Полочная акустика — HECO In Vita 3

HECO designed the In Vita 3 as a two-way ported stand-mount speaker, and it is the compact member of the In Vita line from this German company. Its only sibling is the In Vita 9, a three-way tower that stands 1,150 mm tall with its base, uses three 170 mm woofers and reaches down to 23 Hz, and was priced at EUR 1,499 per pair. The In Vita 3 became available in February 2023 at EUR 999 per pair, in black or in white.

Key specs that matter

A 170 mm bass-midrange driver with a long-fibre kraft paper cone, the cone material HECO uses across the line, works with a 28 mm silk compound dome tweeter, and the crossover divides the band at 2,800 Hz. HECO quotes a frequency range of 30 Hz to 43,000 Hz, an impedance of 4 to 8 ohm and an efficiency of 90 dB measured at 2.83 V and 1 m. Power handling is 90 W RMS and 160 W maximum, with a recommended amplifier output of 20 to 160 W. The MDF cabinet is 205 mm wide, 377 mm tall and 315 mm deep across the housing itself, or 333 mm deep including the terminals, and each speaker weighs 9.1 kg.

Engineering and use context

HECO mounts the tweeter in a Fluktus front plate, a flange with a wave-shaped surface intended to guide its dispersion, and its motor uses a double magnet with ferrofluid cooling. The low-resonance MDF enclosure pairs a high-gloss lacquered baffle and top with side and rear panels in silk matt lacquer of the same colour, and it rests on a solid high-gloss base plate. HECO supplies resonance-absorbing feet with each pair, and a magnetically attached cloth grille covers the drivers. A switch on the crossover sets the tweeter to linear or raises it by 2 dB. Two pairs of terminals let the owner bi-wire or bi-amp the speaker, so the woofer and tweeter sections can be fed through separate cables or separate amplifier channels.

Pairing

With its high efficiency the In Vita 3 needs little amplifier power, which makes small integrated amplifiers as well as stereo receivers workable partners, and the upper end of the rated window leaves room for far stronger units. Because the impedance can fall to 4 ohm, an amplifier stable into that load is the safer choice. Owners with two stereo amplifiers, or a receiver offering bi-amp outputs, can make use of the split terminals.

Alternatives

The HECO Aurora 300 is a two-way bookshelf model from the Aurora range, pairing a similar kraft paper woofer and silk dome in a slightly narrower cabinet.