Loudspeakers

Measuring a tall, multi-way system configured for farfield listening is tricky, not least because our default test distance is 1m with a time window sufficient to exclude all reflections within 4-5msec of the incident wavefront. Thus the ~6dB notch in the Alexx V's forward response at 2.7kHz [see Graph 1, below] is indicative only of very nearfield listening, this midrange suckout progressively filling in with distance, tightening the ±3.3dB response error to a superior ±2.5dB. The grilles add further disruption [blue trace] to what is otherwise a generally flat trend and are not recommended for critical listening. Pair matching is state-of-the-art at 0.2dB (200Hz-20kHz, with a very narrowband 0.9dB at 2.8kHz/10kHz) and the CSC tweeter delivers a strong performance out to beyond 30kHz [pink shaded area, Graph 1], reaching ~43kHz (–6dB re. 10kHz). This matches many hard/alloy dome tweeters, minus the aggressive breakup modes...

Moreover the Alexx V can go very loud, broadly achieving its rated 92dB/2.83V sensitivity at 92.8dB/1kHz and 91.3dB from 500Hz-8kHz. A pair of Alexx V's will sustain ~109dB SPL at 4m listening distance, incurring <0.4% THD (200Hz-20kHz) while 'ticking over' at 90dB SPL. Bass extension is low but not exceptionally so – the 267mm and 318mm woofers each spanning 40Hz-126Hz (–6dB), joined by the (rear) port at a low 18Hz to achieve a corrected LF limit of 27Hz (–6dB re. 200Hz). All this is achieved at the expense of a punishing load – a min. of 1.9ohm/249Hz (sub-4ohm from 48Hz-5.4kHz) and tough reactive regions in the bass (–52°/4.7ohm/47Hz) and treble (+40°/3.85ohm/5kHz). High-end amps only need apply! PM