Напольная акустика — Verity Audio Monsalvat

Monsalvat is the reference loudspeaker system of Verity Audio, a Canadian company established in 1995, and the brand presents it as the top of its range. Rather than a single pair of speakers, it is a modular installation - a full Monsalvat System combines two main towers, eight subwoofer cabinets, the PRO-6 processor and three Verity AMP-200 power amplifiers. The complete package was listed at EUR 375,000 and the system is now discontinued.

Key specs that matter

Each main tower is a 3-way closed-box design. Its driver list starts with a 50 mm pure aluminium ribbon tweeter, followed by a 150 mm doped polypropylene midrange on a 50 mm SD-1 High Power Underhung Motor, and a 280 mm doped polypropylene woofer with a 50 mm SD-1 motor completes the line-up. The maker quotes 60 Hz to 100 kHz, a sensitivity of 99 dB at 2.83 V and 1 m on axis, a nominal impedance of 8 ohm with a 4 ohm minimum, and a minimum recommended amplifier power of just 5 watts into 8 ohm. A tower measures 744 x 1,207 x 1,670 mm and weighs 175 kg. Every subwoofer cabinet houses a 15-inch driver and weighs 76 kg, and a stack of four modules reaches 713 x 827 x 2,286 mm and about 304 kg.

Engineering and use context

Frequencies below the main towers are handed to separate bass-reflex subwoofer modules. The eight independent cabinets can be stacked in corners either vertically or horizontally, and one, two or up to four of them can be used per channel. Verity bases the low end on boundary radiation from these corner stacks combined with time delay alignment. Crossover duties fall to the custom PRO-6, which combines a preamplifier, a DAC, a digital crossover and a time-alignment device in one chassis, with its own ADC and DAC circuitry and total galvanic isolation. The system is multi-amplified and calls for six amplifier channels in all. Finishes offered were black, white and wood, each under lacquer.

Pairing

Verity specifies its own AMP-200 or AMP-60 amplifiers for the multi-amplified setup, with three units recommended, though owners may also choose amplifiers from other makers for the six channels. Between the source and those amplifiers sits the PRO-6, which Verity designed specifically for Monsalvat.

Alternatives

The Verity Audio Lohengrin IIS is a four-way bass-reflex floorstander from the same maker that keeps an aluminium ribbon tweeter and a rear-firing 15-inch woofer within its own two stacked enclosures.