Silverline Audio La Folia II - The real facts

Posted by VeRoKy (A) on May 14, 2009 at 22:28:01

Hello.

I own a pair of second hand Silverline Audio La Folia II speakers. I think they sound very good, very well balanced and detailed. I have found that the manufacturer's specs are a bit strange, not really matching what I was actually listening from the speakers, so I decided to investigate a little bit, here are the results.

First of all, this is what the manufacturer says in the website:

Specifications
Design: 3-way, 4 drivers, bass reflex, rear ported
1.25â€ German made Accuton Ceramic Dome Tweeter
5â€ German madeEton Hexacone Midrange
2 x 8" German madeEton Hexacone Woofer
Frequency Response: 28 Hz â€“ 32 kHz (+/-) 3 db
Sensitivity: 92 dB
Nominal Impedance: 8 ohms
Crossover Frequency: 1.8 kHz / 3.5 kHz
Recommended Power: 7 â€“ 1,000 watts RMS
Dimension (H x W x D): 42.5â€ x 11â€ x 16.5â€
Shipping Weight: 135 lbs. Each
Speaker connections: Bi-wired
Price: US$15,000.-/pair (2008 price was 12,000 USD)

The reality is a bit different:
Design: This speakers are not a 3 way design, but a 2 1/2 way one. In fact, the design is very good, taking all the potential from the drivers and high sensitivity. The Eton 8-800/37Hex-b woofers are wired in series, and the Eton 5-880/25Hex-b midrange is driven in parallel with the woofers in its own ported enclosure. So what you have is the summed acoustic outputs from the woofers and the midrange, reaching a high sensitivity value.

Impedance: This is the part I have found more misleading. Once the speakers are simulated with speaker building software, the reality is very different. This is the real impedance curve:

DC to 600Hz: 4,5 ohm linear (obviously without peak resonances from woofers and ports)
600Hz to 1300Hz, droping from 4,5 ohm to 3,2 ohm (at 1000 Hz) and raising again to 4,5 ohm
1300 Hz to 4000 Hz, raising from 4,5 ohm to 23,6 ohm
4000 Hz to 10000 Hz, droping from 23,6 ohm to 10 ohm
10000 Hz to 30000 Hz, droping from 10 ohm to 8 ohm.

Here is an extract from the owners manual, found at the website:
"About Power Amplifier. The standard impedance of all Silverline Audio speakers is 8 ohms. Their exceptionally stable impedance loading favors single ended tube amplifiers, as well as low powered solid state amplifiers."

Not very much what I have found...

Sensitivity: I think is lower than 92 dB, more like 90 dB overall.

Crossover: The woofers have a second order, as also does the midrange. The tweeter has a first order with a resistor. Pretty simple, doing a good job. Everything wired in phase. I wonÂ´t comment the crossover component values, as my purpose is to disclose a reality, not speakers cloning. The crossover frecuencies are not exactly what the manufacturer says.

This is what I want to share with you. Keep it in mind if you listen to this speakers, they are great.

Thanks.

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Topic - Silverline Audio La Folia II - The real facts - VeRoKy 22:28:01 05/14/09 (2)

One size fit all? - Misael 10:08:36 05/15/09 (0)

RE: Silverline Audio La Folia II - The real facts - robert.gaboury@videotron.ca 05:20:36 05/15/09 (0)

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