Напольная акустика — Gauder Akustik DARC 80 MK II

Second of the floorstanding DARC MK II models from Gauder Akustik, the DARC 80 MK II keeps the 2.5-way layout of the smaller DARC 60 MK II but places it in a taller and heavier aluminium cabinet with more than 70 percent higher power handling. The series name refers to its enclosure concept, and the whole range is built in Renningen, Germany. A German pair in the standard specification costs EUR 32,998, and adding options such as the diamond tweeter and Double Vision brings a pair to EUR 45,998.

Key specs that matter

The published data give 4 ohm nominal impedance and 330 W power handling. Each speaker is 116 cm tall, 24 cm wide and 35 cm deep and weighs 65 kg. Low frequencies are handled by hand-selected XPulse drivers, among them a mass-optimised XPulse sandwich unit that covers both bass and midrange. The treble unit is an ultralight beryllium dome, and a diamond tweeter can replace it with no modification to the crossover. Finishes include brushed aluminium, black, white, silver and anthracite powder coat, and the intermediate ribs can be coloured to order.

Engineering and use context

Instead of flat panels, the cabinet is stacked from solid aluminium ribs separated by damping layers, a structure that Gauder uses to stop the metal from ringing and to block the spread of vibration through the walls. Inside there are two chambers - a vented one whose reflex opening faces the floor and a closed one - so the vented and sealed sections can be tuned independently. Filters in the symmetrical crossover roll off at 60 dB per octave and are built with Mundorf components. Time Delay Control, shortened to TDC, is applied to keep impulse behaviour accurate across the driver transitions. Signal wiring inside the cabinet uses Clearwater cable, and WBT NextGen posts form the input. Variable Bass Extension extends the low-frequency limit, and height-adjustable spikes are included.

Pairing

Given its high power rating and low impedance, the DARC 80 MK II suits powerful solid-state stereo or mono amplifiers that stay stable into low impedance. Owners who plan a later upgrade can start with the beryllium version and move to diamond without rebuilding the crossover. Further order options are the Big Foot base, base-mounted MusicLight illumination and a VU-Meter.

Alternatives

The Gauder Akustik DARC 100 MK II moves the series to a three-way layout with a 7 inch double bass system, a 124 cm cabinet and a 490 W rating.