Напольная акустика — EgglestonWorks Andra III SE

The Andra III SE, an upgraded Special Edition of the Andra III floorstanding loudspeaker from EgglestonWorks of Memphis, Tennessee, belongs to the family that began with the original Andra. The SE mark is applied to EgglestonWorks models that receive the latest round of upgrades, which in this case cover a new paint finishing system, improved crossover components, better internal wiring and upgraded binding posts. The US price is USD 33,998 per pair.

Key specs that matter

In a three-way split, 5 drivers share the band. A single 1 inch dome tweeter handles the top octaves, two 6 inch carbon fibre midrange cones with 3 inch voice coils cover the middle band, and two 12 inch polycone woofers take the bass. EgglestonWorks quotes response from 18 Hz to 24,000 Hz at -3 dB and a sensitivity of 88 dB at one watt and one metre. Nominal impedance is 8 ohm with a minimum of 6 ohm. The footprint is 381 x 457 mm, the cabinet stands 1118 mm tall, and each speaker weighs 82 kg.

Engineering and use context

Both woofers sit in a compound, or isobaric, arrangement, in which one driver works behind the other and both move together. This loading lets a pair of large woofers reach very low frequencies from an enclosure far smaller than a single driver of that size would normally need for the same extension. Using a pair of midrange units instead of one doubles the radiating surface for the midband, and their large voice coils can handle more heat over long listening sessions at high level. Two sets of rhodium binding posts on the rear panel accept bi-wiring or bi-amplification, so the bass section can be driven separately from the midrange and tweeter. Standard finishes are black, silver grey and white lacquer, while made-to-order colours are possible too.

Pairing

The benign impedance minimum is an easy load that should not stress an amplifier's current delivery, but the moderate sensitivity means the Andra III SE benefits from generous power when high levels and deep bass are needed together. A pair of stereo amps or four monoblocks can use the split terminals for vertical or horizontal bi-amping.

Alternatives

The EgglestonWorks Viginti is a larger floorstander with a beryllium dome tweeter, two carbon midrange drivers and two 10 inch carbon woofers, rated from 20 Hz to 40 kHz with 87 dB sensitivity and a weight of 116 kg per speaker.