Напольная акустика — Estelon XB

The XB is the compact three-way tower of the Estelon X series, made by Alfred & Partners in Tallinn, Estonia. Its current version is designated XB Mk II, which keeps the sculptural cabinet of the original, is aimed at smaller listening spaces and adds an upgraded crossover network and revised cabling.

Key specs that matter

Accuton builds all three drivers to Estelon's design - a 220 mm ceramic sandwich woofer with a stiff, light membrane and long linear excursion, a 158 mm mid-woofer with a ceramic membrane and a 25 mm ceramic inverted dome tweeter. The loudspeaker is a passive bass reflex type rated at 150 W. Nominal impedance is 6 ohm, falling to 2.9 ohm at 56 Hz, and sensitivity is 87 dB at 2.83 V. Each unit measures 1260 mm in height, 420 mm in width and 590 mm in depth and weighs 69 kg net, and Estelon lists 25 to 50 m2 as the intended room size.

Engineering and use context

Estelon moulds the enclosure from its own marble-based composite, forming a shell with no parallel walls and an internal arrangement of curved surfaces and chambers. Each driver sits in an enclosure shaped for its job, and internal bracing plus chamber geometry are used against standing waves and resonances. A blend of natural and synthetic damping materials is chosen by testing, calculation and listening. The woofer is placed close to the floor inside a reflex chamber vented through a rear port, while the two upper units are clustered higher - in all Estelon models the midrange unit sits above the tweeter. The tweeter has an isolated enclosure framed by shaped curves for even high-frequency dispersion, and the curved front panel keeps all drivers equidistant from the listener. Crossover parts include custom transformer-core and OFC air-core inductors, Mundorf SESGO capacitors and wire-wound resistors, hand-soldered point to point and linked by flat foil direct coupling in a star layout. The filters live in their own isolated chamber, using a third-order transition at 90 Hz from the bass unit upward and a second-order transition at 2.2 kHz to the tweeter. Internal cabling comes from Kubala-Sosna. Twelve coats of paint are applied, wet sanded and polished by hand over several weeks, in gloss or matte, with custom colours on request.

Pairing

Estelon asks for at least 30 W of amplifier power, and the deep impedance minimum near the lowest octaves means the amplifier must handle a low load without instability.

Alternatives

The X DIAMOND Signature Edition is the larger Estelon X series tower, with a 280 mm woofer and a diamond tweeter.