Floorstanding loudspeakers — Kroma Atelier Jovita

The Jovita is the most compact of the Signature Series floorstanders from Kroma Atelier, a loudspeaker maker based in Granada in southern Spain and led by engineer Javier Millan. Kroma unveiled it in May 2024 on its Munich High End stand, shown alongside the Irya from the Reference Series. Kroma names its models after opera heroines, but here the company notes that the name also belongs to a member of the Kroma Atelier family and is associated with strength and power. A pair costs CAD 72,950 in white Krion.

Key specs that matter

Jovita is a three-way design with one AMT tweeter, two 6.5 inch midrange units and one 8 inch woofer, all cone drivers using anodised aluminium. Kroma rates it at 91 dB sensitivity and 4 ohm impedance, with a frequency response from 25 Hz to 27 kHz. The recommended amplifier power spans 30 to 1,000 W. Each cabinet is 117 cm tall, 27.5 cm wide and 32 cm deep, and weighs 48 kg. It comes in white or black, or in Supernova Red, Magneto Bronze, Seychelles Blue, Magnetic Silver and Buckinghamshire Green paint.

Engineering and use context

For the Jovita cabinet Kroma chose Krion, a mineral-based solid surface material made by the Porcelanosa Group. This mineral compound has no pores, carries no magnetism and weighs a lot, and Kroma relies on it to keep the cabinet walls from resonating. The brand does not use metal parts in its cabinets - no screws go into the assembly, and craftsmen shape its wooden pieces by hand in the Granada workshops. Bass reflex ports are turned from cedar and fir by a luthier and tuned to each model. Within the Signature floorstanders the Jovita is 23 cm shorter than the Matilde and 43 cm shorter than the Mercedes, and it is also the lightest of the three, with the smallest footprint. It keeps the same driver sizes as the Mercedes but uses one woofer instead of two. Beyond the painted colours, seven full Krion finishes - Mocha, Ruby, Sky, Ocean, Lunar, Graphite and Midnight - are available for CAD 2,900 extra.

Pairing

Its sensitivity is the highest among the Kroma Signature floorstanders, so moderate amplifier power produces useful levels. Because the load is low in impedance, the logical match is a transistor amplifier that holds steady into low impedance. The wide recommended power window gives the owner freedom to move to much larger amplification later without changing speakers.

Alternatives

Kroma Atelier's Matilde is the four-way Signature Series floorstander that adds a 10 inch aluminium woofer and reaches down to 20 Hz.