Estelon Forza loudspeaker Specifications

Sidebar 1: Specifications

Description: Four-way, sealed-box loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" (25mm) Accuton inverted diamond dome tweeter, 8" (203mm) CELL aluminum sandwich midwoofer, 7" (178mm) CELL ceramic membrane midrange, 2 11" (279.5mm) woofers. Crossover frequencies: N/A. Frequency range: 25Hz–60kHz. Impedance: 3 ohms (minimum 2 ohms at 42Hz and 110Hz). Sensitivity: 88dB/2.83V/m. Recommended minimum amplifier power: 20 watts.
Dimensions: 66" (1676mm) H × 24" (610mm) W × 27" (686mm) D. Weight: 330lb (150kg) each.
Finishes: White or Black Pearl Gloss, Black Matte, Dark Silver Liquid Gloss, Ocean Mystery.
Serial numbers of units reviewed: 016A/016B.
Price: $149,000–$163,000/pair (depending upon finish). Number of US dealers: 15. Warranty: limited 5-year, nontransferrable, parts and labor (90 days if not registered within 30 days of purchase) including return shipping and insurance.
Manufacturer: Alfred & Partners, OU Kukermiidi 6, Tallinn, 11216, Estonia. Web: estelon.com. US sales agent: Aldo Filippelli. Tel: (630) 484-7577. Email: aldo@estelon.com.

COMPANY INFO
Alfred & Partners
OU Kukermiidi 6
Tallinn, 11216, Estonia
US sales agent: Aldo Filippelli
(630) 484-7577
ARTICLE CONTENTS

COMMENTS
MatthewT's picture

Beautiful.

Anton's picture

They are strongly reminiscent of the KEF Muon.

rocky rqccoon's picture

One does not simply 'eliminate' diffraction. You simply eliminate it's deleterious effects by rounding off the edges of cabinets near the HF/mid-range drivers. John Crabbe wrote about this in 'Sidelines' in HFNRR in about 1986 - publishing lab findings using a single wide-band HF driver in three types of cabinet. A cube, a cube with rounded off edges at the front, and a sphere. Guess which had the best frequency response ? What was interesting was how close the cube with rounded edges was compared to the sphere. But the main thrust of the article was - you can't eliminate diffraction. His colleagues were using such phrases as 'eliminating diffraction effects' and he was keen to point out what was actually happening and encourage journalistic accuracy. What you are doing is smoothing the forward response by helping the diffraction. So curves on the sides of loudspeakers don't eliminate diffraction. They help it. But the make it smoother and so you don't get the sharp effects with sharp corners. They reduce it's effects. But you can't eliminate it - except if you put the drivers in the walls perhaps.................

georgehifi's picture

No, sorry not to me, also why in the second pic down (the black/white shot) is the top left of the speaker slightly higher than the left, where the bottom is dead square. Or is it my $$$$ monitor

And the first color shot too, now that I look???

"The EPDR (footnote 1) drops to 1 ohm at 53Hz, to 0.8 ohm between 144Hz and 166Hz, and to 1.38 ohms at 2.8kHz. The Forza must be used with amplifiers that don't have problems driving 1 ohm loads."

Luv a speaker that needs a brute amp to drive it, sorts the men out from the boys.

Cheers George

Charles E Flynn's picture

My monitor is at least one or two $ below yours, and yet it provides corroborating evidence for both of your observations.

otaku's picture

Sorry Mikey, I could not hear the first track of (Icemusic) above the sound of the paintings falling off my walls from the low bass.
But seriously, does someone on the list want to chime in on what the enema bag speaker, slime trail speaker and whipped cream speaker are?
I have some good guesses, having owned some of them, but would like to see what others think.

Anton's picture

Slime Trail: B & W Nautilus. I am pretty confident about this one.

Enema Bag: MBL 101e?

Whipped Cream: I am still thinking.

SimplySpeaking's picture

What are "hen" premeasured crossover components?
Are they better than "rooster" premeasured?

Just curious.

John Atkinson's picture
SimplySpeaking wrote:
What are "hen" premeasured crossover components? Are they better than "rooster" premeasured?

A typo, now corrected. Thanks for the eagle eyes.

John Atkinson
Technical Editor, Stereophile

tonykaz's picture

Outsourcing critical componants means letting go of 'piece to piece' quality control which is especially critical if you are attempting to maintain peak performances.

Top Level Manufacturers have taken to building their own critical parts, which is exactly what the buyer is paying top dollar for. example : have a look at Abyss in Buffalo NY ( or Ferrari Auto in Italy )

Outfits that outsource critical parts are Second Tier, which is acceptable but it's nothing to brag about.

Tony in Florida

MatthewT's picture

Like GM and airbags?

tonykaz's picture

Exactly, You are Spot on, you get the concept.

GM is turning to S#$T in most things and its sad to see.

MatthewT's picture

Outsources tubes, are they second tier now?

tonykaz's picture

Yes, of course !

Jason & Mike are designers , their outfits assemble ( California & Texas ).

They have costs reflective of ultra efficient manufacturing designing. It's what they specialize in: maximise performance vs. cost.

Tubes are getting super high priced from the new manufacturers now. I'm hearing $1,800 for a pair of NEW 300B.

Jump over to Tesla and have a look at how they are building everything including the Batteries. They report that the OEMs can't supply consistent quality needed by Tesla.

Thank for writing, I've always admired your thinking.

Tony in Florida

ps. This loudspeaker outfit is taking me thru set-up training -- Right Now as I write this ! ---

Michael Fremer's picture

Loudspeakers are not cars, last time I checked, but both often have crappy drivers.

tonykaz's picture

Why the personal attacks ?

This is a rather Scientific, anyalytical type discussion, isn't it ?

Your : "Last time I checked" reads like angry sarcasm.

Accuton makes pretty darn nice transducers, as far as I can see. Some Auto outfits use them in their cars.

Resale of these Loudspeakers is gonna be a problem, perhaps.:

Warranty doesn't transfer

Factory packaging is intricate, specific and have to be stored which will take up considerable space. Set-up seems to need a factory specialist , the Factory suggests the need for two powerful men that also understand all that is required and needed for a proper installation.

I'm curious about blown Driver replacements, how is this accomplished and by whom???

There is a lot going on with this product range, the Dealers are gonna have to be better technicians than any Audio Dealer I've encountered. These products make Wilsons seem simple.

Tony in Florida

ps. how does the Dealer repair a Scratch ??

Michael Fremer's picture

Companies build in house crap all the time. The issue is not where it's built but rather whether or not attention is paid to QC either in-house or "take out".

tonykaz's picture

Are you now a housing design specialist ? , an architectural engineer ? a Standards specifier ?

I am aware of High End Luxury Custom guys that build one of a kind places that have Inspection Issues.

Todays building Standards are enforced because of Insurance Industry underwriting.

Older building tracts that were allowed Aluminium wiring are probably the Crap problem you are referring to.

There are an abundance of rumours about NJ building inspectors bribery, your case kinda supports that anger.

Tony in Florida

MatthewT's picture

Has set in for these. BRB, going to go see if Best Buy has a pair. A number of dealers in SoCal, I might have to find an excuse to go there.

MatthewT's picture

What the speakers are you described in the first paragraph. Dying to know!

tonykaz's picture

Most people have the feeling that Mecerdes make the finest Cars in the World ( I think Tesla does ).

Still, Mercerdes S Class cars are Outstanding Engineering Examples, always at the forefront ( except now because of Tesla ).

My Local Mercedes Dealer presents an entry level S Class for $109,000 with a total 5 Cars ranging in MSRP to $143,000.

I ask any knowledgable person to explain how this interesting loudspeaker is an equivalent to a Mercedes S Class and how it's phenomenal price is justified.

Is this like buying a pricy painting from the son of a famous person? seem like it !

Tony in Florida

MatthewT's picture

Of MB as well? If not, why not? Why is an MB five times the price of a Toyota transportation appliance? What makes an MB worth that five times the cost? Why would those reasons an MB is worth the cost not apply to something else?

tonykaz's picture

The Toyota Corolla has been the Industry Value Leader since 1990, til KIA presented the SOUL around 2011ish. Koreans deliver German Level Engineering, Japanese Build Quality with Chinese Pricing. KIA make our Cars in Alabama ( I think ).

However, the S Class is Gold Standard in the Automotive Industry. Gold Standard for price setting , Gold Standard in Status / Ego and Gold Standard for ICE performance.

The Tesla Engineered Cars have relegated all the ICE cars ( including the S Class ) into Buggy Whip stodginess.

Tony in Florida

MikeP's picture

Have you heard the new Diptyque Audio Reference Loudspeakers yet ?

https://www.pranadistribution.com/diptyque-audio

hiendmmoe's picture

I’ve never seen or heard a better speaker in my lifetime. They were magic on all types of music. I did realize one thing though. If the music doesn’t have it recording wise they will not give you anything more than the recording does, but if it’s there in the recording you’ll hear like you have never heard it before!

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