Floorstanding loudspeakers — AudiaZ Opera Diamond

The Opera Diamond is a three-way standing speaker by the Bavarian firm AudiaZ, based in Rosenheim. It is built on the larger Opera cabinet and differs from the standard Opera through a diamond dome tweeter from Accuton in place of the ceramic unit. The pair costs EUR 48,000, against EUR 39,000 for the Opera with a ceramic tweeter, so the diamond conversion adds EUR 9,000.

Key specs that matter

All drivers are from Accuton. Two 22 cm woofers handle the bass, a 16.8 cm unit covers the midrange and the 30 mm diamond dome takes over above 2 kHz. Measured efficiency is 88.5 dB at 2.83 V, and impedance falls to a minimum of 3.2 ohm at 23 Hz. Maximum level is 105 dB continuous and 117 dB short term. The two woofers load a reflex enclosure. Each speaker is 28.4 cm wide, 125.7 cm tall and 28.4 cm deep and weighs 56 kg.

Engineering and use context

Opera cabinets are made of 19 mm calibrated maple multiplex in the seven-faceted OVO shape, with a V-shaped front flanked by two trapezoidal faces that carry the woofers, so their forces on the cabinet cancel mechanically. Reflex tuning is close to 22 Hz and its port fires downward through a steel base plate. Signal enters through silver-plated WBT binding posts, and finishes on the series are pearl gloss black, white and golden ebony. For the filter AudiaZ selects capacitors by Duelund, Intertechnik, Mundorf and BMC in mica and film versions, and the capacitor feeding the diamond dome is a pure silver foil type with silver leads. The cabinet is wired throughout in massive silver leads insulated by GORE Teflon, and the tweeter branch runs in pure silver solid core cable. The step from ceramic to diamond affects only the tweeter, while woofers, midrange and cabinet stay the same as on the Opera. In the wider AudiaZ range the Opera Diamond sits between the ceramic Opera and versions such as the Opera Riva Diamond and Opera Grandezza, which add diamond or new midrange drivers.

Pairing

About 160 W is needed to reach the maximum continuous level. With the load dropping low in the deep bass, the amplifier should deliver current into low impedances without strain. For comparison, the Opera Riva Diamond, priced at EUR 53,000 per pair, combines the diamond dome with a 90 mm ceramic Accuton midrange and quotes 88.0 dB at 1 W and 1 m. On the Opera series every internal connection is soldered, with no plug connectors.

Alternatives

The AudiaZ Opera Grandezza is a floorstanding model of the same series that pairs the diamond tweeter with a diamond midrange.