Полочная акустика — Westlake Lc8.1

The Lc8.1 is a compact two-way monitor from the Lc series of Westlake Audio, the American manufacturer established in 1971 and led by designer Glenn Phoenix. It sits above the diminutive Lc4.75 and below the three-way Lc3w12 models, and it was designed to work alone or as the front pair of a system built around the matching Lc8.1SW subwoofer. Westlake offers it in a professional black finish and as the Lc8.1F, a traditional hi-fi version in walnut veneer.

Key specs that matter

A custom Westlake 8 inch woofer is joined by a 1 inch silk dome tweeter made by SEAS, with the crossover set at 3.6 kHz. The factory rates response at 55 Hz to 20 kHz within plus or minus 3 dB and sensitivity at 90.5 dB for 2.83 V at 1 m. Impedance is 7 ohms nominal and 5 ohms minimum, and the recommended amplifier power spans 85 to 225 W. Each cabinet measures 45.7 x 25.4 x 29.5 cm (height, width, depth) and weighs 14 kg.

Engineering and use context

The front board is stepped, so the woofer section of the baffle sits 25 mm ahead of the tweeter mount. This offset places the acoustic centres of the two drivers in line for time coherence, and Westlake puts the combined acoustic centre roughly midway between the two drivers. Its cabinet is built from medium density fiberboard with heavy internal bracing, and the reflex port exits on the front. Internal wiring follows a path laid out by Glenn Phoenix, together with a patent-pending ground wire scheme meant to reduce what the company calls Phoenix Effect Distortion. A rubber isolation pad comes with each speaker, and the grille can be removed. The preferred orientation is upright with the Westlake logo reading horizontally, though the maker allows use on the side with some compromise. A magnetically shielded build was offered for rooms with CRT monitors, and optional Speaker Muffs, dedicated stands, Westlake cables and Cable Muffs extend the range of accessories.

Pairing

The moderate minimum impedance and the power window suit most solid state stereo amplifiers with decent current reserves. Heavy-duty binding posts are set up for single wiring only, so bi-amping is not an option here. Adding the Lc8.1SW takes the combined system to 36 Hz to 18.5 kHz within 3 dB, at which point the two speakers and subwoofer together present a rated 2.5 ohm load per channel, so the amplifier must be comfortable with very low impedance in that configuration.

Alternatives

For a larger room Westlake builds the Lc3w12vf, a three-way stand-mount with a 12 inch woofer and a 6.5 inch midrange driver.