Field-Coil Speaker Review: the Wolf von Langa SON

[tima]

at Positive Feedback:
Wolf von Langa WVL 12639 SON Loudspeaker System

[Antonmb]

Great review Tim.

[tima]

Originally Posted by Antonmb

Great review Tim.

Thank you Tony!

The tunable field-coil mid-woofer coupled with an AMT tweeter makes for a very different design.

[tima]

$17995 including field-coil power suppy

Basic Specifications

The speaker has a nominal impedance of 8 Ohms with 94dB (1w/1m) efficiency and is capable of handling 150 watts continuous power with a 1500 watt peak power (10ms) rating. Frequency response is 25Hz to 25000Hz +/- 3dB. Different from the many lower efficiency speakers on the market today, the SONs are usable equally with low or high power amplifiers. This allowed me to review them with a low wattage SET amplifier and a 110 Watt solid state amplifier.

[Charles]

tima, wonderful and interesting review. Classic Audio Loudspeakers is a USA company that specializes in Field Coil loudspeakers. How do think they compare with the WVL? Also, how does this technology differ from Focal's use of EM technology? Thank you.

Best

Charles

[tima]

Originally Posted by Charles

tima, wonderful and interesting review. Classic Audio Loudspeakers is a USA company that specializes in Field Coil loudspeakers. How do think they compare with the WVL? Also, how does this technology differ from Focal's use of EM technology? Thank you.

Best

Charles

Hi Charles,

The field-coil speakers in Classic Audio speakers adopt the same basic electromagnet technology used by Wolf von Langa and both companies build their own field coil drivers. WvL also builds field-coil power supplies. Both are nicely efficient and capable of being driven by low wattage amplifiers. Classic Audio often partners with Atma-Sphere at shows, using the A-S M-60, which is a wonderfully transparent amp.

Compared with the SON, the CA speakers are substantially larger with more drivers and most (all?) include a field-coil driven horn for their upper frequencies versus the AMT dipole used in the SON. I expect efficient horn based speakers with field-coil drivers to have top-notch dynamics. I have not compared the two companies side-by-side so cannot speak to a sonic comparison, but I can imagine the larger CA speakers working in larger spaces and presenting a larger sound stage than the SON. Von Langa does have larger models that would make for a better side-by-side compare-contrast. Several of the CA speakers have lovely wood cabinets.

I have little familiarity with Focal so cannot say much about them. Several in their line include 'EM' in their name, which I believe stands for Electro-Magnet and to me that implies an electromagnet - that is a current powered magnet versus a permanent magnet - which is the basis of the field-coil technology.

Thank you for your kind comments,

Tim