Floorstanding loudspeakers — Blumenhofer Acoustics Gran Gioia 2x10

The Gran Gioia 2x10 is a floorstanding horn loudspeaker from Blumenhofer Acoustics that the company now lists among its legacy products, next to the Gran Gioia MK 1 and MK 2. According to Blumenhofer, it grew out of work on a new horn concept aimed at a smaller full horn speaker. During development it turned into a coaxial arrangement of the maker's own kind - two woofers working into the same horn behave as one driver, with the compression driver horn placed in the middle. Blumenhofer calls this a virtual coax configuration.

Key specs that matter

Blumenhofer built it as a two-way speaker. A pair of 250 mm paper-cone woofers covers the low range and crosses over at 750 Hz. Above that point a compression driver takes over, fitted with a 75 mm titanium membrane and feeding a horn through a 1.4 inch throat. The published frequency range is 35 Hz to 20 kHz within plus or minus 2 dB. Efficiency is rated at 95 dB, the nominal impedance is 4 ohm and maximum power input is 300 W RMS. Each cabinet measures 1332 x 482 x 536 mm and weighs 60 kg, and the gross weight with packaging reaches 90 kg.

Engineering and use context

Blumenhofer lists the bass cabinet as a combination of horn loading and bass reflex, with the reflex port opening toward the floor and the horn load facing forward. The bass reflex tunnel is optimised for resonance and air flow, and the design uses what the maker describes as a new waveformer technology. The main cabinet is 19 mm birch plywood in a harmonic construction with structural bracing, while the horn itself is made of an HDF complex. The crossover has its own separate chamber inside the enclosure. The drivers are time aligned, and a switchable impedance linearisation acts on the crossover frequency. Terminals are made of gold-plated tellurium copper, the speaker stands on adjustable spikes, and the original warranty ran for five years. Blumenhofer offered true wood veneers from its own workshop for this model.

Pairing

Blumenhofer rated the Gran Gioia 2x10 as tube friendly, and the high efficiency keeps the demand on amplifier power low, although any amplifier chosen must be specified for the low nominal load given above. Because the connection panel is prepared for bi-amping and bi-wiring, the woofer pair and the horn can be driven by two separate amplifiers.

Alternatives

The Blumenhofer Gran Gioia MK 3, a current model of the Gioia series, replaces the two 10 inch woofers with a single 380 mm unit and is rated at 100 dB and 150 W RMS.