Essential Install | Speakers
DID YOU KNOW: JVC used to make wooden speaker cones soaked in Sake for flexibility
Loud And Proud!
Daniel J Sait takes a look at some of the companies keen to
present the advantages of their ambitious audio offerings.
Artcoustic is on target
with new designs
The Artcoustic stand was buzzing with activity at EI
Live!, highlighting several brand new introductions. The
company’s UK director, Paul Cummin, says: “We had four
brand new products to launch at the show and whilst we
were very confident in them, the opportunity to show
them directly, in front of the whole industry is a vital
test for us. The reaction was amazing, better than we’d
even hoped for, with the diminutive Target Mini being
a real highlight. Dealers immediately loved them, they
sounded great and look really cool. We were delighted
with the reaction and congratulate everyone on a
fantastic EI Live!”
The Target Mini measures just 15cmsq and 5sm deep,
but certainly packs a punch in its attractive enclosure.
Black and white are both available as standard, but the
company can produce the product in any colour as
long as it has the paint code to match. Also new is the
Performance PS2 front horn-loaded and vented sub,
a powerful but versatile sub which can be built into
cabinetry. Another new offering was the CPH10, a full
range speaker which boasts a 10in driver partnered
with a tweeter designed to offer an option when bass is
required, but a sub is not a practical option – the unit can
go all the way down to 38hrtz. Finally a new top of the
range line array model was on show, the SL24-12 TAAA.
Line Array speakers can sometimes be affected by phase
issues, however this product looks to solve those by
creating a time aligned performance curve by recessing
of the speakers into the cabinet. The idea is that all of the
sound reaches the listener at the same time. Word from
those who have heard it in full cry is that this is one of the
best performing speakers Artcoustic has ever made.
Brands available from the Invision stable include
Origin Acoustics, a company that picked up recognition
at the CEDIA Awards last time out for its Director
Collection winning best innovative product. Designed
for multi-room music and home cinema applications, the
range carries many of the brand’s key innovations such
as patented tweeter design, ZipClip tool-less mounting
system and a specially designed woofer surround to the
pivoting mid/tweeter assembly.
For 3D audio installations, Origin says the Director
Series offers very wide dispersion, delivering greater
benefit to surround sound content as well as increasing
installation flexibility. The speaker’s pivoting ability
allows for further tweaks to be made to the sound.
The Director Collection is also IPX6 weatherproof
rated, meaning exterior or marine use is also an option.
Origin also offers in-wall options via the Composer
Collection which feature many of the installation and
performance features of its in-celling cousin as well as
a dual woofer design and the use of a 4x8 single driver.
Origin says the top of the line Composer THTR68 is at
home in any environment and responds to any musical
or theatrical demand. A three-way design with five
drivers, the Composer THTR68 divides frequencies
among dedicated woofers, mid-ranges and a tweeter
to deliver detail and dynamism. A specially designed
crossover network allows for voicing of individual drivers
to help the speaker produce the right audio blends to
make it a strong all-rounder. The bass section is made
up of dual Kevlar woofers which measure 6 ½in allowing
the overall footprint to be thin and more attractive. A
patented addition designed to improve high-frequency
performance, the DPSD radiator uses a suspension design
that maintains the tweeter’s alignment throughout a larger
frequency range. The suspension is attached at both the
voice-coil and the peak of the dome, allowing the driver
to be crossed over at a lower frequency resulting in
improved dispersion and decreased distortion.
Origin is one of the brands that has taken on the trend
for exterior speaker growth with its Seasons Outdoor
Collection using an innovative driver configuration in a
triangular cabinet. The 60 Series models feature active
woofers and tweeters firing forward and dual passive
radiators firing off the back two sides, designed to fill
the desired space with sound. The collection is available
in eight models including two that deliver both stereo
channels from a single enclosure.
Procella Audio is another Invision brand and delivers a
high-end approach to home cinema or stereo applications.
The brand offers full-range, bi-amplified active
loudspeakers, powerful subwoofers and compact two-way
loudspeakers. The six-foot tall P860 is Procella’s flagship
and is capable of peak levels up to 138db, with THX
reference level output at 16 metres (over 52 feet). The P860
can cope with rooms as deep as 80ft. Its P28 mid/high
frequency module uses dual high output pro-quality 8in
mid-ranges and a 1.5in compression driver with Procella
wave guide, with the low-frequency enclosure featuring
Procella V6 Power, utilising six professional 10in woofers in
a push-pull, distortion cancelling configuration.
May 2017 | 63