Acelec Model One

LOUDSPEAKER

- HERB REICHERT

The Acelec Model One speakers I'm auditioning are not princesses in pink, or frog green, or made of some chemically distilled poly pudding. Nor are they conventional-beyond-reason MDF boxes covered with stick-on vinyl pretending to be wood. The Model Ones are squat, small, serious-looking, two-way stand mounts. They are 11.2" tall, 7.7" wide, 11.5" deep, and 37.5lb heavy.

My review samples look serious because they are constructed of black, 15mm-thick, internally damped "bituminized aluminum" panels, which, besides being rigid, look full-metal stealth and recording-studio professional. Cees Ruijtenberg of Sonnet Digital Audio-Acelec is a Sonnet Digital Audio brand and Cees is Acelec's chief designer-wrote to me in an email that this well-damped stiffness "avoids ringing and time-smearing with regard to fast, powerful transients." If you don't want black, you can also get silver, and fancier colors available on request.

SPECIFICATIONS

Description Two-way, ported standmount loudspeaker with cabinet walls made from 0.59" (15mm)-thick bituminized aluminum panels. Drive units: 5.9" (15cm) Scan-Speak bass/mid transducer with sliced-paper cones; 0.7" Air Motion Transformer tweeter with neodymium magnet. Frequency response (-6dB): 45Hz-35kHz, max. deviation +2.5dB. Crossover frequency: 1.8kHz. Sensitivity: 84dB/W/m. Recommended amplifier power: 25-100W. Nominal impedance: 8 ohms. Minimum impedance: 5 ohms at 375Hz.
Dimensions 11.2" (285mm) H x 7.7" (195mm) W x 11.8" (300mm) D. Weight: 37.5lb (17kg).
Finishes silver or black plus optional colors.
Price $6495/pair. Approximate number of US dealers: 1. Warranty: 2 years, transferable.
Serial numbers of units reviewed 22-26-01, 22-2602. Manufactured in the Netherlands.