Напольная акустика — Nola Contender 3

The Contender 3 is a slim floor-standing tower in the Nola range of Accent Speaker Technology, positioned by the maker as a step up from the Boxer 2 bookshelf model. Nola says it keeps the footprint of a Boxer 2 placed on a stand, while adding deeper bass reach and more dynamic range. A higher-grade Contender S3 version was also offered, with Mundorf capacitors and Nordost mono-filament silver wire used throughout.

Key specs that matter

Response is given as 30 Hz to 28 kHz, sensitivity as 90 dB, and nominal impedance as 8 ohms. Each speaker is 112 cm tall, 20 cm wide and 30 cm deep with its spikes fitted and weighs about 23 kg net. The driver complement is two newly developed low-mass 6.5-inch woofers and one silk dome tweeter set in a vertical array. The tweeter was new for this generation, replacing the unit of the earlier Contender, which paired a 1-inch silk dome with two 6.5-inch polymer cone woofers and quoted a 35 Hz lower limit.

Engineering and use context

Although it carries only three drivers, the Contender 3 is described by Nola as a true three-way system, aimed at better midrange separation while keeping the coherence of a two-way design such as the Boxer 2. Each 6.5-inch bass unit sits in its own chamber with a dedicated double-flared port, which the company says prevents interaction between the woofers. The upper chamber vents to the rear and the lower one fires toward the floor, and the two are tuned to different frequencies to smooth bass output in the room. Nola notes that this layout costs more to build than a conventional cabinet. The earlier Contender used a three-way crossover built on two hand-wired boards, and the new model keeps the easy load and sensitivity of its predecessor.

Pairing

Nola advises amplifiers of 30 W or more, and the easy load means modest integrated amplifiers and low-power valve designs are both workable partners. The rear-facing upper port means the towers should not be pushed flush to the wall behind, and the downward port needs the supplied spikes in place so the cabinet base stays clear of the floor. The narrow front suits a room of about 20 m2, and the S3 upgrade remains a path for buyers seeking the Mundorf and silver-wire parts within the same cabinet and driver set.

Alternatives

A bigger tower from the same maker is the Metro Grand Reference Gold 3, fitted with twin 160 mm magnesium woofers and a true ribbon tweeter.