The low end uses four 16 inch TAD Alnico units, with four 18 inch drivers as an option, in a front-loaded horn 230 cm long. Four dedicated solid-state amplifiers, each built around a 1,200 W transformer, drive this section, which takes the hardest part of the load away from the source amplifier. Above it a bespoke 11 inch paper cone Alnico driver in a sealed enclosure covers the low-mid band through a 103 cm horn. The midrange is a 2 inch TAD TD-4001 compression driver with a beryllium diaphragm on a 58 cm spherical composite horn, and treble comes from a 1 inch TAD TD-2001 or TD-2002, again beryllium, on a 26 cm horn. A modified TAD ET-703 with a cobalt magnet sits at the top in a 9 cm brass horn milled from solid. The passive sections present 8 ohm nominal and accept up to 60 W, while the system as a whole is rated above 130 dB maximum output and 28 Hz to 45,000 Hz. Cessaro states that a single watt already gives a high level, which makes a small single-ended valve amplifier a realistic partner.
How it sounds
In Munich the horns kept a dynamic, lively character even at low volume. That follows from the efficiency, since the upper drivers move very little to reach normal levels, and from the separately powered bass horn, which keeps low frequencies weighty without asking the main amplifier for current.
1 component
- Floorstanding loudspeakers
BEETHOVEN II
For the installation of Cessaro Beethoven II, a room of 70 m2 or more is desirable – in such a room the owner of the system will receive a "life-size" sound. The five–band speakers reach a sound pressure of 130 dB and have the highest sensitivity of 107 dB, which means they can even be powered by a single-watt pentode amplifier.