Two paths, one vision
For more than five decades, Prof. Dr. Bodo Lambertz has explored a single question: what is the purest, truest form of musical reproduction the human ear can perceive? It is the essence behind APANI, as pure as nature intended, a philosophy that unites perception science, natural acoustic behaviour, and an uncompromising pursuit of authenticity.
On the other side is Backes & Müller, together with developer and graduate engineer Johannes Siegler, a pioneer in digital signal processing and acoustic development in a manufactory with a legendary tradition. Backes & Müller are pioneers of active loudspeakers, masters of sensor controlled precision and guardians of a craft that few truly understand. For more than fifty years, they have pushed the boundaries of loudspeaker technology.
What emerged
When these two worlds met, something extraordinary happened. A shared vision crystallised: to build a loudspeaker that transcends both categories and convention. A system not limited to high fidelity, but becoming a transformer of music itself. This vision became Cylindra, the first Music Transformer.
Its architecture is the fusion of two philosophies. APANI's natural purity, shaped by psychoacoustics, perception research, and the search for uncoloured truth. And Backes & Müller's engineering mastery, with active control, advanced sensors, and precision mechanics at its core. What emerged was not a descendant of earlier systems, but an entirely new species of loudspeaker, one that thinks, breathes, and reacts with the music.
Crafted like an instrument
Every Cylindra is built as a one of one object. Not mass produced. Not tuned on a test bench. But completed only after its final calibration in the actual listening room of its future owner.
The acoustics of the space, its materials, its geometry, and even the listener's individual hearing signature become part of the speaker's final voice. This process is analogous to fine voicing a Stradivari or a Steinway. Except the instrument is the room, and the craftsman is the synergy of APANI and Backes & Müller engineers.
Technology you hear without hearing technology
The calm authority of vertical wave emission. The stability of bionic resonance control. The precision of Backes & Müller's active modules, sensors, and amplifiers. The emotional naturalness of APANI's Klangsignatur. Everything disappears behind the one thing that remains: music in its purest possible form.
A loudspeaker can play music. Cylindra transforms it.
This is why we call it the Music Transformer, because it does something no conventional system can: it bridges the gap between technical accuracy and emotional presence, between what is measurable and what is meaningful.
The collaboration continues
APANI × Backes & Müller is not a moment. It is a movement. An alliance dedicated to advancing the boundaries of sound reproduction, guided by purity, precision, and the desire to bring listeners closer to the original artistic intention than ever before. Together, we build not just loudspeakers, but experiences that redefine what music can be.
