Напольная акустика — VAF Research DCX

The DCX, sold by its maker as the DC-X 6th Generation or DC-XG6, is a passive floorstanding loudspeaker from VAF Research of Adelaide, Australia. It belongs to the DC series, a family of designs whose roots go back to the early 1990s, and this version is the sixth generation of the DC-X itself. VAF builds every pair by hand in its own Adelaide factory, and production of a pair begins when the customer orders it, with a lead time of roughly 12 weeks. The Australian list price is AUD 4,499 per pair in the Black Sock cloth finish and AUD 4,999 in the veneered versions.

Key specs that matter

Two 8-inch woofers are paired with a 1-inch compression driver loaded by a constant directivity waveguide, and two 90 mm ports vent through the front baffle. VAF quotes a range from 35 Hz to 20 kHz at the -3 dB points, a nominal impedance of 4 ohm and a sensitivity of 96 dB measured at 2.82 V and 1 m. The recommended amplifier power is 10 to 100 W into 4 ohm. Each cabinet measures 270 mm wide, 1,255 mm tall and 435 mm deep, and the DC-X is sold only as a pair. Apart from the cloth version, buyers can choose Clear Oak, Black Oak, Jarrah Coloured Oak or Brown Oak.

Engineering and use context

VAF chose this horn-loaded treble arrangement to spread the upper range evenly over a wider listening area. The maker describes the DC-X as suited to small through large rooms and to both music and film, including duty as front or surround channels in larger home theatre systems, with matching DC-X centre channels on offer. Because the ports fire forward, the speaker tolerates placement nearer a rear wall than a box vented at the back. The factory offers four optional upgrades. Floor spikes cost AUD 98. For AUD 349 the internal wiring is replaced with Analysis Plus cable running to every driver, and the signal path capacitors in the crossovers are upgraded at the same time. A AUD 299 mass package lines critical inner walls with a heavy silver-backed composite, adding about 15 percent to the cabinet mass. Wireworld Oasis 8 jumpers replace the standard bridging straps between the dual terminal pairs for AUD 199, and ordering the full set cuts the upgrade cost by 20 percent.

Pairing

With its high sensitivity the DC-X reaches useful levels from low-powered amplifiers, provided the amplifier is comfortable driving a low nominal impedance. The dual terminal pairs also permit bi-wiring from one stereo amplifier with separate cable runs to the upper and lower sections.

Alternatives

The VAF DC-7 MKIII is a further tower from the current DC range.