Audience ClairAudient Bellare

Most speakers split your music across a tweeter, a midrange, and a woofer, then use crossovers to stitch it back together. The Bellare keeps everything from the upper bass to the top octave in one voice: two identical 3-inch wideband drivers per speaker, crossover-free from midrange to treble. Below them, a built-in 300-watt amplifier and DSP room correction handle the bass, so you tune the low end to your room instead of the other way around.

One voice from the upper bass to the top octave, with bass you tune to your room.

The Design

Above the bass section, the Bellare plays as a single coherent point-source array of identical wideband drivers, where one driver type carries the music from midrange to treble. Audience built a new driver for it, the TW3 (TimeWave), with a composite aluminum cone, die-cast frame, neodymium magnets, and a dual-gap motor that allows 6 mm of excursion each way, according to Tracking Angle's review. The result is a driver that covers voices, piano, strings, brass, and percussion on its own.

Below the wideband array, the Bellare changes approach. A 7-inch high-excursion mid-woofer and a side-firing 10-inch woofer run from an internal 300-watt amplifier with DSP, automatic room correction, phase control, and a remote for bass level. Audience's room correction treats both drivers together, so the bass joins the wideband array as one system instead of acting like an added subwoofer. Audience puts the handoff at about 140 Hz. Because your amplifier drives only the wideband array, the Bellare also suits modest amplifiers, including low-power tubes.

The name comes from the Italian and Latin words for "beautiful." Audience president John McDonald led the project, with Phil Ducote as chief acoustic engineer.

Mono-Pole or Bi-Pole

The Bellare comes in two versions that share everything except one thing: the Bi-Pole adds two rear-firing wideband drivers to each speaker. John McDonald explains the choice as a matter of room. In smaller rooms, or anywhere the speakers sit close to the front wall, the Mono-Pole's more focused radiation pattern works best. In larger rooms, where the speakers can sit a few feet out from the wall, the Bi-Pole fills the space behind them for a more expansive, immersive sound field, with higher sensitivity and dynamic capability.

Our Experience

We auditioned the Mono-Pole in our own system, with a Unison Research Triode 25 Black Edition and an Innuos Stream3, and we wrote it up in full. The bass was the first surprise. Running the room correction took about five minutes: connect the included microphone, hold the preset button, and the Bellare optimizes its woofer and mid-woofer for the room. With correction on, the bass became the most accurate and tuneful we've had in our system, with notes that stop cleanly and a midrange and treble that opened up as well.

The midrange is where the crossover-free design earns its keep. Voices carried realism and emotional immediacy, piano was clear and coherent, and highs were silky, airy, and easy to listen to for hours. Poor recordings stayed listenable while still showing their flaws, and the soundstage, imaging, and dynamics ranked among the best we've heard. The Bellare scaled the same way with 25 tube watts as with 200 solid-state watts, and we left with one conclusion: whatever music you've fallen in love with, you will fall deeper in love through these speakers.

Setup and Matching

Give the Bellare room to breathe. It's a substantial floorstander, and in our room it improved when we moved the pair to seven feet apart, with the listening chair about ten feet from the front baffles and a slight toe-in. The outriggers attach with threaded inserts, and Stillpoints feet are included. Audience says about 20 watts per channel can drive it, and Tracking Angle's reviewer confirmed it with a 25-watt amplifier. The Mono-Pole's impedance stays between 8.5 and about 16 ohms; the Bi-Pole's load is lower, about 4 ohms nominal according to Tracking Angle, so give us a call about amplifier matching.

Press Recognition

• Tracking Angle, Ken Redmond (September 2026), reviewing the Bellare Bi-Pole. Redmond heard voices and instruments arrive as one musical event, compared the coherence to his Quad ESL-57s while noting the Bellare plays louder and reaches far deeper, and called it an absolute must-hear. Read the review at Tracking Angle
• Positive Feedback, T.H.E. Show SoCal 2026 show report, which called the Bellare very impressive. Read the show report at Positive Feedback
• Our own review, Tweek Geek (June 2026), of the Mono-Pole. Read our review

Wondering whether the Mono-Pole or Bi-Pole suits your room, or what to pair with your amplifier? Give us a call. We'll talk through your space and your system.

Specifications

• Type: Floorstanding loudspeaker with active bass section
• Wideband drivers: Two identical 3-inch drivers per speaker on the front baffle, crossover-free; Bi-Pole adds two rear-firing drivers
• Bass section: 7-inch high-excursion mid-woofer and side-firing 10-inch woofer, powered by an internal 300-watt amplifier with DSP, automatic room correction, phase control, and remote level
• Frequency response: -3 dB at 18 Hz and 22 kHz (Mono-Pole); rated 18 Hz to 22 kHz, +/-3 dB (Bi-Pole) with ARC activated.
• Sensitivity: 88 dB
• Impedance (Mono-Pole): 9.5 ohms nominal, 8.5 ohms minimum
• Maximum continuous output: 105 dB, with minimal driver compression
• Dimensions (Mono-Pole): 9.25 W x 44.25 H x 18 D inches, 85 pounds each
• Dimensions (Bi-Pole): about 9.5 W x 45 H x 18 D inches, about 100 pounds each
• Suggested amplifier power: From about 20 watts per channel
• Included: Outriggers with Stillpoints feet, room correction microphone, remote
• Country of origin: USA (handmade in San Marcos, California)