Напольная акустика — Davis Acoustics Courbet n°8

The Courbet n°8 is a floorstanding loudspeaker in the Courbet series from Davis Acoustics, a French brand founded by Michel Visan in 1986 and based in Troyes. Courbet is the second highest line in the Davis catalogue, placed below the Dream range, and the n°8 is the three-way model the company intends for large rooms. Every driver is built at the Davis factory in Troyes in the Aube department.

Key specs that matter

The 28 mm soft dome tweeter is paired with a 13 cm Kevlar midrange taken from the Olympia One Master model, while a 21 cm carbon woofer reproduces the low frequencies. Crossover points are set at 250 Hz and 2,500 Hz, so the woofer works alone below 250 Hz and the midrange covers the band up to 2,500 Hz. Davis specifies a frequency response of 35 Hz to 25,000 Hz within 3 dB, 92.5 dB sensitivity and an impedance of 4 to 8 ohm. Power handling is 150 W nominal and 200 W maximum. The cabinet is 23.5 cm wide and 31 cm deep, and the weight is 33 kg.

Engineering and use context

Woven carbon fibre forms the woofer cone, which Davis selected because it combines high rigidity with low weight, while the woven structure brings good damping properties. The cabinet is tilted backwards, a parallelogram profile that the company uses to keep internal standing waves from forming. It is built from reinforced medium density fibreboard and bolts onto a black plinth that carries the spikes. The woofer section vents through a circular reflex port on the front, joined by a smaller second port high on the rear panel. Each cabinet has one set of binding posts taking bananas, spade lugs or bare cable, and the grilles are held by magnets.

Pairing

With one pair of terminals per cabinet, the n°8 is wired from a single stereo amplifier rather than bi-wired or bi-amplified. Davis also offers the Courbet C S2 centre model, which allows the pair to become the main pair of a multichannel system within one series. The wider Courbet family also includes the n°3 compact model and the n°4, n°5 and n°7 columns, all sharing the TW28CD tweeter.

Alternatives

The Davis Acoustics Courbet n°7 is the smaller three-way column in the series, using a 17 cm carbon woofer and crossover points at 400 Hz and 4,000 Hz.