Напольная акустика — Von Schweikert Audio ULTRA.seven

The ULTRA.seven, also written ULTRA 7, is a floorstanding loudspeaker in the Ultra line of Von Schweikert Audio, a US company building expensive speakers. It made its debut at the Florida Audio Expo in March 2022 and its list price in the USA was set at USD 180,000 per pair.

Key specs that matter

Every cabinet holds eight drivers. On the front are three 9 inch reinforced ceramic woofers, a 7 inch reinforced ceramic midrange, a beryllium tweeter and a dual ribbon super tweeter. On the back a ribbon super tweeter and a magnesium horn-loaded tweeter form what Von Schweikert calls the Rear Ambient Array. The maker quotes full-range response from 18 Hz to 60 kHz and a sensitivity of 94 dB at 1 W and 1 m. The ceramic cone drivers are sourced from Accuton, and the whole signal path is analogue with no DSP.

Engineering and use context

The crossover networks follow two proprietary topologies, G.A.I.N. (Global Axis Integration Network) and A.I.R. (Acoustic Inverse Replication), and are assembled manually using point-to-point connections in an isolated layout. Internal wiring comes from the MasterBuilt Audio Ultra Line, with each conductor individually shielded and damped. The enclosure uses Version 2.0 of the company's Aktive Cabinet Vibration Control, a set of materials and layering techniques refined over some 25 years to suppress panel resonance. Von Schweikert also stresses time alignment, phase consistency and an adjustable bipolar radiation pattern, so the balance between front and rear output can be changed. The design is described by the company as 100 percent analogue, and every speaker is handcrafted in the USA. Rear Soundfield Creation and Acoustic Phase Alignment are the names the maker gives to the combination of the rear array and the time-aligned front drivers. At the rear, separate controls let the owner change the level of the main tweeter, the super tweeter and the rear array independently in half-decibel increments. Proprietary LS Footers designed by Critical Mass Systems are included with each speaker. The ULTRA.seven can also be supplied with the Foundation Hybrid Bass System, in which the woofers receive their own analogue amplification.

Pairing

Von Schweikert states that amplifier power should start at 60 W per channel. The high sensitivity allows a wide choice of electronics, from low-powered valve amplifiers to large solid-state designs, and the rear array works best with some space between the cabinet and the wall behind it.

Alternatives

The Von Schweikert ULTRA 55 is the next model down in the Ultra series and costs about USD 100,000 per pair, while the ULTRA 9 sits above at USD 225,000.