ken kreisel k700 pro main speakers
In 1989, Ken Kreisel designed and released the S-100B. Line-arrays were nothing new, but no one had compacted five drivers into a small box and incorporated phase-focus crossover technology to help produce a more coherent end result, producing a highly accurate, highly focused loudspeaker capable of huge dynamic range. This design has prompted many to follow closely, or try to emulate.
Over the decades, the micro-technology of the drive units has improved overall quality and furthered the design, producing the home theatre stalwart S150 model, keeping it as relevant today as it was back in 1989.
But home cinemas today require even more headroom, which in a conventional hi-fi loudspeaker based home theatre system means buying bigger speakers. So how do you adapt such a lauded design for larger room, higher output, and better dynamics? Simply making a larger version with bigger drivers compromises the design and the characteristic strengths. The K700 pro uses the same size drivers, only more of them, in order to improve output and sensitivity, while retaining the speed and dynamics of the original design. The K700 Pro is a flagship studio version utilising push-pull driver technology to greatly reduce distortions. The K700 Pro is able to fill large cinema rooms and provide far more dynamic headroom than you'll ever experience from hi-fi loudspeakers, or even in your local cinema.
Thanks to the phase-focus crossover design, the line-array of five HF units act as a single HF as far as the human ear is concerned. They also allow ample dynamic headroom to be able to deal with even the most demanding movie soundtracks. Distortion is also greatly reduced, due the HF units working well within their limits.
Likewise, the line-array of three midrange drivers produce highly articulate midrange detail, and again, due to reduced cone movement, reduce distortion levels. Think of it this way - "shared" work is an easier load on the driver. The result is a natural, convincing midrange performance.
With three K700 pro speakers at the helm of your home theatre system, that end-of-the-world apocalypse you're watching will sound like a reality. "Effortless" is highly understating the K700 Pro. Many home theatre speaker systems end up sounding "edgy" or "rough" because the loudspeakers used just can't handle the signal they've been given. High quality drivers reduce this issue, and placing a number of them in a line-array eliminates it. All you have to do is sit back and enjoy the movie, safe in the knowledge the K700 Pro will handle anything you throw at it.
But they're not only masters of high output and dynamism. They're just as equally capable with more gentle material too, reproducing the most subtle of sounds with delicacy you'd expect from a high-end hifi loudspeaker.
Three of these can easily be wall mounted behind an acoustically transparent projector screen for the ultimate experience.
This technique has now been applied to the K700, resulting in the K700 Pro, but working in the all-important midrange bandwidth. This involves inverting one of the midrange drivers - maybe not ideal for the living room, but ideal for studios and high end home theatre installations where the loudspeakers are placed behind an acoustically transparent screen, or hidden from view.
The result is a much cleaner sounding midrange, even less distortion, allowing you to hear more minute details in the midrange region. A faster response provides more accurate reproduction, bringing a level of realism previously only hinted at, untouched by cinema, and major step forward from the industry standard S150.
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5x 27mm HF units
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3x 5.25" midrange units
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phase focused crossover
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push-pull mid/bass driver technology
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1200Hz crossover point
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55Hz-30kHz (+/-2dB)
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90dB sensitivity
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4ohm impedance
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25-400w amp recommendation
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W 267mm x H 491mm x D 250mm
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3 year warranty
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available in matte black
£TBA