Speaker systems ALLB Music Tower 10.2 Valentina

ONLINE PROJECT HI-FI & HIGH END SHOW ONLINE
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ALLB music

Moscow, st. Automobile passage, 1 / st. Kotoprogonnaya, 29/1 8, https://www.instagram.com/allbmusic/ https://vk.com/allbmusic https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi5qLtBGS70S7e2FporgP8w?view_as=subscriber

We present to your attention the ALLB music project, the goal of which is to create acoustics with the highest possible reproduction accuracy. The main difference between ALLB music systems is the ideology of their creation, which is fundamentally different from those used by most modern acoustics manufacturers.

Founded in 2007, the company quickly built a reputation for designing and manufacturing class-leading speaker systems. For 13 years, ALLB music has been independently producing speakers and speaker cabinets. All ALLB music speaker systems are handmade in Russia, in Moscow. Moreover, the ALLB music company is not just an assembly line where speakers are assembled from ready-made components. Absolutely everything, including speakers and housings, is made independently and only by hand. Each speaker system comes out completely finished and goes through a large number of tests, instrumental tests and listening tests. Optimizing the operating modes of dynamic drivers in Tower speaker systems ensures extremely natural sound reproduction while preserving the smallest shades and nuances of the recording. The Tower series floor-standing speakers are based on the Old School concept, so the design of the speakers is strict, classic, without frills. But the Valentina series speakers are also produced, combining precise design of cabinets with elements that allow you to change the type of acoustics to suit the room and the taste of the owner. Speaker systems use first-order crossover circuits. Designed to provide the shortest possible signal path with minimal loss, the crossover uses selected precision components, including capacitors from leading manufacturers. The exclusive ALLB music crossover ensures uniform sound coverage throughout the entire listening area, both for listeners sitting in the center and on the sides of the room. ALLB music speakers are designed for absolute music reproduction. Only they exclusively use the latest innovative developments in the field of acoustic systems. ALLB music also works with installers, who have to take into account every desire of a discerning client. Therefore, more than 200 types of veneer finishing and 50,000 types of paint and varnish coating are offered.

New series of Tower speaker systems - Valentina

AllB Music presents a new series of Tower speaker systems – Valentina

. These speakers are created for fans of graceful forms and, thanks to new cabinets, a hidden bass reflex and replaceable elements, can please audiophiles who love aesthetics and design with their appearance. Valentina speakers are based on the Tower series speakers. New dynamic heads were developed, crossover elements were recalculated. A new slot port of the bass reflex has been developed, which does not spoil the façade of the acoustics, because it is part of the new speaker element, a kind of “stand” in the lower part of the cabinet, giving airiness and slenderness to the cabinets. The dynamic heads are now covered with removable covers, which can be ordered in any color, and covering the fastening elements of the speakers. In room 511 we will present the first speaker in this series - Tower 10.2 Valentina. An integral part of the ALLB Music sound concept is the use of super tweeters. The use of CT gives the sound of any speakers volume, airiness, and richness with details in the high-frequency range. Especially for speakers with silk and plastic, not to mention paper, tweeters. In our line of super tweeters we offer products for different speaker sensitivities.

What did Russian manufacturers and distributors present at the Hi-Fi & High End Show ONLINE? Part 3

We continue to introduce you to new products that manufacturers and distributors planned to bring to the exhibition in 2022 - and which you will see and hear in person on March 19-21.

ALLB music

We present to your attention the ALLB music project, the goal of which is to create acoustics with the highest possible reproduction accuracy. For 13 years, ALLB music has been independently producing speakers and speaker cabinets. Moreover, the ALLB music company is not just an assembly line where speakers are assembled from ready-made components. Absolutely everything, including speakers and housings, is made independently and only by hand.

VALENTINA The project presents a new series of speaker systems in the Tower line - Valentina. These speakers are created for fans of graceful forms and, thanks to new cabinets, super tweeters, a hidden bass reflex and replaceable elements, they can please audiophiles who love aesthetics and design with their appearance.

LB-Horn AllB music also demonstrates the unparalleled four-way speaker system LB-Horn 500. At the in-person exhibition you will be able to see the final version, fully debugged and configured. These speakers have been designed and built over almost twenty years - and they are truly something to behold!

V-Sound

V-Sound is a young, developing company consisting of professionals from various fields: sound engineers, musicians, vocalists, designers, engineers. The company produces acoustic systems for the home and seeks to fill the vacuum in the market for professional acoustics for the home.

TUTTI This year V-Sound presented a completely new product - the V-SOUND Tutti three-way horn speaker system. The system is built on a professional foundation and is designed for concert, club sound with high sound pressure, but while listening to music at low volumes, you can also enjoy crystal clear sound.

"Absolute Audio"

has been operating in the Hi Fi and High End equipment distribution market since 1999. During our work, we have established ourselves as a reliable partner with a good reputation in the market. The company's product range includes high-quality acoustics and electronic components for both stereo systems and home theaters. Brands: Anthem, Paradigm, Conrad – Johnson

ANTHEM: MDX-8 AND MDX-16 The company introduced a new line of multiroom amplifiers from Anthem: MDX-8 and MDX-16. Among the main features of the line, it is worth noting 8 or 16 amplification channels (Ultra-Class-D) with the highest sound quality, 60 W (8 Ohm)/120 W (4 Ohm), bridged support - 200 W (8 Ohm), room system - Anthem ARC® Genesis corrections for each zone - included, and full digital / analogue matrix switching - any input to any output.

Four-way speaker system LB-Horn 500

ALLB Music is proud to present the unique LB-Horn 500 four-way speaker system.

In room 511 you will be able to see the final version, fully debugged and tuned, of the speaker systems, incorporating all the experience of the creators. These speakers have been designed and created over almost twenty years. The result was a system with a speaker that has no analogues in the world. 18-inch coaxial speaker, with four strips located on the same axis. Taking into account both the advantages and disadvantages of the currently available coaxial dynamic heads Tannoy, KEF, Cabasse and many others. The speaker is housed in a wide-mouth horn housing with VarioVent acoustic design. LB-Horn 500 allows you to hear the smallest details of the musical canvas of a musical work and at the same time create a wide enough stage for several listeners, unlike coaxials of other brands that have a narrow focus. The cases are trimmed with deerskin and slabs of artificial stone “Onyx”, made in Germany. The line of coaxial systems includes speakers with 10, 12, 15 inch speakers.

Acoustics AllB-Helium Horn 500

Have you ever listened to four-way coaxial speakers with 18-inch woofers? Probably not, because... Only one company in the world produces such models. Let's get acquainted with a unique Russian project, understand how it works and evaluate the advantages of a huge source of coherent radiation.

What you see in the photo is the result of 20 years of work by a man who set himself the task of building full-range acoustic systems with coherent radiation. Since there were neither formulas for calculating such structures, nor satisfactory experience from other manufacturers (and even now there is none), all solutions were found experimentally. Speakers, horn-shaped enclosures, crossovers were made by hand...

So, Leonid Belebashev, speaker system developer at the Moscow company AllB. He studied piano at a music school. He graduated from the Moscow Institute of Electronic Technology, worked as a sound engineer at the Palace of Youth Creativity, then as head of the acoustics laboratory at the Auto Audio Center, where he developed speakers for the Ural brand. I visited factories producing speakers in China and Taiwan, and participated in electronics exhibitions in Hong Kong.

In 1998, at the Russian Hi-End exhibition, he demonstrated his first two-way coaxials with 12-inch bass diffusers under the Helium brand.

The current project AllB-Helium Horn 500 is a four-way floor-standing system with clever acoustic design and simple filters.

But Leonid will tell you better about all this himself:

It all started with the fact that having good connections with the companies High End Center, Ms-Max, the Art Tek salon and other distributors, I got access to vintage and various speakers of leading brands, incl. and to Tannoy coaxials, up to Canterbury 15 and Kingdom 18. Many similar structures were brought in for repair, and I measured the most interesting of them (Tannoy, Altec, KEF, Technics, Urey) in the anechoic chamber of the MTUSI acoustic center. This gave me experience and understanding of how coaxial cables are made. After numerous experiments, he developed his own design of a two-way coaxial speaker.

— Did someone help you financially?

Nobody. All experiments were done at our own expense; there were no investors. I spent a lot of money in 20 years, and how much iron was thrown away! For three years only the horns were studied. We selected a shape, settled on the Monterey profile, but nothing worked out with the exhibitor.

— Why did you decide to make a complex 4-way design, since the same Tannoy and KEF in their coaxials make do with two?

With two-way coaxials, when the heads are turned on in antiphase, the frequency response is ideal, but listening to them is not interesting. There is a narrow 10dB dip in phase at about 1.5 – 2kHz, but the overall sound is much better. An idea came up: make the 12-inch coaxial play in phase when filtering first order in order to eliminate the dip. I experimentally selected the distance between the voice coils, it turned out well - the reverberation on female vocals disappeared. I wanted more bass. I made an assembly with a 15-inch woofer, but with a crossover frequency of 1 kHz, it needs a large tweeter that can operate low, and these do not give air. Then I decided to add a mid-range driver and build a tweeter into it. Moreover, its body is an acoustic filter that gently cuts the middle band from above. In fact, the result is a Wente body, and the diagram expands - at angles up to 30 degrees. the nature of the frequency response does not change, although the SPL drops.

When moving to 15 inches, I had to add another band to better reproduce midrange frequencies. The rigidity of the large diffuser is increased due to the ribs that I glued to its reverse side, not radially, as usual, but tangentially. All these solutions were applied in the manufacture of 18-inch coaxial.

— What kind of low-frequency design is there besides the horn?

Variovent, i.e. the body is slightly dedamped, and there are not two humps, like a bass reflex, but the impedance smoothly rises from 8 Ohms to 12 in the range of 40 - 80 Hz. There is no obvious resonance, although the moving system of the bass driver is rigid - for speed.

— Titanium squeaker?

Yes, the membrane is a titanium V-shaped 37 mm, there is no suspension, it rests on a cardboard ring to eliminate edge effects. And in the frequency response from 4 to 22 kHz, the unevenness is only about 3 dB. In the upper middle there is an annular membrane with aluminum honeycombs. Lower mids and bass are pulp.

— Are the separation filters, as always, of the first order?

The bass driver is of the second order, but due to the phase characteristics of the horn it works like the first - there are no problems with the phase. Two midrange drivers and a tweeter have the first one. Crossover frequencies 400, 900, 6000 Hz. We had to very carefully select components for each band, the sound very much depends on them. On the HF - Multicap RTX and, on the middle, Audiocap, Mundorf, Clarity Cap, on the bass - JB. Copper tape reels Jansen, Mundorf. For the low-frequency band, I wind it myself with a double wire of 4 sq. mm on the core from W-shaped transformers - with the same rating, the winding turns out to be four times shorter, and the bass is denser. Midbass section – only on air. Each filter costs more than 70 thousand rubles. Internal wiring is made of pure copper EOS 2.5 and 5 sq. mm.

— How many input terminals do the speakers have?

Four. The woofer has a separate input so that you can select filter elements for a specific room, speaker placement and amplifier type. We do it right at the installation site, it turns out perfect. Everything else is sewn tightly, you can’t interfere. The crosses have neither notch chains nor equalizing resistors - it was possible to make a tweeter with the sensitivity of an 18-inch woofer. In an anechoic chamber, the entire system actually has 98 dB.

— What is the body made of?

Above and below are slabs of high-density German artificial stone. It handles well and is not afraid of impacts. The side walls are one sheet of MDF 19 mm plus side trims 20 mm, in front there are already two sheets, with glue it turns out 40 mm. There are several ribs inside for rigidity. The weight of one column is 102 kg. Leather is a decorative element, 2 mm thick. Specialists from the auto repair shop helped with the fitting. The color is “Sugar”, but it can be any color, just tell me which one you like best.

— Any special requirements for installing this acoustics?

Since the horn is vertical, the speakers can be placed close to the wall, and even in a corner. At the same time, nothing buzzes, but with our multi-way Tower 18s with a bass driver of the same caliber, if there is not enough space, we have to plug the bass reflex. But the Horn 500 still needs a larger room for overall dynamics and scale.

We were convinced that these giants are capable of sounding adequately in cramped conditions during listening sessions in the AllB Music office. The systems stood almost close to the walls, and the distance between them did not exceed three meters. The sensations, especially if you close your eyes, are unusual: in terms of bass, volume of space and dynamics, the sound is clearly from speakers with very decent dimensions, but the localization of sources is like that of good bookshelf speakers. And the size of the room is completely unreadable; the bass behaves as if it exists outside the spatial framework. And this despite the fact that the huge systems were actually located in the corners of the room.

The sensations are unusual: in terms of bass, volume of space and dynamics, the sound is clearly from speakers with very decent dimensions, but the localization of sources is like that of good bookshelf speakers.

The second important point is that the Horn 500 sound does not have horn coloration; they reproduce any vocal, be it male or female, without coloration or accents on individual notes. These monsters have everything else - infra-low bass, light, transparent top and lively mids. And, of course, the overall dynamics with such sensitivity manifest themselves completely differently than in mass multi-band acoustics. There are several factors involved here: lightweight paper, large radiation area and minimal phase shifts over the entire range. Therefore, sitting even just a couple of meters from the front line, you hear not a set of speakers, but a coordinated attack of instruments with different spectrums. An orchestral introduction, a quick tutti or a powerful electronic beat gains rhythmic clarity without blurring the structure. Plus, of course, a powerful blow to the ears at the climax of the playback.

The full dynamic potential of the Horn 500 was assessed during their demonstrations at the MHES and Russian High End exhibitions. The systems sounded large halls in very difficult conditions (poor room acoustics, reflections, sound-absorbing public), but its main advantages, described above, were sufficiently evident. And what’s especially interesting is that where the other participants who demonstrated their acoustics had obvious problems with bass (more precisely, with standing waves in the room), the Horn 500 coped much better - they sounded clearer, with a sharper attack and minimal bass artifacts. And their delivery overall seemed freer and more open, as befits a high-impact 18-inch system.

This suggests several conclusions at once. Firstly, the coaxial design with so many stripes is fully justified. The large caliber provides bass and dynamics, while the remaining drivers maintain a linear response up to the upper limit of 29 kHz. At the same time, the nature of the radiation of such systems is close to a point source, and even in cramped rooms the sound picture does not fall apart.

The large caliber provides bass and dynamics, while the remaining drivers maintain a linear response up to the upper limit of 29 kHz.

Secondly, the vertical horn allows you to reduce the lateral radiation at low frequencies so much that the speakers can be placed close to the wall and even in corners. This is a definite plus for our living conditions.

And, finally, the main thing: everything listed above gives a musical picture that traditional multi-band acoustics are rarely able to paint. Here there is scale with a lot of details, and precise rhythm with the full feeling that some kind of giant broadband device is working. I do not rule out that Horn 500 may become the last stop for an advanced audiophile on his long journey to the desired sound.

SYSTEM

CD player TEAC VRDS 10SE
DAC Lecturer Digitube
Lector ZOE preamplifier
Final amplifier Lector VM500
Cables: AllB Music interconnects
acoustic Mogami Cables
network Acrolink 6NP4030

AllB Horn 500

Manufacturer: AllB LB-Helium (Russia)

www.allb-music.ru

Configuration: 1 emitter, 4 bands || Acoustic design: Monterey horn, P2 Variovent || Frequency range: 27 - 29000 Hz (-1.5 dB) || Nominal impedance: 8 ohms || Crossover frequencies: 400, 900, 6000 Hz || Sensitivity: 98 W/m || Maximum sound pressure level: 123 dB || Music power: 350W || Finish: wenge veneer, natural leather 2 mm, Cadillac Sahara color, Onyx stone || Dimensions: 1470 x 550 x 550 mm || Weight 1 piece: 102 kg || Price per pair: 1,500,000 .

Tags: AllBAllB-Helium Horn 500