Our Location
Industriestrasse 111
4147 Aesch
Switzerland
Credo EV Reference ONE · Made to order
The whole of the music.
The top of the Evolution line. A wide-band mid-woofer carries the music the way a full-range driver would, with all its tonal richness; a 12-inch woofer below adds deep bass with weight and control. Voices stand precisely in the centre, and nothing is cut apart.
Made by hand in Switzerland, to order.
01 · Listening
Precise, with real weight.
Michael Kraske built the Reference ONE around an idea he has always liked: the tonal balance and richness of a full-range loudspeaker, where one driver carries most of the music. What he would not accept was what usually comes with it: thin bass and high distortion.
So the 6.5-inch mid-woofer plays from 50 Hz up into the lower treble and hands over to the tweeter on a gentle slope. Below it, a side-firing 12-inch woofer in its own closed cabinet adds the bass, down to 30 Hz. The low end is deep, fast and clearly drawn, even when the music gets big; voices float in the centre, pinpoint and still.
It rewards the listener who wants to hear into a recording: detail, texture and timing, at low levels as well as loud ones.
02 · The room
For larger rooms, at full scale.
The Reference ONE is made for larger living and listening rooms, and for listeners who want the full scale of an orchestra or a band without a separate subwoofer. Closed cabinets keep the bass tight and less dependent on the room. Small resistors at the terminals let you fine-tune midrange and treble to your room, whether it is lively or heavily damped. Each loudspeaker stands on its own Isolation Base.
03 · Design
The top of the Evolution line.
The Reference ONE was Credo’s first three-way design. The upper cabinet holds the mid-woofer and the tweeter, each in its own closed chamber; the lower cabinet holds the 12-inch woofer. The cabinets are decoupled twice, from each other and from the floor, on an Isolation Base machined from 12 mm aluminium.
The tweeter is a coated 1-inch textile dome and the mid-woofer a coated 6.5-inch sliced-paper cone, both with symmetrical drive; the woofer has an aluminium cone and a double ferrite magnet. All three are custom-made in Denmark. The passive crossover is Credo’s own: gentle filter slopes that grow steeper towards the cut-off, built with air-core foil coils and premium capacitors.
Read Michael’s design statement ↗ · Datasheet ↗ · The Isolation Base ↗
04 · Finishes and build
Made to order, by hand.
Every pair of the Reference ONE is built to order, in the finish you choose, from Silk Touch to a deep Urushi lacquer. Mechanical parts, terminals and crossovers are made in our own workshop in Switzerland, the boards are equipped by hand, and the cabinets and Isolation Bases are milled on our own CNC machines. The drivers and key components come from specialists in Denmark and Germany.
Not built to fit a price point, but to sound right in a real room.
05 · Heard by others
Heard by others.
“I think this speaker will appeal to folks who value a portrayal with lots of detail and texture, accompanied by a slammin’ low end and pinpoint imaging.”
Part-Time Audiophile · Dave McNair, review 2022, Reviewers Choice · Read ↗
“I loved how well the Credos could float a phantom center image.”
Part-Time Audiophile · Dave McNair, review 2022 · Read ↗
06 · Specifications
The essentials.
- System: passive three-way floorstander, closed cabinets; upper cabinet with mid-woofer and tweeter in separate chambers, lower cabinet with woofer; double vibration-decoupled
- Drivers: 1-inch coated textile tweeter with neodymium magnet and symmetrical drive; 6.5-inch coated sliced-paper mid-woofer with large ferrite magnet and symmetrical drive; side-firing 12-inch aluminium-cone woofer with double ferrite magnet; custom-made in Denmark
- Crossover: passive, Credo’s own three-way filters; air-core foil coils and premium capacitors; level adjustment for midrange and treble
- Frequency response: 40 Hz – 20 kHz, ±1.5 dB; bass roll-off −3 dB at 30 Hz, −6 dB at 25 Hz, −10 dB at 20 Hz
- Sensitivity: 87.6 dB at 2.83 V / 1 m
- Impedance: 6 Ω nominal, minimum 4.8 Ω (5–20 kHz), maximum 9.8 Ω at 1.2 kHz
- Recommended amplifier: 80 – 200 W RMS
- Dimensions (H × D × W): 126 × 45 × 22 cm · 55 kg
- Isolation Base: included (learn more)
- Availability: made to order
Listening level
How loud is right?
Most music is enjoyed far more quietly than loudspeaker brochures suggest. Professional mixing rooms work to a reference level of 83 to 85 dB, with peaks about 20 dB higher. In a living room, the same music feels just as loud at 76 to 78 dB, because you sit closer to the loudspeakers and to the walls.
| Room volume | Typical room | Reference level |
|---|---|---|
| Under 42 m³ | small room, near-field | 74 dB |
| 42 – 142 m³ | typical living room | 76 dB |
| 143 – 283 m³ | large living room | 78 dB |
| 284 – 566 m³ | very large room | 80 dB |
| Over 566 m³ | cinema, concert-sized room | 83 dB |
This matters, because hearing changes with level. The equal-loudness contours, first mapped by Fletcher and Munson, show that the ear loses sensitivity to bass and treble as the level drops, while the midrange stays prominent. A loudspeaker has to keep its full balance at real living-room levels, not only when it is played loud.
It is also why we don’t chase high efficiency. A passive loudspeaker that stays linear down into the deep bass reaches about 89 dB per 2.83 V at most; a higher figure on paper is paid for with weaker bass, exactly where the ear needs help at home. We design each model for its room size and listening distance instead.
The amplifier follows from there. We calculate it the way cinema and studio engineers do, to the CEA/CEDIA method: room volume, listening distance, reference level, peaks and honest headroom. For the EV Reference ONE, that means 80 to 200 W RMS, depending on room and level; its 6 Ω load never falls below 4.8 Ω, an easy partner for any good amplifier. Tell us about your room, and we will calculate it for you.
07 · Questions and answers
Questions we are asked.
What is the Credo EV Reference ONE?
The top of Credo’s Evolution line: a three-way floorstanding loudspeaker with closed cabinets, a wide-band 6.5-inch mid-woofer, a 1-inch tweeter and a 12-inch woofer, made by hand in Switzerland.
Do I need a subwoofer with it?
No. The 12-inch woofer in its own closed cabinet reaches down to 30 Hz at −3 dB.
What room suits it?
Larger living and listening rooms. Midrange and treble levels can be fine-tuned to a lively or a heavily damped room.
What amplifier suits it?
It depends on your room and how loud you listen. As a guide, 80 to 200 W RMS; the 6 Ω load never falls below 4.8 Ω.
How can I order it?
The Reference ONE is made to order. Contact us or one of our partners, and we will advise you on finish, room and amplifier: credo-audio.ch/contact · Where to buy.
Next step
Bring your own music.
Some speakers are designed to impress in a showroom. Credo speakers are designed to reveal music in its purest form.
Bring the records you know best. We set up the system with you, then you sit down, take your time, and listen.
Press
The EV Reference ONE in the press.
Reviews and show reports, each linked to the original.
Part-Time Audiophile
Dave McNair · Review, 2022 · Reviewers Choice
“The Credo EV Reference One exudes a confident precision in its sonic portrayal, without any additional sweet talkin’.” Read ↗
Part-Time Audiophile
Buyer’s Guide · Best Tower Loudspeakers 2024
“We found it confident and precise, and a superb transducer for string orchestras in particular.” Read ↗
Stereophile
Show report
“The bass, which sounded nice and punchy on some funky hi-rez digital tracks …” Read ↗