Напольная акустика — Gauder Akustik DARC 200 MK II

The DARC 200 MK II is a three-way floorstanding model from the aluminium-bodied DARC series of Gauder Akustik, designed and assembled in Renningen near Stuttgart. Among the DARC floorstanders it sits above the 2.5-way DARC 60 and 80 and the three-way DARC 100, and below the four-way DARC 250, 500 and 750. The first-generation DARC 200 was already available in 2020, and at a 2023 show in the United States a four-driver version was presented at USD 149,000. In Germany the MK II lists at EUR 79,998 per pair in brushed aluminium.

Key specs that matter

Gauder specifies a 4 ohm nominal impedance and a power handling figure of 660 W. Each cabinet stands 132 cm tall, 30 cm wide and 45 cm deep and weighs 89 kg. Four drivers share the work - a pair of 9 inch woofers in an aluminium sandwich construction, a ceramic midrange cone and a tweeter that is beryllium in standard form or diamond as an extra-cost choice. Buyers can order natural brushed metal or powder coat in anthracite, black, silver or white, while the damping layers between the ribs can be gold, silver, white or black. No sensitivity or frequency range is published for this model.

Engineering and use context

Gauder built this model to exploit the acoustic advantages of aluminium over MDF. A cabinet made of full-length metal panels would ring like a bell, so the walls are divided into stacked solid ribs separated by long-fibre dampers, and the teardrop outline reduces edge diffraction while stiffening the shell. Inside, the enclosure is split into two chambers and loaded as a bass reflex system that is high-pass filtered, a method Gauder uses to push low-frequency output about one octave further down. The crossover is symmetrical, filtering both the positive and the negative leg, and runs at 60 dB per octave with Mundorf components. Its TDC section delays the upper driver electrically to compensate for the lag introduced by the inductors, so all units start their impulse together. Because the tweeter can be swapped for the diamond type without altering the network, owners can upgrade later. A Big Foot base with spikes adjustable from above is part of the design, and bi-wiring is handled by WBT NextGen terminals, with Clearwater conductors used for the internal runs. Gauder grants a 10-year warranty on registered pairs.

Pairing

A low nominal load together with a high power rating makes this speaker a partner for high-current transistor power amplifiers. At that 2023 presentation the speakers were driven by Soulution Series 7 electronics, and the split terminals allow separate amplifier channels for bass and upper range.

Alternatives

The Gauder Akustik DARC 240 MK II is another three-way DARC column, laid out with four woofers.