Напольная акустика — Elipson LEGACY 3230

The Legacy 3230 is the three-way column-and-sphere speaker of Elipson's Legacy series by Elipson, a brand founded in 1938 and regarded as the oldest surviving loudspeaker maker in France. The series also includes the 3210 bookshelf model and the 3220 floorstander. Elipson links it to earlier designs such as La Religieuse, the 4050 and the 1303, and the 3230 takes its name and form from a 1960s model that placed a spherical mid and treble enclosure on a bass column. It is made in the brand's Burgundy factory and listed at EUR 8,489 per pair.

Key specs that matter

Elipson uses three ways and bass-reflex loading here. The column houses two 8 inch cellulose pulp woofers carrying an aluminium layer, and on top sits a resin sphere with a 6 inch pure ceramic midrange and a wide-dispersion AMT ribbon tweeter. All drivers are made by Elipson. Crossover points are 400 Hz and 3,200 Hz, all with 12 dB per octave electrical slopes, while the tweeter high-pass reaches 24 dB acoustically and includes impedance equalization. Frequency response is 25 Hz to 30,000 Hz within 3 dB and 38 kHz at minus 5 dB. Sensitivity is 91 dB at 1 W and 1 m. Nominal impedance is 4 ohm with a minimum of 2.9 ohm at 103 Hz. Power handling is 200 W RMS. Each speaker is 347 mm wide, 1,340 mm high and 450 mm deep and weighs 50 kg.

Engineering and use context

The sphere is decoupled from the column and made of resin filled with silica, which separates the midrange and tweeter from the vibrations of the bass cabinet. The original 1960s version used plaster of Paris, and resin allows more precise moulding. The column is built from MDF 25 mm to 30 mm thick with three braces coupling the woofers to the structure, and its curved walls change thickness. The flared reflex port vents toward the floor, with spacers holding the distance to the plinth, and four machined aluminium cones act as feet. Finishes are walnut or silver oak for the column, each with a black satin sphere.

Pairing

The impedance minimum below 3 ohm in the bass region is a demanding load, so an amplifier able to deliver high current into 2 ohm to 3 ohm is the right match, while a small valve design is a poor fit. Bi-wire binding posts with supplied links allow the woofers and the sphere drivers to be fed from two stereo amplifiers.

Alternatives

The Elipson Legacy 3220 is the more compact tower of the Legacy family, a 2.5-way design with two 6.5 inch mid-woofers and an AMT tweeter.