Полочная акустика — AudioSolutions Figaro BL2

The Figaro BL2 is a two-way standmount speaker belonging to the second-generation AudioSolutions Figaro series, which the company calls its most successful range. The new line arrived five years after the original Figaro of 2018 and introduced a new visual design. AudioSolutions states that the Figaro was designed to be easily driven by most amplifiers and to keep cable and amplifier matching simple.

Key specs that matter

A 19 mm silk dome tweeter works with an 18.3 cm mid-bass driver that uses an ER, or Extra Rigid, hard paper cone, and the two drivers divide the band at 4000 Hz. Frequency response is 39 Hz to 25,000 Hz, a figure the maker quotes for an in-room environment. Sensitivity is 90.5 dB at 2.83 V and 1 m, nominal impedance is 4 ohm, and suggested amplifier power runs from 10 to 200 W. Each speaker measures 400 mm high, 265 mm wide and 402 mm deep and weighs 15 kg, or 18 kg packed for shipping.

Engineering and use context

A Mini-Horn in front of the silk dome is designed against cone breakup and cone walk, which the maker describes as the typical failure of soft domes driven hard at high levels. AudioSolutions measures the frequencies at which the dome starts to flex and shapes the horn to damp them acoustically at the front of the dome, so damping rises with level, an effect the company calls acoustical impedance and ties closely to the shape of the horn, which also raises driver efficiency. The mid-bass unit works across an extended band, which lets the crossover stay away from the 1000 to 1500 Hz region where, according to AudioSolutions, the ear is most sensitive, reducing crossover distortion and how audible it is. In the Figaro range the company places crossover points between 400 and 4000 Hz, one octave clear of that band. The Cabinet-In-a-Cabinet enclosure is taken from the higher Virtuoso series and turns unwanted resonance energy into heat. Outriggers with height-adjustable spikes and WBT NextGen terminals are fitted, and six satin finishes with brass accents were introduced with this generation.

Pairing

Bi-amping through the WBT terminals is reserved for the L and XL models of the series, so the BL2 is connected with a single cable pair per channel. The suggested power window and the low nominal impedance are the two figures to check against an amplifier's own specification.

Alternatives

The AudioSolutions Figaro B2 is a smaller Figaro two-way bookshelf speaker, fitted with a 15.2 cm mid-bass driver in a 337 mm high cabinet.