Balanced Turntables, A Meze Open Back and New Speakers From Revival Audio
The inbox that houses new product releases hasn’t been dormant per se, but rather just suffering from some annual, mid-summer slowdown the past few months. That all ended with July, as this week has erupted in a cornucopia of corporate press copy that brings a new speaker line, a new open back headphone and two new balanced turntables.
First up is France-based Revival Audio with their new lineup of ATALANTE speakers. The premier launch of the series is a pair of 2 way bookshelves with a soft dome tweeter and a “built-in ARID (Anti Reflection Inner Dome)” called the ATALANTE 3. A 7″ woofer takes care of the lower end. The ATALENTE 5 offers up a 3 way design along with a cool 3″ soft dome mid rage driver and a 12″ woofer for the bass frequencies.
More from the press release:
Revival Audio is born from almost four decades of expertise and know-how behind many well-known flagship speaker models among top tier brands based in France, Denmark and the USA.
ATALANTE models are designed, engineered and assembled in France. With every single detail designed from scratch and after hundreds-hour of experiments, we can now bring our edging technologies and proudly present you ATALANTE, our first series as part of our commitment to next level sound.
ATALANTE 3, the 2-way standmounter equips the 28mm soft-dome tweeter and its built-in ARID (Anti Reflection Inner Dome) patented technology along with specialized back-chamber design, it can absorb 95+% resonances; The first-in-industry BSC (Basalt Sandwich Construction) 7” woofer is the best balance found between rigid and light-weight, with its great damping construction provides fast and smooth response with tight bass dynamics. The purpose of the ATALANTE 3 is to impress listeners with its compact size but exceptional, large scale sound.
Technical Specifications
Type 2-way bookshelf loudspeaker
Drivers: 1 1/8” (28mm) soft-dome tweeter equipped with Revival Audio ARID
(Anti Reflection Inner Dome) patent technology with a large back
chamber with low resonance frequency of 520Hz
7” (18cm) BSC (Basalt Sandwich Construction) woofer
Frequency Response (+/-3db) 44Hz – 26kHz (-3dB)
Sensitivity (2.83V/1m) 87dB/2.83V/1metre
Nominal Impedance 6 ohms
Minimum Impedance 4.4 ohms at 175Hz
Crossover Frequency 2.8kHz
Recommended Amplifier Power
Power handling: 150 watts, starting from 30 watts.
Recommended Room Size 15 to 35 m2
Dimensions (HWD) 390 mm x 240 mm x 270 mm
Net Weight 11 kg (24.2 lbs.)
KEY FEATURES
Designed, engineered and assembled in France
Retro style of speaker with modern French design elements, an art piece with elegant Walnut wood veneer, belt & knot design and crafted burned logos
Great fit with Revival Audio Stand 3 (Sold separately at €399)
28mm soft-dome tweeter with ARID (Anti-Reflection Inner Dome), RASC coating, and outperforming large ferrite magnet system
7” Revival Audio BSC (Basalt Sandwich Construction) woofer
Phase-Coherent-Fast-Response crossover topology design, with Van Den Hul cables
ATALANTE 5 speakers
ATALANTE 5, the 3-way model equipped with the 28mm soft-dome tweeter, 75mm mid-range driver, both built-in Revival Audio ARID (Anti Reflection Inner Dome) patented technology, to absorb 95+% of resonance in the chamber. The first-in-industry BSC (Basalt Sandwich Construction) 12” woofer is the best balance found between rigid and light-weight, with its great damping construction, provides fast and smooth response with tight bass dynamics. ATALANTE 5 is the model best-containing everything you need: sophisticated high frequency, sweet mid-tone and impressive bass dynamics.
The ATALANTE 5 will cost €4,490.
Technical Specifications
Type 3-way bookshelf loudspeaker
Drivers 1 1/8” (28mm) soft-dome tweeter equipped with Revival Audio ARID
(Anti Reflection Inner Dome) patent technology with a large back
chamber with low resonance frequency of 520Hz. 3” (75mm) soft-dome mid-range equipped with ARID+ patent technology. 12” (30cm) BSC (Basalt Sandwich Construction) woofer
Frequency Response (+/-3db) 28Hz – 26kHz (-3dB)
Low Frequency Point (-6db)
Sensitivity (2.83V/1m) 89dB/2.83V/ 1 metre
Nominal Impedance 4 ohms
Minimum Impedance 3.2 ohms at 110Hz
Crossover Frequency 450Hz and 3.5kHz
Recommended Amplifier Power Power handling: 200 watts. Starting from 30-50 watts
Recommended Room Size 30 to 60m2
Dimensions (HWD) 710 mm x 420 mm x 355 mm
Net Weight 33 kg. (72.75 lbs.)
KEY FEATURES
Designed, engineered and assembled in France
Retro style of speaker with modern French design tones
1-piece real wood inclined stand available in the box to lift up the speaker at 8 degrees for the best listening angle
Great fit with ATALANTE 5 Stand (sold separately at €399)
28mm soft-dome tweeter, and 75mm soft-dome mid-range with ARID (Anti Reflection Inner Dome), RASC coating, and outperforming large ferrite magnet system
12” Revival Audio BSC (Basalt Sandwich Construction) woofer
Phase-Coherent-Fast-Response crossover topology design, wired with Van Den Hul cables
More info: Revival Audio
Romania-based Meze has always delivered best-bang-for-the-buck closed back headphones, starting with the Classic 99 we reviewed. But the latest from the company will diverge from those isolating designs in favor of the more airy and natural open ear cup look of many top performing audiophile headphones. The newest edition to the family was teased out this weekend, with the dynamic driver 109 PRO due out in October of this year. More from the presser.
The 109 PRO combines open-back design with a walnut wood chamber that follows the unmistakable aesthetic language of Meze Audio, and is precisely engineered to deliver an exceptional soundstage and a highly detailed, enveloping sound, with just the right amount of punch.
“With this headphone, we have proudly achieved our goal of delivering the same level of workmanship found in Empyrean and Elite, at a lower price point. We know that fans have high expectations from us so, when making the 109 PRO, our goal was to build something to surpass those expectations. We focused a lot of resources on sound development, and I think the result is sublime.” – Mircea Fanatan, Managing Director of Meze Audio.
In true Meze Audio fashion, the 109 PRO blends together carefully selected materials such as walnut wood, zinc, manganese steel, assembled together using only nuts and bolts, making this headphone fully and endlessly serviceable.
“At the core of it all, music is an expression of emotion, a celebration of life and a token of everlasting memories. Every part of the 109 PRO headphones, from the premium materials we used to the intricate engineering, embodies that same emotion our favorite music makes us feel.”- Antonio Meze, Lead Designer and Founder of Meze Audio.
Everyone’s favorite budget-conscious turntable maker is rounding out the connections for turntables. In an era where many are turning to the forbidden bluetooth for wireless connectivity, Pro-Ject announced this week that it is launching two new turntables that incorporate “truly balanced cable connections” via a Moving Coil cartridge. Both tables come factory-fitted and aligned with a Sumiko Rainier MM cart but a mini XLR connection is included, and fits a balanced cable to Pro-Ject’s own Phono Box S3 B or DS3 preamps. The Pro Ject Balanced X1B will retail for $1,299 and the X2B will be $1,799 when they launch in August 2022.
More info: Pro-Ject