the product and engaging with showgoers. Cabasse is here to stay!

Rarely has it been this easy to press a button and add two three-way speakers, six power amplifiers, and a high-resolution streaming DAC with DSP and room correction to your cart. The Cabasse Rialto is available in black or white; just call or click below to learn more about this stunning, high-performance system from France.

Shop Cabasse Rialto

Kevin Loves This Many-Spendored Thing

The Spendor D7.2 grabbed Kevin by the collar and made him cue up his favorite live album, Lou Reed's Rock 'n' Roll Animal.

"Now I know why my employees dig this speaker," he said after a breathless audition. You can watch the video and learn more about this 2.5 way, rear-ported, 90 dB sensitive floorstander designed and made in England.

We're Open on Saturdays

The Upscale Audio store at 2058 Wright Avenue in La Verne is open on Saturdays from 9 to 5. We will be running with a smaller crew, and there are a couple of important things to note:

1) As with all other days, you'll need to call ahead and set up an appointment for a specific demo. If you decide to drop by, you won't be turned away, but your auditions will be limited to our headphone station and—only if the rooms are free—whatever systems we already have set up.

2) The warehouse will be closed, so if you need to pick up something, please call ahead, and we'll ensure we bring it over by Friday. If you buy something while you're here, it might be cheaper to ship it! After all, shipping is free above $49, and you'll save a little on La Verne city tax. Unless you live in La Verne...

Please call 909.931.9686 to make a demo appointment.