Напольная акустика — Ayon Audio Ayon BlackCrane

The BlackCrane is a floorstanding loudspeaker from Ayon Audio of Gratkorn, Austria, a company better known for vacuum tube amplifiers, preamplifiers and CD players. Of the five full-range Black models in the current catalogue - BlackRaven, BlackHeron, BlackFalcon, BlackEagle and BlackCrane - it carries the most drivers, and Ayon points to more than 20 years of its own speaker production behind it. In North America the pair is priced at USD 57,980.

Key specs that matter

Six drivers share each enclosure. A 1.2-inch Cell-Ceramic tweeter sits above a 6.7-inch Cell-Ceramic midrange, and four 6.7-inch ceramic woofers take the low end, with the crossover points placed at 400 Hz and 3,500 Hz. Ayon quotes 31 Hz to 30 kHz at -3 dB, a nominal 4 ohm load and 93.5 dB for 1 W at 1 m. The recommended amplifier window runs from 20 W up to 200 W. Every cabinet is 137 cm tall, 38 cm wide and 28 cm deep and weighs 65 kg.

Engineering and use context

Ayon names the layout a 3-way Airflow Damping System, or ADS. The enclosure is elliptic and built from resonance-optimised instrument plywood in three parts, with every outer surface bent, and Ayon calls it one of the hardest plywood cabinets to make. Inside, the crossover is a dual transistor-tube circuit. A toggle switch on the rear sets it for either solid-state or valve amplification, and the tube position is voiced to suit single-ended as well as push-pull designs. Three binding posts with cable jumpers sit on the terminal panel, the posts themselves are WBT NextGen bi-wire parts, and the internal wiring is custom OCC cable. Standard veneers are French Walnut, Tineo and Etimo in high gloss, and Poplar Burl, Maple, Mango and Birds Eye Maple are listed as extra-cost options.

Pairing

With its low minimum power, the BlackCrane is aimed at owners of modest tube amplifiers, including single-ended designs, as long as the output stage is comfortable with a low nominal impedance. At the other end, the upper limit covers most stereo transistor amplifiers without leaving the specified range. Bi-wiring lets the woofer group and the upper drivers take their own cable pairs, and the crossover switch has to be set to match whichever amplifier type is connected.

Alternatives

The Ayon BlackEagle offers a more compact Black-series tower, a 3.5-way design with three 6.7-inch ceramic woofers, a 15 W to 150 W window and a 122 cm cabinet weighing 52 kg.