This time, we’re reviewing the new and intriguing Morel Avyra 633 speakers from the latest Avyra series by the Israeli company Morel.
We would like to thank Morel for sending us these speakers for review.
We first encountered Morel's Avyra series at the 2023 Munich High End Show, where Mr. Yossi Lev, Morel's Sales Manager in Israel, introduced us to the new Avyra and Sopran series (video in Hebrew):
Bottom Line
With its refined design, excellent build quality, balanced sound with punchy bass, and an attractive price, the Morel Avyra 633 is an especially captivating speaker
Liked
- Sleek design and top-tier build quality for its category
- Perfectly sized for the average Israeli living room
- Balanced, neutral, relaxed, and enjoyable sound
- Deep, punchy bass with good dynamics
- Excellent integration between bass and midrange
- Made in Israel
To Improve
- It loses a bit of dynamics at lower volume levels and sounds its best from a moderately low volume upwards
Video Review
The video review is in Hebrew, you can use the automatic translation capabilities of YouTube (available through the browser interface on PC\Mac):
About Morel
The Israeli company Morel was founded in 1975 by Mr. Meir Mordechai. The company’s factory has been located in Ness Ziona since its establishment. Morel has extensive experience in manufacturing drivers and speakers. Their product range includes home speakers, car speakers, in-wall speakers, lifestyle speakers, and even a soundbar model, which we had the honor of reviewing as a world premiere—the Morel SoundHall 1 (Hebrew review).
In 2021, we had the opportunity to visit the Morel factory, where we were impressed by the production process and had discussions with the people behind this unique Israeli project, including Mr. Oren Mordechai, the current CEO and son of the founder, Meir.
You can read the full article about our visit to the Morel factory here (article is in Hebrew).
Additionally, during that visit, we had the honor of having a long conversation with Mr. Meir Mordechai, the founder of Morel – Interview with Mr. Meir Mordechai in Hebrew.
Under Test: Morel Avyra 633
The Morel Avyra 633 is a 2.5-way floor-standing speaker featuring a soft-dome Acuflex tweeter with an aluminum voice coil and two 6-inch mid-bass drivers. These drivers include membranes made from a continuous piece of material to ensure consistency, a dual magnet system, and an external aluminum voice coil (EVC).
On the rear panel, the Avyra has a bass reflex port and a single pair of terminals.
Additional technical spec:
Sensitivity: 90 dB
Nominal Impedance: 4 ohms
Frequency Response: 30-20,000 Hz (45-18,000 Hz ±2 dB)
The speaker dimensions are: 982 mm height, 310 mm width, and 326 mm depth. The weight is 22 kg.
In addition to the floor-standing model, the Avyra series also includes a bookshelf model and a center channel speaker.
An Interview with Mr. Oren Mordechai, CEO of Morel
To gain some inside information on the development process of the Morel Avyra 633 speakers, I posed several questions to Mr. Oren Mordechai, CEO of Morel:
Which parts are made in Israel and where is the final assembly carried out?
All speaker units, including the tweeters and woofers with large (3”) voice coils and dual internal magnet technologies, are produced in Israel. The assembly of the speaker units into their enclosures, as well as the final product testing and the packaging, are all done here in Israel.
What was the inspiration for the design? And what is the origin of the name Avyra?
The design inspiration comes from the company’s history and products like the Fat Lady and the Sopran, from which the silhouette at the sides of the cabinet was taken. The driver technologies in this product incorporate many of the technologies from the large voice coil units of the Sopran with very low distortion levels. The name Avyra is derived from the Hebrew word "אוירה" (atmosphere). Once we completed the product development, the full, natural, and pleasant sound reminded us of a warm and cozy atmosphere, which led to the final name for the product.
What materials are the drivers made from?
The drivers use large voice coil technology, with the voice coils made from 100% pure aluminum with no other materials, and the membranes are made from polypropylene. Each membrane is crafted from a single piece to ensure precision and consistency in manufacturing.
What were the considerations for using the same driver in terms of material and size for the midrange and woofer units?
In the floor-standing speaker, the design is 2.5-way. The same unit is used, but the drivers do not cover the same frequency range—to create strong and fast bass while maintaining high precision in the midrange frequencies.
Although the drivers in the floor-standing and bookshelf speakers look identical, they differ significantly in impedance and overall behavior.
The 633 model fits beautifully in the typical Israeli living room in terms of size. Was the target audience defined this way from the start?
This speaker was designed in Israel with input from customers in Israel and around the world. The product is primarily sold for export, but it has the advantage of being designed in the local market, making it well-suited to the Israeli home and providing excellent value for money. The Israeli customer appreciates a product that offer good value for their price. I believe we are currently unmatched in Israel and have a very attractive product globally.
How does the Avyra series compare to the older Octave series?
The Octave has been with the company since the 1980s. Initially, it was the company’s leading speaker in a large 3-way configuration. Since the 2000s, the Octave has been refined to fit smaller living spaces. In designing the Avyra, we aimed to surpass the Octave in every sound parameter, using components comparable to the old Octave speakers with slight updates, and we are pleased to have achieved this. What has been pleasantly surprising is the design, which has also received excellent reviews and feedback worldwide.
Here are some photos from Morel showing the drivers and assembly process:
Design and Build Quality
The Unboxing video:
Morel invested a significant amount of time and effort into designing these speakers, and the high level of investment is clearly evident in their appearance. One of the standout design features is the wood-like veneer on the side panels. This is not just a simple flat veneer, but rather a wave-like decorative pattern. I believe this is a subtle yet elegant design touch that also makes the speaker appear slightly smaller, allowing it to blend more seamlessly into a modern living space. The range of finishes is extensive, including four options: black, white, oak, and walnut. We received the walnut finish, which I found to be both soothing and beautiful.
The front panel is designed with minimalism, which avoids drawing unnecessary attention and makes it easy to blend into home decor. At the bottom of the speaker, the Morel logo is subtly embedded.
The speaker comes with a built-in base floor stand. I always appreciate such speaker bases, as they provide a frame and stability for the speaker, along with additional floor isolation. The stand also features a wave-like decoration and a nickel frame. This attention to detail in the stand's design is certainly not to be taken for granted, and Morel deserves praise for it.
On the rear panel, below the terminals, you'll find a golden-colored label indicating that the speaker is made in Israel and showing its serial number. For me, this label adds an extra design touch and enhances the pride of ownership for the product.
The speakers come with magnetic grilles, which are also well-designed. I typically prefer grilles that cover only the driver area rather than those that cover the entire front panel. Nonetheless, I think the design of these grilles is refined and integrates nicely with the speaker.
The Morel Avyra 633 speakers come with large, heavy spikes that significantly enhance stability and floor isolation. Their build quality is impressive, conveying a sense of durability and confidence. Perhaps the cherry on top for me is the floor protectors placed under the spikes. These protectors are handcrafted in Israel and are both heavy and high-quality. Not every manufacturer includes floor protectors with their speakers, and certainly not with such a level of quality.
In case it wasn't clear from the previous paragraphs, I believe that in terms of both design and build quality, the Morel Avyra 633 exceeds our expectations with flying colors.
The listening test
The Morel Avyra 633 speakers were connected to my personal system, which includes a Nagra Classic Int integrated amplifier, an MSB Discrete DAC, and a Lumin U2 Mini streamer, with cabling from Nordost's Blue Heaven series. Full details of the system, as usual, are at the end of the article.
After burning in the speakers for about two days, I began with casual listening. For me, this phase is essential as it provides an overall impression and helps identify prominent traits without needing critical listening. If certain characteristics stand out during casual listening, they are likely to be easily noticeable by most listeners. Conversely, if I can get through casual listening without any standout issues, it usually indicates a balanced performance. For instance, if the bass was overly dominant or the tweeter too harsh, these would be apparent even during casual listening. I'm happy to report that the Morel Avyra 633 passed this initial test without showing any negative traits.
The key characteristics I noticed during the first few days of listening were balance, relative neutrality with a hint of warmth, punchy bass, and a relaxed, pleasant presentation. Another standout feature was the excellent and smooth integration between the midrange and bass, which I credit to the 2.5-way configuration and the fact that both the mid-bass and woofer units are identical.
Now let’s move on to critical listening, where I played familiar tracks with focused attention.
Since this is an Israeli-made speaker, I chose to start the test with a track by the internationally renowned Israeli artist Asaf Avidan. I selected one of his best songs, "Reckoning Song". The black background is very impressive, with sounds emerging from almost complete silence. The guitar sounds delicate and soft, not overly sharp. The vocal, of course, is the main highlight of this piece; it is well-separated and centered. The level of detail allows for easy recognition of Avidan's unique vocal rasp. As he reaches higher notes, the presentation maintains accuracy and pleasantness.
Next, I moved on to a blues-folk-pop track that I've been quite hooked on lately. The track is called "Satisfyd" and is by a Canadian-Ethiopian artist named Moël. It features an infectious rhythm with a light touch of African blues, a great electric guitar, and deep bass. Through the Avyra 633, the bass is punchy and energetic with good detail and a bit of warmth, which I started to notice in this track. The delicate vocals are clearly audible with good separation, while the guitar is meaty and feels natural and precise. The sound is energetic yet simultaneously relaxed and soothing. The soundstage is not aggressive or forward but more laid-back. Nevertheless, it creates a soundstage with impressive depth, width, and height.
Next, we’ll pick up the pace with an electronic music track. This time, I chose a piece I recently discovered, "Could We But See" by the Raphael Pannier Quartet & Acid Pauli. It’s a long and challenging track, featuring a blend of deep electronic beats and jazz elements. Here, the Morel Avyra 633 begins to show its strengths and prove it’s not just a relaxed and pleasant speaker. The bass is powerful and fills the entire room with ease, while also being detailed. The sound is expansive, with the soundstage being wide and impressively high, with sounds emerging well above the speaker height. The keyboards are well-separated and fill the midrange, while the various touches and effects are conveyed effectively, with the saxophone gently floating above the other sounds. The performance displays impressive dynamics and control.
I've used this track to test the performance of the Avyra 633 at different volume levels. At lower volumes, there is a slight loss in dynamics. The Avyra 633 don’t need extreme volume to come alive, but they do perform best starting from medium-low volumes, where they really open up.
During the burn-in period for the Morel Avyra 633, I played our jazz playlist, Sunset Jazz. One of the tracks on it, "Duende" by Bozzio Levin Stevens caught my attention. It's a jazz piece blended with world music, with a Greek-Spanish influence. So I have returned to this track for this part of the review. The bass in the opening demonstrates high detail reproduction, and the guitar strumming shows excellent separation, all while maintaining a natural and engaging sound. This track has an energetic rhythm and is delivered wonderfully through the Avyra 633, with punch, balance, and convincing separation between the guitar and the bass.
To test the performance with more relaxed and refined music, I chose "Riverside" by the wonderful Agnes Obel. The piano, which is the centerpiece of this piece, sounds grand and powerful, while the vocals are very close to the microphone, creating a magical sound that is characteristic of Agnes’s work. Along with the Avyra's subtle warmth, there is a pleasant and natural delivery. I’ve heard systems that achieve more separation between the piano and vocals in this piece, but considering the price tag, the Avyra’s performance is both moving and accurate.
I started with an international Israeli artist, so let’s finish with another wonderful Israeli musician. I couldn’t review an Israeli speaker without including one of my favorite works by an Israeli artist, of course, "Remembering" by Avishai Cohen.
The familiar clarity of the piano in this piece is wonderfully conveyed by the 633. The piano sounds clean, soft, and natural. The bass accompaniment, which provides the emotion and magic of the piece, sounds slightly warm, pleasant, and soothing, resulting in a very moving performance. In the bass solo, this warmth is noticeable and slightly comes at the expense of absolute detail. To my taste, there's a deliberate warm and pleasant direction here, that will appeal to many listeners.
While the piece does show a touch of warmth, it doesn’t stray from neutrality. The soundstage remains wide and high in this piece as well. The cymbals are well-defined and separated, and the placement of the various instruments on the stage is easy to grasp.
Summary
They say that good things are worth waiting for, and it certainly took Morel a considerable amount of time to launch their new Avyra speakers series, but it was definitely worth the wait.
The extensive investment is evident in every detail. Morel is known for their high-quality drivers, but here they have raised the bar with a carefully crafted and designed product that is pleasant and subtle enough to seamlessly integrate into your living space. Another factor that aids in blending the speakers is the cabinet size, which seems to be perfectly tailored to the dimensions of a typical Israeli living room, both in appearance and in its ability to fill the space. The attention to detail is also apparent in the inclusion of high-quality spikes and floor protectors. With such a significant investment in design and build quality, Morel sets a very high standard in this price category.
Of course, after admiring the appearance and build quality, we turn to the sound. I thought long about how to best describe the sound signature of the Morel Avyra 633, ultimately I have decided to use four words: neutral, relaxed, balanced, and enjoyable.
Bottom line, if you’re looking for speakers for an Israeli living room with a budget of up to 15,000 NIS, the Morel Avyra 633 should definitely be on your list for consideration.
Price: 10,900 NIS
Warranty: 5 years
The system I used for the review:
Integrated amplifier: Nagra Classic Int
Streamer: Lumin U2 Mini
DAC: MSB Technology Discrete DAC with 2 external power supplies
Music Server: fan-less PC with SSD running Roon Core
Cables:
USB cable from Lumin U2 Mini to the DAC: Nordost Blue Heaven
XLR cable from the DAC to the Integrated Amp: Nordost Blue Heaven
Speaker cables: Nordost Blue Heaven
Audio rack: Quadraspire Q4Evo
Power:
Power cables for the amplifier, the Lumin U2 Mini and the DAC: Nordost Blue Heaven
Power Distribution Block : QBASE QB8 Mark II
Power cable for the distribution block: Nordost Red Dawn
