Напольная акустика — Castle Avon 5

The Avon 5 is the senior floorstanding model in the Avon series made by the British company Castle. The Avon range covers two bookshelf models, the Avon 1 and Avon 2, the floorstanding Avon 4 and Avon 5, and the Avon C centre channel. The Avon 5 is a three-way design, and it and the Avon 4 were the first Castle speakers to use the loading system the company calls TDTL, short for Twin Drive Transmission Line.

Key specs that matter

Two 150 mm woven carbon fibre cone drivers handle the bass, a 115 mm woven carbon fibre midrange sits in its own enclosure, and a 12 x 45 mm true ribbon tweeter covers the treble. The crossover points are 300 Hz and 3.6 kHz. Nominal range is 35 Hz to 20 kHz at -3 dB, with in-room bass extension to 30 Hz at -6 dB. Sensitivity is 89 dB, and the speaker is rated as 8 ohm compatible, with a minimum of 3.8 ohm. Recommended amplifier power is 25 to 100 W. The cabinet measures 1,080 x 210 x 365 mm (height, width, depth), and height rises to 1,110 mm on the plinth and spikes. Net weight is 24 kg per speaker, or 26.2 kg packed.

Engineering and use context

In the TDTL layout the two bass drivers load a single transmission line, which Castle tunes to 32 Hz. For comparison, the smaller Avon 4 uses twin 130 mm drivers on a line tuned to 38 Hz, while the bookshelf and centre models in the range use single and twin drive extended line variants. The line allows the narrow cabinet to reach deep bass without a large front baffle. Giving the midrange a separate internal chamber isolates it from the back pressure of the woofers, and between the two crossover points this single cone covers the whole middle band, while above the upper one the ribbon works alone. The ribbon itself is a very thin alloy sandwich placed in a strong transverse magnetic field, so the moving element is very light compared with a dome. Cabinets are finished in specially selected deep figured real wood veneers under a semi-matt clear lacquer, and buyers can choose mahogany, walnut, black oak or antique oak. The plinth and spikes are part of the floorstanding package.

Pairing

The modest power recommendation places the Avon 5 within reach of mainstream integrated amplifiers, but the impedance dip means the amplifier should be comfortable driving 4 ohm loads.

Alternatives

The Castle Avon 4 is the smaller floorstander of the Avon range, also built on the TDTL transmission line.