Colab scrl
Pierre Costers
Vilvoordsesteenweg, 110
1860 Meise
Belgique

Email : colab@mac.com
Tel : +32 495 50 47 47

Estelon XA

price on demand

The Estelon XA is both Alfred Vassilkov’s first tribute to the Estelon brand and the birth of a new approach to loudspeaker design. Chief among the physical design elements is the use of the E-lon cabinet form, having been developed and honed over a five year period; its design and construction allow it to easily couple with even difficult room acoustics.

The XA is far more than simply speaker drivers in a cabinet. It is a genuine musical instrument in its own right. One that, when carefully integrated into system and room, is capable of connecting the listener to music in a most profound way. Everything expressed naturally and simply with balance, order and measure. It possessed an eminently musical temperament that is immediately evident upon your first and each subsequent listening experience.

Many years have passed since the genesis of the Estelon project and much has been learned during this visionary period - embodying all the visionary achievements - the roots and the choices that have evolved into the Estelon sound. With the XA, the most beloved element of Estelon products has been reaffirmed: Simplicity. The “minimal” electrical second order crossovers, the raffinated mix of other elements as drivers and acoustic enclosure, has allowed Estelon to find again, trusted and confirmed qualities, a rediscovering and refinement of old but never obsolete design principles, technological principals that are the true expression of Estelon’s sonic esthetics.

Cabinet Design - The Estelon XA integrates many lessons learned from Alfred Vassilkov’s more than 25 years designing loudspeakers. The E-lon shape, choices of material and time-honored construction techniques - a special casting process, the use of a proprietary marble based composite and the extensive use of sub-structural stiffening spars breaks up resonance nodes and creates an internal acoustic chamber of non-parallel sidewalls that is all but immune to unwanted standing waves that can cause a colored sound. During the final hand-assembly process each speaker is individually tuned to maintain uniformity from unit to unit. Unusual in its defined form, the results of this cabinet construction allows it to be easily couple with even difficult room acoustics - allowing bass to roll effortlessly into the listening space. Here, the form is more tightly tailored and the reduction in overall scale works to its advantage allowing it to be easily integrated into a variety of listening spaces.

Transducers - The drive units employed are the highest expression of transducer design. The 280 mm German made Accuton bass driver uses a special ultra stiff ceramic - sandwich dome, with an FEA optimized underhung motor design with 55 mm titanium voice coil the former guarantees very low energy storage and good heat transfer. The mid-bass unit, from Accuton, is a sophisticated design with particular attention paid to the titanium voice coil former and the surrounding air gap to provide maximum freedom from dynamic compression in conjunction the use of a special ultra stiff ceramic dome- valued for its midrange neutrality, is mated to its own acoustic enclosure. All moving elements of the driver are ventilated for “resonance free” response. This unique technology allows the Estelon XA to produce bass and dynamics that belie the size of the loudspeaker enclosure. The 30 mm high frequency driver has ultra hard ceramic dome. Anti-resonant cutout fills in the ceramic dome provide for damping of the dome resonance. A neodymium overhung motor design with vented aluminium voice coil former guarantees low energy storage and excellent heat transfer. The soft fabric surround and ferrofluid with high viscosity center the moving parts with distinctive linearity. Each drive unit is “broken in” by running signal through them for several hours before being fitted into the cabinet, and finally the speakers’ individual tuning.

Crossover - A “minimalist design” 2nd order crossover is used mainly for the natural sound such a design affords. All component parts used are of the highest quality and were chosen through extensive listening tests based on subjective musicality - Mii Teflon hybrid capacitors and inductors, Kubala-Sosna internal wiring. Often, seemingly minor changes greatly affected the final sound! Such attention to detail is readily apparent upon first hearing - the result - a totally coherent signal path, a claim proved out based from extensive A/B listening.

Finish - Just as in the making of a great musical instrument, the finish has a profound effect on the final sound! After casting, the proprietary marble based composite is allowed to age, prior to the application of a multi layer internal resonance compound. Only after this time consuming process does the preparation of the surface of the cabinet commence. Manual labor -hand sanding and sealing, layer upon layer, applied using an elaborate and time-consuming procedure. And finally the multiple coats of the lacquer finish is applied - hand sanding accompanying each finishing coat. Final polishing - to a mirror-like finish, again, is done by hand. The Estelon XA is offered in a choice of liquid gloss finishes or the optional premium matte finish.