STRANDBERG SONORA 

STRANDBERG SONORA      Mats Strandberg-Andersen's High Sensitivity Loudspeaker

by QLN

 

​

We proudly present a new era in Qln's history ... the birth of an independently-marketed new line under the new STRANDBERG AUDIO banner, named after QLN's founder and chief designer Mats Strandberg-Andersen.

 

The re-named and re-badged Strandberg Sonora retains the full-range driver with an add-on tweeter, designed to play perfectly with low-powered amplifiers from 5W and above. As before, Sonora is a classically designed high sensitivity speaker with the latest driver technology. The applied technology focuses on ease of "drive", low distortion and non resonance.

 

The goal is to make an uncomplicated sound that is easy to listen to and that responds well to the smallest input signal. The core of Mats' QLN philosophy is still present in the Strandberg Sonora. Time alignment drivers and a silent non resonant cabinet - a combination that does not add  coloration to the music. Drive units with extremely light cones that provide high sensitivity and are easy to drive with a small amplifier. Low cone mass drivers will not "go deep" in small cabinets, so we simply made a larger cabinet. This way we get a deep, clear and uncompressed natural bass with high sensitivity.

 

The elegance of this speaker's design "is actually on the inside". The Sonora shares the same DNA as all other Qln speakers, but for it we had something different in mind ... notably, tube amp lovers. 

​

​

Design Details
 

Cabinet
 

The cabinet is tuned to produce a natural roll-off without any ringing in step response. The cabinet is made of 19mm thick HDF-board with internal damping pads for minimizing cabinet material resonances. It is heavily braced for "stiffness", and the damping pads role is to ensure that the cabinet does not "store" sound and interfere with the correct restitution of the time domain. Natural wool is used for internal acoustic damping because it sounds best, and it provides damping over a wider frequency spectrum. Further, the wool is "loose packed" so we don’t store sound in the damping material. We however use a strict minimum of damping material, and apply it only where it provides the most benefit -- in the center and the middle of the cabinet where the air speed is at its maximum. This way, we are able to apply a minimum of damping material to achieve maximum damping of unwanted internal sound waves.

 

​

Crossover
 

The 1.5 way crossover, with its minimum number of components, is hardwired and features high-end Mundorf capacitors and baked-air coils to avoid any internal component and filter resonances. The result is perfect timing within the crossover and throughout the entire frequency range.

​

​

Drivers
 

The 8” full-range and treble drivers have been specifically selected and custom developed by renowned industry driver manufacturers, and offer the latest in 21st century advanced driver technology.

The unique light-weight 8” full-range driver with its built-in copper rings in the magnet system offers a symmetrical drive capability, thus suppressing intermodulation distortion. Low losses, and a large port in the chassis further reduces reflection of air-induded noise, and results in industry leading high-end "vocals" restitution, as well as astonishing micro/macro dynamics across the entire frequency range.

 

Likewise, the 30mm wide surround waveguide tweeter offers precise time alignment, superb rendition of vocals, and excellent imaging at all listening positions. A large roll surround, a built-in copper ring, and a textile dome diaphragm, all combine to provide a flat frequency response above 30 KHz. The large internal acoustic chamber allows for low compression, and moves the tweeter's system resonance far away from the crossover point. Its output level is a few dB lower than that of the 8” full range driver's. This allows it to just add a little extra detail, resolution and dispersion over 10k to assist the full range driver.
 

​

Cables and Speaker Connectors
 

The internal cabling is our own special design. This cable was designed by us for specific use as internal speaker cable . All components are carefully hand selected and individually tested for any deviances. WBT pure copper Nexgen binding posts are used with grip-friendly screws.

​

​

​

 

$  6,250  per pair