Напольная акустика — Chario ACADEMY SOVRAN

The Academy Sovran is a three-way tower from Chario's Academy line, which also includes the five-way Serendipity above it and the Sonnet stand-mount. Chario presented the Sovran at the International Consumer Electronics Show in 2009 at USD 16,000 per pair, and more recent North American pricing is USD 28,600. It was designed by Mario Marcello Murace, whose work drew on research into binaural hearing in small rooms, with the goal of reducing problems from low-frequency standing waves. Chario intends it for smaller acoustic spaces, and each unit is handmade in Milan.

Key specs that matter

A 32 mm Silversoft soft-dome tweeter and a 170 mm Rohacell Full-Apex Poly-Ring mid/woofer, both with neodymium motors, sit in the upper enclosure, while the lower one holds two 200 mm woofers with natural fibre cones, poly-ring surrounds and neodymium magnets. The mid/woofer and bass pair divide at 100 Hz, and the tweeter takes over at 1,180 Hz through a network derived from a fourth-order Linkwitz-Riley alignment. Bass extends to 35 Hz at -3 dB and the top end reaches 20 kHz. Sensitivity is 90 dB SPL at 1 m with 2.83 V, and the impedance is 4 ohm nominal with a 3.0 ohm minimum and a phase argument within plus or minus 36 degrees. Overall dimensions are 1,220 mm high, 240 mm wide and 440 mm deep, and one speaker weighs 47 kg. The wood is solid walnut or cherry.

Engineering and use context

The speaker consists of two separate cabinets. The top section is a two-way box made from massive slabs of solid wood with a high-density fibreboard front baffle, where the mid/woofer is loaded aperiodically. The base contains the pair of bass drivers in isobaric loading, with the woofer firing downward. Chario calls this combination an Acoustic Doublet and describes the complete driver stack as a Reversed Array vertical alignment, arranged to cut mechanical and acoustic interference between the drivers. Four cylindrical elastomer pucks isolate the upper box from the lower one. The upper cabinet is tilted back by five degrees to align the arrival time of the drivers at the listening position. Low-frequency venting uses the vented NRS system, here with an exponential hourglass vent geometry, and the port exits at the rear.

Pairing

Chario recommends amplification of 180 W into the nominal load. Given how far the impedance falls, a solid-state power amplifier or integrated with firm current delivery into low impedances is the appropriate choice for this load.

Alternatives

The Chario Academy Serendipity sits above it as the Academy floorstander, a five-way design with twin 320 mm subwoofers.