Напольная акустика — Gauder Akustik DARC 60 MK II

The DARC 60 MK II opens the floorstanding part of the DARC series from Gauder Akustik, the German range whose cabinets are assembled from solid aluminium ribs instead of wooden panels. Above it come the DARC 80 MK II, the three-way DARC 100 MK II and a set of larger towers, while the closed DARC 40 MK II monitor and two centre models complete the line. In Germany the base version costs EUR 21,998 per pair, and many parts of the specification can be changed at the time of order.

Key specs that matter

This 2.5-way floorstander is rated at 4 ohm nominal impedance and 190 W power handling. The cabinet is 103 cm high, 24 cm wide and 35 cm deep, and each unit weighs 55 kg, a high figure for its size that follows from the metal construction. Two hand-selected XPulse cones run together in the bass, and above 120 Hz the lower unit is filtered out steeply, leaving the upper cone alone to carry the midrange. The tweeter takes over from 3,400 Hz. A beryllium dome is the standard fitting, and a diamond tweeter costs EUR 7,998 extra per pair.

Engineering and use context

Each cabinet holds two separate volumes. The lower woofer works in a deep-tuned reflex chamber protected by a high-pass filter, with the port opening in the base, while the upper woofer sits in a sealed chamber so that resonances from the vented section do not reach the midrange. Aluminium on its own tends to ring, and Gauder counters this by inserting dampers between neighbouring ribs, which stops vibration from passing along the wall. The cross-section follows a drop shape to limit edge diffraction. The symmetrical crossover works with 60 dB per octave slopes, while Time Delay Control aligns the arrival of the two driver groups electrically. Bass Extension can lower the bass limit by about one octave. The diamond tweeter can also be fitted later without any change to the crossover.

Pairing

The low impedance points to a solid-state amplifier with ample current, especially if Bass Extension is used. Frames come in brushed natural aluminium or powder-coated silver, black, white and grey, and custom RAL colours are offered. The Small Foot or Big Foot bases carry adjustable spikes with calibration scales, and the extras list names Double Vision, MusicLight lighting built into the plinth and a level meter display.

Alternatives

The Gauder Akustik DARC 80 MK II is the taller 2.5-way model in the same series, standing 116 cm high with a 330 W rating.