Напольная акустика — Elipson HERITAGE XLS 11

The Heritage XLS 11 is the middle model of the Heritage range from French maker Elipson, sitting between the two-way XLS 7 and the larger XLS 15. Elipson itself classes it as a compact three-way loudspeaker inspired by 1970s monitoring speakers, with a vintage look in a more discreet format than the XLS 15, and it completes the Heritage range. It is priced at EUR 1,699 per pair. The shipping carton for a pair measures 715 x 455 x 415 mm and weighs 20.5 kg.

Key specs that matter

At the bottom end sits a new 8 inch cellulose pulp unit derived from the 12 inch woofer of the XLS 15. A 2.2 inch coated dome midrange covers nearly three octaves, and a 0.87 inch silk dome tweeter is derived from the tweeter of the Prestige Facet series. Crossover points are 850 Hz with 12 dB slopes and 5,000 Hz with 12 dB and 18 dB slopes. Frequency response is 45 Hz to 25,000 Hz within 3 dB, sensitivity 90 dB at 1 W and 1 m. Nominal impedance is 6 ohm, but the minimum drops to 3.4 ohm at 2,600 Hz. Power handling is 130 W RMS, with 50 W to 150 W recommended. The cabinet measures 560 mm high, 320 mm wide and 270 mm deep, or 278 mm at its deepest point, and weighs 17 kg.

Engineering and use context

A flared front-mounted port provides the bass-reflex loading, with its tuning set at 37 Hz. Level controls on the front plate let the owner set midrange and tweeter output at minus 1 dB, 0 dB reference or plus 1 dB. Two finishes are catalogued - walnut and light oak. Interchangeable magnetic grilles are sold separately at EUR 99, in black fabric or a white vintage fabric, both on a wooden frame 19 mm thick and measuring 298 x 538 mm. The optional XLS Stand 1, priced at EUR 299, is a black satin metal base, 330 mm wide and 2.95 kg, that tilts the speaker back by 5 degrees for acoustic phasing and raises it by about 22 cm, with a maximum load of 40 kg. It also fits the current XLS 15, though not the original version of that model.

Pairing

The low impedance minimum in the upper midrange asks for an amplifier that copes well with low impedance, so a sturdy transistor integrated suits it better than a small valve design. With its high sensitivity, moderate amplifier power is enough in a typical living room, and the top of Elipson's suggested power bracket should not be exceeded. The front level controls allow small balance changes without touching the amplifier tone controls.

Alternatives

The Elipson Heritage XLS 15 is the larger three-way floor speaker of the same range, built around a larger cellulose woofer.