Напольная акустика — Venture Audio Quantum 8

The Quantum 8 is a three-way active tower speaker made by Venture Audio, a firm set up in 1986 by the physicist Njoo Hoo Kong, whose master's degree was earned at the University of Frankfurt and who goes by the name Didi. It was announced in 2016 as the first complete active loudspeaker the company had developed, designed as a single unit in which drivers, amplification and signal processing are tuned to each other.

Key specs that matter

Each cabinet carries four drivers - a 2 inch beryllium tweeter, a 6.5 inch midrange and two 8.5 inch woofers, the cones made of Venture's AGC material. A three-channel class D amplifier supplies 2,500 W in total, one channel per driver section. Venture quotes a response of 25 Hz to 40,000 Hz at the minus 6 dB points and a maximum level of 115 dB at 1 m. Inputs are balanced analogue and AES digital. The cabinet stands 127 cm high, 50 cm wide and 45 cm deep, and it weighs 77 kg. Finishes are black polyester high gloss mirror, Sapele Pomele and Elm Burl high gloss.

Engineering and use context

A SHARC DSP clocked at 300 MHz handles the processing, working at 24 bit and 192 kHz, so the crossover and driver equalisation happen in the digital domain before each amplifier channel. AGC stands for Abaca Graphite Composite, a cone made from abaca pulp and fibres taken from the stems of the Philippine abaca plant. The company started designing its own drivers in 2001 and has made cables since 1987, and the internal wiring of the Quantum 8 is its own high-purity copper with silver plating. Cabinets of the Ultimate and Quantum lines use alternating layers of high-density fibreboard and solid hardwood, finished in piano gloss polyester about 1,300 microns thick. The beryllium tweeter developed for the Quantum active series is rated by Venture at more than 100 dB per 2.83 V.

Pairing

Because the amplification is built in, the system needs only a preamplifier or line source fitted with XLR outputs, or a transport or streamer with an AES output feeding the digital input directly. The brand's own VP200D preamplifier and VP 100P phono stage come from the same catalogue for anyone wanting a single-maker chain. No external power amplifier or speaker cable is involved, which leaves mains power and signal cabling as the only runs to each speaker.

Alternatives

The Venture Audio Quantum Signature is the larger active model of the range, with a 32 mm beryllium tweeter, twice the number of midranges and woofers and a 157 cm tall cabinet.