Полочная акустика — Westlake Lc4.75

The Lc4.75 is the most compact two-way monitor in the Lc series from Westlake Audio, a company founded in 1971 whose founder and president Glenn Phoenix designed the model himself. It followed the larger Lc5.75 and made its debut at the New York AES show, with a launch price of USD 899 per pair in early 2002. By 2010 the line had split into two versions built in the USA - a hi-fi model in satin walnut at USD 3,200 per pair and a professional model in black at USD 2,700 per pair. Westlake intends it for small listening rooms, compact studio rigs and as a surround partner for bigger Lc speakers.

Key specs that matter

A single 4 inch woofer with a composite pulp cone handles everything below the crossover, and the treble is produced by a 3/4 inch silk dome tweeter sourced from a European maker. The two are split at 4.5 kHz. Rated frequency response is 65 Hz to 20 kHz within plus or minus 2 dB, and sensitivity is 85 dB for 1 W at 1 m. The cabinet measures 30.4 x 13.9 x 18.4 cm (height, width, depth), and each unit weighs about 5.4 kg.

Engineering and use context

The enclosure panels are 19 mm MDF, braced extensively inside to keep panel resonance down in such a small box. The design is a bass reflex type and its port opens on the front baffle. A removable grille is included, though Westlake treats it mainly as protection during transport. Buyers can order the speaker with or without magnetic video shielding, which matters when it sits next to a CRT screen. The maker also sells optional acoustic foam Muffs, priced at USD 194 per pair for the hi-fi version and USD 159 per pair for the pro version.

Pairing

With its low sensitivity the Lc4.75 is less efficient than most small speakers, so an amplifier with ample output is a better fit than a low-powered tube design, especially in larger spaces. Five-way binding posts on the back take either spade connectors or banana plugs, and a single pair of terminals means one cable per speaker. In a studio the pair can run from a compact power amplifier on a desk, and in a home theatre it can serve as the rear channels behind larger Westlake fronts. Since its bass extension is limited, a system aimed at deep bass would add a Westlake subwoofer such as the Lc8.1SW.

Alternatives

Stepping up in cabinet size within the same series leads to the Westlake Lc8.1, which pairs an 8 inch woofer with a 1 inch silk dome tweeter.