Напольная акустика — Blumenhofer Acoustics DV-3

The DV-3 is a two-way horn design with a modular bass section, made by Blumenhofer Acoustics, listed by the maker as DV-3x16 in its Research and Development line alongside the Wiki, the Concert X and a 40th anniversary model. Thomas Blumenhofer founded the company in 1977, and development and production take place in a nature park west of Augsburg in southern Germany, close to Munich. The design is built around one question the company poses itself - how many 16-inch woofers are enough - and the buyer answers it by choosing between two and six of them per loudspeaker.

Key specs that matter

A beryllium-membrane compression driver of 2 inches handles everything above the 500 Hz crossover point through a front midrange horn. Below it work between two and six 380 mm (16-inch) woofers with paper cones. Frequency response is given as 30 Hz to 20 kHz within 2 dB, and efficiency as 100 dB. Depending on how many woofers are fitted and how they are wired, nominal impedance lands anywhere from 4 to 16 ohm. Maximum input is 150 W RMS. Weight ranges from 100 kg to 350 kg per loudspeaker, again set by the chosen configuration, and Blumenhofer covers the DV-3 with a 10-year warranty.

Engineering and use context

Every enclosure is made of 25 mm birch plywood. The woofers load into a bass horn whose shape was worked out for low resonance and even air flow, while the upper range uses its own horn on the front. The crossover network is fitted outside the woofer volume in a chamber of its own, and the maker describes the build as highly complex. Drivers are placed for time alignment between the horn and the woofer section, and the impedance curve is specified as flat. Adjustable spikes support the cabinet. Blumenhofer has worked with horn loudspeakers for more than four decades, and its proprietary methods include Impedance Linearization, the Floor Effect and the Bass Horn.

Pairing

The high efficiency and flat load let the maker describe the DV-3 as tube friendly, so small valve amplifiers are an option. The actual impedance must be checked for the chosen woofer count, since an amplifier that suits a high-impedance build may not be happy with the lowest-impedance version. Gold-plated tellurium copper terminals are split for bi-wiring or bi-amping, so one amplifier can drive the compression driver and a second the woofer bank.

Alternatives

The Blumenhofer Acoustics Concert X from the same research line has a fixed pair of 16-inch woofers in an open baffle with bass horn and an 800 Hz crossover.