Davis Acoustics Club 17 Floor standing speakers

The Davis Acoustics Club 17 is a French three-way bass-reflex speaker system. The loudspeaker is equipped with three drivers. Judging by the appearance, a 200 mm driver located at the bottom of the front panel sounds a purely low-frequency region, and a 170 mm driver placed on top serves both the lower and middle parts of the range (MF / LF driver). What the tweeter located in the center should do is clear. Thus, the system's three-band nature is somewhat arbitrary (as in the case with Paradigm Studio 60). Band separation is carried out using two filters with cutoff frequencies of 450 Hz and 4.5 kHz. The bass reflex port is placed on the front panel. The hull walls do not look armored. Rated electrical power 120 W (peaks up to 160 W are allowed). The well balanced impedance makes the system a universal load for any amplifier. The frequency response of the input impedance has the following parameters: average value 6.9 ohms, nominal 3.2 ohms, standard deviation +/- 3.2 ohms, maximum (3 kHz) 16 ohms; the bass reflex is tuned to a frequency of about 40 Hz. The speakers are very sensitive, according to our data, the average free field sensitivity is 91.2 dB; the manufacturer gives a figure of 95 dB (obviously, for normal listening rooms). The system creates good field uniformity. The rustic appearance of the Club 17 leaves a somewhat depressing impression: the floor system is almost furniture... The dimensions of the loudspeaker are 290x730x315 mm.

Attempts to subjectively assess the balance of the sound of the upper and lower registers of the system led to rather contradictory judgments. Objectively, the average sensitivity in the range of 1.5-20 kHz is somewhat lower than the average value in the full acoustic range. This, it would seem, should cause a feeling of lack of high frequencies. However, a wide rise in the characteristic, occupying the region of 3.5-9 kHz, compensates for the effects of a local decrease in sensitivity from 1.5 kHz to 3 kHz. This alignment leads to the fact that the sound acquires harsh edges and bright colors. Impatient notes appear in the voice of the flute, the violin seems importunate, the hissing consonants on the vocals are contrasted. At the same time, there is a lack of scale, despite the fact that musical instruments are precisely distributed in space. Medium frequencies are good: vocals are correctly interpreted, brass brass sounds beautifully, cello sounds juicy. Of course, the Club 17 speakers will be appreciated by lovers of spectacular bass, and it is felt that the system is able to master even the most inaccessible areas of the lower register with a successful combination of listening room geometry and its sound-absorbing properties. In this regard, the low-lying bass-reflex port is encouraging. The dynamic capabilities of the system are sufficient for both jazz-rock and symphony. The scale of the sound panorama is moderate. The image of the scene is slightly embossed, but not blurry. The acoustics of the halls are convincingly reproduced.