Напольная акустика — Acapella HARLEKIN 2

The HARLEKIN 2 is the entry point to the loudspeaker range of Acapella Audio Arts of Duisburg, Germany, a role the Harlekin name has held for more than twenty years. For the second generation, the company set out to carry over lessons from its large reference systems, the Hyperion and the Sphäron, into a smaller cabinet. The outward shape was kept, while the drivers, crossover, internal wiring and resonance tuning were all redesigned from scratch.

Key specs that matter

The HARLEKIN 2 is a two-way floorstanding speaker with a 10 inch driver covering the low and mid frequencies in a ventilated enclosure, and a 1.7 inch driver loaded by a hyperspherical horn neck for the upper range. Acapella specifies a frequency range from 20 Hz to 20 kHz and an efficiency of 91 dB at 1 W and 1 m. Nominal impedance is 8 ohm. Each cabinet stands 1205 mm tall, 295 mm wide and 460 mm deep, and weighs 75 kg. Load capacity is quoted as 100 W to 1000 W for 10 ms pulses. Standard veneers include maple, cherry and pear, and the list price in the United States is USD 32,000 per pair.

Engineering and use context

Acapella kept the recognisable Harlekin styling, with the upper driver in its own compact housing on top of the bass cabinet. The horn in the HARLEKIN 2 takes the place of a conventional dome tweeter. The earlier Harlekin generation used a closed box, whereas the new one is ventilated, a change Acapella made to extend the bass response of a cabinet that stays moderate in size. Reaching this low from a single bass driver allows the speaker to run as a full-range system without a separate subwoofer. The company names rooms from 12 to 40 m2 as the intended setting. All Acapella loudspeakers are built by hand in Germany, and buyers may order almost any automotive paint colour for the horns and acrylic colours for the cabinets at no extra cost.

Pairing

With its high efficiency and easy nominal load, the speaker asks for modest amplifier output, and the design is meant to run cleanly from low-power valve amplifiers. Acapella also states that the deep bass extension comes without awkward demands on the amplifier. At the other end, the high pulse rating leaves wide margin if a large solid-state amplifier is already in the system, so the choice of electronics is open in both directions. Acapella also builds its own Energeia Reference amplifier electronics for its loudspeaker systems.

Alternatives

The Acapella La Campanella 2 MK II is a slimmer floorstander with four 6.5 inch woofers and a 450 mm hyperspherical broadband horn, rated at 93 dB sensitivity.