AudioSolutions Virtuoso S Floorstanding Speakers

Further Information: 

Location: Class A Audio, 8/585 Blackburn Rd, Notting Hill, VIC, 3168. phone (03) 8555 0735

The Virtuoso series employs much of the advanced technology originally developed for the company’s flagship Vantage 5th-anniversary series, combined with a sophisticated visual design. The Virtuoso series sits comfortably between AudioSolutions’ Figaro and Vantage 5th anniversary series.

DESCRIPTION

Notable highlights of the new series include a box-in-a-box system, mini-horn loaded tweeter, an extended frequency midrange driver, a user-adjustable crossover with three listening profiles, as well as innovative self-locking cabinets.

Features

A significant highlight of the Virtuoso loudspeaker series is its advanced “box in a box” cabinet design, which consists of two boxes glued together. Originally developed for the Figaro series, the structure of this cabinet has been further improved to enhance the sonic performance of the Virtuoso series. The weakest points of a traditional speaker cabinet are the corner joints since they behave more like hinges, rather than tight joints in a natural vibrating environment. The “box in a box” approach resolves this issue by combining two cabinets, arranged in an offset pattern. The internal cabinet is fully sealed and outfitted with heavy internal bracing and dampening.  It is then covered with an outer box, which is glued tightly to the internal cabinet. This technique allows the cabinet to achieve 10 times the stiffness of a single layer enclosure. The sonic gains from the stiffer cabinet are enormous - the sound is neutral and more authentic.

AudioSolutions first introduced an adjustable crossover in the Vantage Classic loudspeaker series.  This allowed the user to fine-tune the speakers to their room and associated audio components.  Now with the Virtuoso series, the concept is raised to another level, allowing the listener to choose one of three different crossover profiles.

1.       Balanced – this mode is a sweet spot with great musical clarity and an immersive soundstage.

2.       Moderate – this mode is ideal for prolonged listening sessions and times when the speakers are driven near their limits, especially when listening to rock or metal. The continued evolution of high-end audio components and loudspeakers means that today’s gear reveals many imperfections in the recordings, which can make them sound distorted, noisy and tiring to your ears.  This is particularly true with classic rock albums.  The Soft mode applies a technique similar to recording studios, manipulating distortions and very sharp nulls in the frequency range.

3.       Enhanced – engaging this mode will allow the listener to experience the finest level of musical details from their recordings.  This mode is especially well suited for quiet evening listening sessions when ambient urban noise is reduced, and micro details in the music come alive. This mode can mean the difference between simply listening to music and establishing an emotional connection with your music, prompting you to get up and dance or shed a tear, when listening to your favourite tunes.

ADJUSTABLE CROSSOVER

Virtuoso is equipped with a new type of speaker tuning device which encloses three different crossovers in one speaker to choose from. This system does not change SPL of speaker response and should not be mistaken with room/system tuning devices where levels of individual drivers are being changed. In Virtuoso we decided to take a step further and use natural drivers' distortion pattern to manipulate listening experience.

As it is known all speaker drivers have more or fewer distortions present across the spectrum which is the natural behaviour of the driver. However, each driver's distortion pattern is different creating unique sounding units. This is why aluminium cone drivers have a metallic/harsh sound or ceramic cone drivers have analytic sound, or better yet this is what makes two different violins sound different, just in music it is called overtones rather than distortions. Different overtones create a unique sound character. By adding more drivers to the speaker we create a speaker system with its crossover points in each driver and at the same time in each driver's distortion pattern. By manipulating with crossover frequency and steepness of slopes we can create different distortion patterns which will give to sound different character. It is a unique feature which allows us to have three different listening experiences without actually changing speaker characteristics.

FINISHES

The Virtuoso series is offered in seven standard finishes: Pearl White, Silver Grey, Zinc Grey, Charcoal Grey, Pine Green, Ice Blue and Glacier Blue. Five vibrant metallic colours are also available, which include Lemon, Deep Orange, Saturated Green, Teal and Saturated Blue. There is one additional finish, called Flame Chameleon, for those who desire a unique, custom look. This standout finish changes colour from a cold grey to a warm red, depending on how light hits its surface.

Specifications

Dimensions (HxWxD) : 1130mm x 391mm x 547mm; 44.4 x 15.4 x 21.5in

Weight : 50 kg/100 lbs each

Shipping weight : 80 kg/160 lbs each

Sensitivity : 91.5 dB @ 2.83V 1m

Nominal power handling : 130 W rms

Maximum unclipped power handling : 260 W;

Impedance : nominal 4,0 ohms

Crossover frequency : 500 Hz; 7000 Hz

Frequency response (in-room environment) : 26-30000 Hz

Drivers : 3cm silk dome tweeter, 13.2cm Hard Pulp paper cone mid, two 16.5cm Hard Pulp cone bass drivers