Напольная акустика — Estelon XB DIAMOND

Estelon, the family operated maker from Tallinn, Estonia, lists the XB Diamond in its X-Series next to the plain XB, the X Diamond and the centre channel models. The current production version of this three-way passive design carries the Mk II designation. It pairs a bass reflex cabinet with a diamond membrane tweeter, which gives the model its name, and the brand suggests it for rooms of 25 to 50 m2.

Key specs that matter

Three custom drivers from Accuton do the work - a 220 mm ceramic sandwich woofer, a 158 mm ceramic mid-woofer and a 25 mm diamond membrane tweeter. The upper limit of the frequency response reaches 60,000 Hz, and Estelon states that the response stays linear to 33,000 Hz. Nominal impedance is 6 ohm, with a minimum of 2.9 ohm at 56 Hz. The power rating is 150 W, and 30 W is the lowest amplifier output Estelon advises. The enclosure measures 1260 mm high, 420 mm wide and 590 mm deep and weighs 69 kg.

Engineering and use context

The enclosure is moulded from Estelon's proprietary marble-based composite. Its shape avoids parallel walls, and inside it a system of curved surfaces and chambers gives each driver its own acoustically optimised volume, tailored to that driver's function. The crossover filters sit in a dedicated chamber of their own, apart from the drivers. Crossover points are set at 90 Hz and 2.2 kHz, using third-order filters between woofer and mid-woofer and second-order slopes between mid-woofer and tweeter. Hand assembly of the network relies on point-to-point wiring and high grade solder, capacitors and inductors. The woofer sits near the floor, while the mid-woofer and tweeter are grouped higher on the baffle, and as in all Estelon designs the midrange unit is mounted above the tweeter. Each cabinet goes through a twelve-layer finishing process over several weeks, with wet sanding between coats and hand polishing. The eight finishes are Black Lava, Blue Cobalt, Red Rocket, Violet Night, Silver Pure Alu in gloss or matte, and White in gloss or matte.

Pairing

The impedance minimum below 3 ohm near the bass region favours a partner with a stout output stage that copes with such dips and delivers current freely there, and a transistor unit is the safer match, even though the stated minimum power figure is modest.

Alternatives

The Estelon YB Mk II is a smaller floorstander of the brand, a sealed three-way model weighing 45 kg per piece.