Напольная акустика — Linkwitz LXstudio

The LXstudio is an active three-way loudspeaker from Linkwitz Lab that joins the LXmini upper section to a pair of LXsub4 dipole woofers taken from the LX521. Siegfried Linkwitz developed it for a studio mixing symphonic music, where conventional large box monitors produced an uneven response, above all in the bass, and the system is intended for studio monitoring as well as stereo playback at home. Construction plans are sold separately, and assembled systems come from licensed builders. The Linkwitz online store sells the kit at EUR 3,796.10 per pair including VAT, while Madisound lists the driver kit at USD 2,211 and the plans at USD 75.

Key specs that matter

Each channel uses four drivers. A SEAS FU10RB 4 inch Curv cone full-range unit sits in the upper tube, a SEAS L16RN-SL 6 inch aluminium cone woofer sits in the lower tube, and two SEAS L26RO4Y 10 inch aluminium cone units work in the LXsub4 bass section. The maker quotes a frequency range of 25 Hz to 20 kHz. The woofers take over below 60 Hz with a second-order Linkwitz-Riley slope. Eight amplifier channels are needed, one per driver, or six when two channels are stable into 2 ohm so the bass units can run in parallel.

Engineering and use context

With the crossover set as low as 60 Hz, the LXsub4 woofers can stand against the side walls without affecting the upper range, and Linkwitz Lab notes that dipole woofers excite room modes less than closed or ported boxes. Compared with the LXmini+2 configuration, the LXsub4 delivers 10 dB more low-frequency output. Maximum level above the bass is lower than that of the LX521.4, since the upper section uses the smaller LXmini drivers. Current documents specify a miniDSP Flex Eight as the crossover, which can also work as a preamplifier, while the older Lab page used the miniDSP 4x10HD for the crossover and path-length compensation. An ASP analogue crossover and PowerBox 6pro NCore amplification are available as options. The kit contains predrilled upper tubes in white or grey, lower tubes, mounting rings, four-pole SpeakOn plugs, rubber couplers, 5 m of 1.5 mm2 cable and Monacor MDM2 and MDM3 damping wool. The LXsub4 pair arrives finished in dark anthracite HDF with 45 degree mitred joints and a dull clear lacquer, and a Baltic Birch plywood version is also made.

Pairing

As an alternative to eight identical channels, Linkwitz Lab suggests two 200 W amplifier channels for the woofers and four 50 W channels for the tube sections. With the Flex Eight handling volume, a digital or analogue source connects straight to the processor.

Alternatives

The Linkwitz LX521.4 uses the same LXsub4 woofers in a full four-way dipole.