Напольная акустика — Charney Audio The Lumaca VII

The Lumaca VII is the middle model of the three-size Lumaca series from Charney Audio, the New Jersey horn loudspeaker company of Brian Charney, whose speakers are made in the USA. Charney offers the Lumaca in several scale variants so that the horn length can be matched to the space it has to fill, and the VII sits between the Lumaca VI and the Lumaca VIII in height, horn path and bass reach. Beside the Lumaca, the brand builds the Concerto, Companion and Maestro series around the same single-driver tractrix principle.

Key specs that matter

Charney quotes a response of 20 Hz to 22 kHz, 107 dB sensitivity and an 8 ohm rating. The horn path inside each cabinet is about 320 cm. Each speaker is about 213 cm tall, with a round base roughly 66 cm across, and weighs close to 29.5 kg. A pair costs USD 80,000 with Voxativ AC-2.6 drivers or USD 85,000 with AER bd-3b drivers.

Engineering and use context

Compared with the Lumaca VI, this model gains about 36 cm of tractrix expansion, and its rated low end extends further. Like the smallest model, the VII lets the low-frequency output leave through the base of the cabinet in every direction, so the floor becomes the last part of the horn mouth rather than a rear wall. The cabinet is a cylindrical wooden form, and the expansion follows a smooth curve from throat to mouth with no step or flat section. There is one 8 inch wideband driver per side and no crossover network between the terminals and the cone. Charney supports both Voxativ and AER units in the same cabinet and provides a driver guide describing how each option behaves in the enclosure. The Voxativ AC-2.6 fitted in the lower-priced version is sold separately for USD 6,000 and is specified by Charney at 10.3 ohm, a Qts of 0.46 and 93 dB at 60 Hz rising to 98 dB at 3 kHz. The unit has a 19 cm outer diameter, a mounting depth of 7 cm, weighs 2.4 kg and handles 50 W nominal or 100 W short-term power. The horn is what raises the system figure well above the bare driver's efficiency.

Pairing

A few watts are enough at this sensitivity, and the driver's nominal power handling sets a sensible upper limit for amplifier choice. Charney designs its horns for low-powered valve amplification, and the brand has shown its own Kit-1 300B amplifier.

Alternatives

The Charney Audio Lumaca VI is about 190 cm tall with a 284 cm horn and has a higher rated bass limit.