Floorstanding loudspeakers — Final Audio Model 15

The Model 15 is a Dutch electrostatic tower made by Final Audio and the taller sibling of the Model 12. In the current range its successor is the Model 15+, placed below the Model 35+. Final Sound first showed electrostatic speakers in 1991, the company passed to Philips in 2004, and the original founders restarted it in 2015 as Final Audio with a new range. The Model 15 went on sale in the US at USD 10,000 per pair.

Key specs that matter

This version reaches down to 45 Hz, three hertz lower than the Model 12, with 88 dB sensitivity at 2.83 V and 1 m and a 4 ohm nominal load. Its panel stands more than 2 m tall. The later Model 15+ is quoted by Final at 42 Hz to 23 kHz within 3 dB, 6 ohm linear impedance dipping to 3 ohm at 20 kHz, and horizontal dispersion of 20 degrees. The Plus measures 204 cm high, 46 cm wide and only 3.5 cm deep, weighs 20 kg per speaker, and sold in Europe at EUR 14,999 in aluminium or matte black, with a suggested amplifier of 50 to 150 W per channel.

Engineering and use context

One large foil driver covers the full bandwidth, split into four frequency sections rather than separate drivers in a multi-way layout. The foil is Teonex, a film stronger and lighter than Mylar, with an indium tin oxide coating that provides conductivity and UV resistance, and Final expects it to last essentially a lifetime. Stators are made of Perspex with precision printed conductive zones that define each band. The roll-off of each section is set by the width of the conductive coating between sections together with the natural capacitance of the assembly, so no conventional crossover network divides the signal. Dedicated custom UI48 transformers deliver push-pull signals to separate low and high frequency stator sections. Gold plated terminals take banana plugs or spades. Production is to order in the Netherlands, and a custom shop offers high gloss black, Ferrari red and Burberry brown among other frame colours.

Pairing

A load that stays close to linear across most of the band makes the Plus suitable for almost any competent amplifier, and Final notes that a stable design doubles its output as the impedance halves. As a dipole panel, the Model 15 radiates backward as well as forward, so it needs free space behind it rather than a spot against the wall.

Alternatives

For listeners with less height to spare, the Final Model 12 applies the same electrostatic design in a panel close to 180 cm tall with a 48 Hz low limit.