Floorstanding loudspeakers — Fischer & Fischer SN/SL 270

The SN/SL 270 is a slim two-way column from Fischer & Fischer, the slate loudspeaker specialist. It sits above the SN/SL 170 with a taller and deeper cabinet, and like all models in the range it comes as SN in natural slate or SL with the slate polished and lacquered in RAL or car colours. It is bi-wired, allowing the bass and treble sections to be driven separately.

Key specs that matter

Two long-excursion 145 mm specially coated alloy cone drivers handle bass and midrange, and a 28 mm soft dome tweeter covers the treble. The crossover uses a second-order impedance-corrected filter, and a reflex port tunes the enclosure. Measured response spans 40 Hz to 25 kHz, sensitivity is 88 dB and impedance is 4 ohms. Maximum sound pressure is 108 dB. The speaker measures 1010 mm high, 184 mm wide and 250 mm deep with the plinth, and the weight is 44 kg.

Engineering and use context

The cabinet walls are cut from natural slate plates 14 to 20 mm thick. This stone is heavy, rigid and well damped, so the walls vibrate little and store little energy, a property that makes it suited to loudspeaker cabinets. The SN/SL 270 is deeper than the SN/SL 170, whose cabinet is 220 mm deep, and this extra volume and different tuning extend the bass response from 48 Hz to 40 Hz. The alloy cones are stiffer than paper, and their long excursion lets two relatively small drivers move the air needed for low frequencies. A massive 40 mm natural slate plate at the base is height adjustable, allowing the speaker to be levelled on uneven floors. Its footprint is 234 x 300 mm, a little larger than the cabinet itself. The impedance-corrected crossover smooths the load presented to the amplifier. Bi-wire terminals separate the bass and treble sections so that two cable runs or two amplifiers can be used. Fischer & Fischer provides a ten-year warranty. The SN version has a natural split grey finish, and the SL slate is sanded smooth before lacquering. Its sensitivity is lower than that of the SN/SL 170, the trade-off for deeper extension. The narrow front means the pair takes little visual space in a room.

Pairing

The SN/SL 270 calls for an amplifier stable into low-impedance loads and has some power reserve, ideally 60 W per channel or more. It suits rooms of 18 to 30 m2.

Alternatives

Fischer & Fischer's SN/SL 270 AMT is the same size of speaker with a Mundorf Air Motion Transformer tweeter.