Floorstanding loudspeakers — Opera Loudspeakers Opera Quinta

The Opera Quinta is the larger of the two Classica floorstanders made by Opera Loudspeakers, the Italian company that belongs to the Unison Research group. In its V2 form the Classica line consists of two stand-mounts, two floorstanders and a centre channel. The current Quinta v2 is a three-way design with two rear reflex ports, developed for higher sensitivity and an easier load than earlier versions.

Key specs that matter

All three bands use drivers developed together with Scan-Speak, and both the woofers and the midrange have aluminium diaphragms. The crossover points are 250 Hz and 2.3 kHz. Frequency response is 30 Hz to 30 kHz, sensitivity is 91 dB and nominal impedance is 4 ohms, with amplifier power rated up to 140 W. The Quinta is intended for rooms of 20 to 35 m2.

Engineering and use context

The drivers were redesigned with the Danish manufacturer to combine extension, high sensitivity and low distortion, and their aluminium membranes move the high-frequency break-up resonance well above the range each driver covers. The crossover uses Vishay non-inductive resistors and Mundorf capacitors and was designed to optimise phase response and reduce phase rotation, which makes the speaker less critical of the amplifier. The shape of the cabinet came from tests aimed at minimising reflections, especially in the midrange. There are no parallel walls inside, and the dimensional ratios reduce standing waves. Opera measured the sound pressure radiated by each panel and refined the enclosure until these emissions fell below average ambient noise. The driver seats in the front baffle are shaped on the inside to limit reflections passing back through the cones, and the rear ports were designed to avoid turbulence at high power.

The earlier 2011 Quinta was a sealed design with two 7 in aluminium woofers, a 7 in aluminium midrange and a Scan-Speak D26 tweeter, rated at 89 dB. The woofers had their own 40 litre volume, the midrange was isolated by high-density MDF walls, and the 30 mm MDF cabinet was covered in leather. It measured 110 x 24.5 x 43 cm and weighed 80 kg per pair.

Pairing

The sensitivity of the v2 and its phase-optimised crossover allow the Quinta to work with Unison Research valve amplifiers as well as with transistor designs.

Alternatives

The Opera Seconda is the smaller floorstander of the Classica line, built as a 2.5-way design.