Perlisten S7t loudspeaker

I received an email from a longtime press representative I've known for years, telling me about a new loudspeaker company he's representing. The company is bursting from the gates with a line of products that includes floorstanders, standmounts, wallmounts, surrounds, center channels, and a range of subwoofers.

Looking at the pictures, the products do look much more elegant, well made and ambitious than those from the usual hi-fi startup, but still, I'm thinking, I've heard a lot of clever and ambitious fluff like this before: a full-blown catalog of home theater–friendly speakers and, as is common these days, manufactured in China.

I beg off saying that I'd really like to find out who is behind this and, if at all possible, some rather granular technical detail about, say, the big floorstander. Put up or shut up.

Shortly thereafter, I got what I asked for but didn't expect: specific and detailed answers to my questions.

"Perlisten" is short for Perceptual Listening. The company was conceived and organized during the period 2016–2019. They designed and produced their first six products in 2020 and made their worldwide debut in 2021. The principal managers are Daniel Roemer and Lars Johansen, both of whom have long résumés that include technical and management positions with major speaker companies.

Second, and more significant to me, Perlisten provided detailed technical and test-and-measurement data that is well beyond what is common in this industry.

1121perl.1

Hi-fi companies, like other companies, always offer poetic blandishments and dwell on certain physical enhancements perceived as being marketable. Perlisten, of course, also makes marketing claims—but the company also presents data: graphs of frequency response (on- and off-axis), impedance, phase, and distortion, and spectrograms showing off-axis response along vertical and horizontal axes. Floyd Toole's work made a strong case for such measurements (footnote 1), which these days are most often obtained with a Klippel Near-field Scanner or a similar proprietary system, but few companies publish such detailed information about their products. I hope Perlisten's transparency will encourage other companies to provide this information (footnote 2).

While such transparency doesn't assure a slam-dunk, it grabbed me by the collar and shouted "We are serious!" So I asked for the big floorstander, the S7t.

The Perlisten S7t
When the S7t's arrived, I was glad to have help setting them up—definitely not a one-person job. Three masked men—Steve Jain of Fidelity Imports, his son Ethan, and a friend—made quick work of assembling and positioning the S7t's, which came in a spectacular Gloss Ebony finish. The substantial-looking rectangular cabinet bears what at first glance appears to be five drivers mounted to a thick, meticulously sculpted front panel. On the rear is a glamorous polished brass panel with two massive pairs of multiway binding posts fitted with jumper plates. Below that is a perforated rectangular metal grille that is echoed on the side panels; they function as the vent when the S7t is used in its standard, bass-reflex mode. A 27.5lb steel plate attached to the base supports four adjustable outrigger feet. Spikes are optional.

When you look closer, you see that the S7t has seven drivers, not five. Four of those—two on bottom, two up top—are 7" (180mm) woofers. Between them is a carefully contoured waveguide—an acoustic lens—that is roughly the same size as the woofers. Its central element is the 28mm (1.1") beryllium-dome tweeter. Closer examination reveals two additional 28mm domes embedded at the top and bottom edges of the lens so that their perforated covers preserve the lens's contour; these domes are made from "thin-ply" carbon. Perlisten calls this central assembly the Directivity Pattern Control (DPC) waveguide. This feature is central—literally and figuratively—to Perlisten's Signature and Reference speakers.

1121perl.tweet

These flanking carbon-dome drivers together function as a midrange driver; the central beryllium dome is, as you might expect, a tweeter—although Perlisten calls it a "fullrange tweeter." The DPC controls horizontal and vertical dispersion—the latter effect minimizing early reflections from floor and ceiling. The dome midrange drivers have much less moving mass than a traditional midrange cone, which should result in better transient response, lower distortion, and higher efficiency. (Perlisten specifies the S7t's sensitivity at 92dB/2.83V/m.)

While the Perlisten spec sheet calls the S7t a four-way system, it is by no means a typical four-way. The top and bottom woofers are slowly rolled off around 500Hz; the other two (sandwiching the DPC) roll off about an octave higher. All three drivers in the DPC come into operation around 1.1kHz. The peripheral carbon domes roll off at about 4.4kHz. The central beryllium-dome tweeter extends up to and beyond the top of the audible band; the specified upper end of the S7t's range is 37kHz, –10dB.

It was apparent to me that the transitions between the large cones and the domes and the central dome and the flanking ones would require something other than classic textbook crossovers. Roemer confirmed that it is "atypical" and that there is "greater overlap" than one often finds among the drivers. He also said that he didn't much like specifying crossover frequencies "because this implies [a] traditional approach." Perlisten's approach, he told me, was to "not think in terms of manipulating driver+Xover to match a set of electrical filter ideals," ie, fourth-order Butterworth, and then to force each driver to handle a specific bandwidth. Instead, they wanted it "all to work together to meet the design goals" and to "create a single coherent wavefront." This, he said, is "where speaker imaging comes in" and "how the speakers can virtually disappear." He suggested that I "walk toward the speaker while playing some music with vocals, keeping your head approx. on the main axis." He indicated that I would find that "it is difficult if not impossible to point to a single transducer creating the sound."

"This makes for a rather complex X-over, but well worth it given the outcome," he said.

Unusually, Perlisten speakers are designed to be used either sealed or bass-reflex (ported)—the latter achieved by plugging the down-firing port. Throughout this audition, I listened in bass-reflex mode, which, according to specifications, extends the response down to 22Hz (–10dB), with in-room response down to an impressive 16Hz.

1121perl.bac

Listening
Initially, the S7t's were placed where my Revel Ultima Studio2s had been. My first impression was of a full and clean sound, which I found quite pleasing. After a short time, I realized that the soundstage seemed crammed between the speakers and that imaging was a bit vague. I was enjoying the clarity of the mid and low bass and very good dynamics but, overall, it was not what I expected. I removed the speaker grilles, but that yielded no improvement.

My eyes were drawn to the DPC array, the treble source, which was situated significantly lower than tweeters on most floorstanding loudspeakers. The central tweeter dome is 32" from the floor, lower than typical ear height and lower than my ears at my sofa (38"). I adjusted the front feet to tilt the speakers up a bit so that the speakers' axes were aimed at my head, but that made no audible difference. I asked Dan about it (while not admitting what was going on). He then told me, in detail and with illustrations, that the "S7t has a 2° tilt back" and that the "design reference axis is at the 2° angle (meaning, it is much higher at a distance)." Consequently, at my initial listening distance of about 12', the reference axis of the tweeter is at 37¼". My ears, at 38", were quite close to that axis. In fact, at 12', the ±2° window encompasses ear heights from 32–42"; at 10', the ±2° window ranges from 32" to 40 3/8".


Footnote 1: Toole's book, Sound Reproduction: The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of Loudspeakers and Rooms, is in its third edition. Kal's Stereophile review of the first edition can be found here.

Footnote 2: I'm sure that one reason Perlisten is so forthcoming with measurements is that the S7t's measurements are so outstanding.—Jim Austin

COMPANY INFO
Perlisten Audio
807 Liberty Dr.
Verona, WI 53593
(414) 895-6009
ARTICLE CONTENTS

COMMENTS
rt66indierock's picture

I'll take the robot over any reviewer as long as Paul Seydor's wife Danielle says it desn't sound like hi-fi. Now I'm down to the age old question, will it play my reference albums and recordings?

Kal Rubinson's picture

What is a robaot?

rt66indierock's picture

The Kippel is an important tool to measure speakers. Kind of a shame Amir is the only reviewer using it.

John Atkinson's picture
rt66indierock wrote:
The [Klippel] is an important tool to measure speakers. Kind of a shame Amir is the only reviewer using it.

While I have personally spent >$50k on test equipment over the years, the $100k the Klippel NearField Scannner costs is out of reach for me financially. :-(

There is also the fact that the Klippel needs to be used in a space with a 10' ceiling height, which is not feasible in my NYC home.

Nevertheless, I don't feel my loudspeaker measurements are lacking.

John Atkinson
Technical Editor, Stereophile

rt66indierock's picture

for a discussion of measuring techniques for loudspeakers. I'm going to use measurements from a Klippel when I can. I don’t use yours because I want to measure speakers myself. And of course, play my reference albums and recordings in an environment I control.

I recently acquired a new SUV and have heard six tracks from my reference albums in the last month. It will be an adventure to adjust the audio system to play them reasonably well.

remlab's picture

also uses Klippel, but for what it's worth, JA's measurements do get the job done, except for maybe loudspeaker THD measurements.

John Atkinson's picture
remlab wrote:
. . . for what it's worth, JA's measurements do get the job done, except for maybe loudspeaker THD measurements.

Thank you.

John Atkinson
Technical Editor, Stereophile

remlab's picture

vs Klippel is A little like Garry Kasparov vs Deep Blue. Deep experience vs pure processing power. Each obviously has their strengths and weaknesses.

SamTroft's picture

Dont know who Amir is but Erin's Audio Corner has been using Klippel for his reviews.

RoryB's picture

Klippel's measurement systems are capable of many standard measurements including acoustic response (frequency, phase, impulse) but it is unique in offering additional measurements such as laser scanning, LSI (large signal nonlinearity testing), and distortion measurements including electromechanical DC offset. Those who work in the industry, myself included, will tell you that the specific measurements the Klippel system offers beyond the standard measurements Stereophile obtains by other means are meant to aid in the development of products, usually focusing on a specific transducer in the system (a woofer, midrange, or tweeter in isolation) but do not have direct correlation to what you as the listener will experience in the context of the fully integrated loudspeaker system. You do not hear the suspension symmetry of a loudspeaker, but you will hear its impact upon dynamic compression or harmonic distortion. You do not hear the breakup shape of a transducer diaphragm, but you hear its impact on the frequency and impulse response. You do not hear the offset of a transducer's BL curve, but you hear harmonic distortion and sensitivity loss from an out-of-magnetic-center voice coil. The more advanced Klippel tests can tell you a lot about a specific component of a speaker system, but when you look at the complete integrated system together (drivers, cabinet, crossover, porting) a lot of that information recedes into the background as minimally relevant. At most, you are checking the designer's work. The standard measurements performed by Stereophile are still the ones most directly linked to what you will hear.

rt66indierock's picture

Funny that the Klippel system found errors in Ocean Way's speakers that I heard as something is a little off at shows before Covid-19. And I don't know of many speakers that get past my nine reference albums and three reference recordings.

dc_bruce's picture

While it certainly seems possible that system of this size could be set up for bass extension to 20 Hz (-3dB), the designers apparently have made a choice to forego that in favor of a bit more efficiency. Given that most home listening environments have a 3 to 6 dB boost in the 40-50 Hz range, it's likely that, in-room, this speaker is "flat" to below 40 Hz. The result, according to Kal's report is plenty of bass power (undistorted, uncompressed loudness) achieving a sense of realism that most people want. As Mr. Austin's footnote advises, those wanting 20 Hz extension can always add a subwoofer or two (of equal dynamic capabilities to the main speakers) in order to hear the "hall sound" and other ULF. Given that most subs feature self-adjusting room correction, this probably would result in better sound than a totally passive, uncorrected single "full-range" system of equal LF extension.

Jack L's picture

.........uncorrected single "full-range" system of equal LF extension." quoted dc bruce.

Hi

IMO, SURELY not "probably".

My experience tells me active sub(s) when blended properly with any "full-range' loudspeaker system will surely improve its ULF than without.

I finally get back the music I missed soooo much before without my active subs installed!

Listening is believing

Jack L

BluesDog's picture

No small feat competing well against your Revels. Also would you say it plays better ported or sealed?

Kal Rubinson's picture

Dunno. Only used them as ported, at the recommendation of the distributor/installer. Also, despite their supposed good accommodation for subs in the sealed configuration, a domestic speaker of this size would most likely be employed in stereo in most systems and would be expected to perform well without subs.

BluesDog's picture

Thanks, Kal. How far from the front wall would you say is prudent?

Kal Rubinson's picture

??? Prudent in what way?

BluesDog's picture

As far as I’m concerned John and Kal are among the best there is at what they do. They are in Elysium, which we can almost grasp but which enlightens us and helps us to be better. John will always be the standard by which all testers and their equipment are measured. I’ll take John’s meticulous approach, scientific consistency and sheer will over anybody else and the latest “Flux Capacitor” out there. John gets my lifetime vote as the Michelangelo of testing components and speakers. Kal consistently produces gem reviews with insight and music choices that unearth a speaker’s capabilities. We, as readers, get a frequent real treat from John, Kal and the rest of the Stereophile Audiophile Squad!

John Atkinson's picture
BluesDog wrote:
I’ll take John’s meticulous approach, scientific consistency and sheer will over anybody else . . .

Thank you. I appreciate your comments. About consistency: I have always felt that consistency of approach to testing and the presentation of the results is important. The loudspeaker tests in Stereophile feature a common format that allows a speaker's measured results from 30 years ago to be easily compared with those of current-day models.

John Atkinson
Technical Editor, Stereophile

Dan Nagar's picture

Thank you for an amazing review about amazing speaker.

this one as all the bass needed .

the issue with sub woofer integration should be considered in every system and its not related (always) to fronts speakers extension or specific in room response( again - in terms of room gain)

sub or multiple subs - configured correctly will give a much smoother response .

thank you again

Jack L's picture

Hi

Hopefully the speakere driver units are NOT made in China as well !!!

Jack L

jmsent's picture

..are all made in China. They appear to be excellent performers.

Jack L's picture

Hi

Thanks but no thanks !!

US$20,000 USA brandname loudspeakers BUT 100% made-in-China ????

Glad Stereophile honestly pointed out its country of origin as no indication showing its manufacture location at the back panel of the loudspeaker.

IMO, what a very smart way of making audio consumers' money by building them in an OEM overshore cheap at the expense of the qualtiy consistency of the product.

Good luck !

Jack L

Kal Rubinson's picture
Quote:

US$20,000 USA brandname loudspeakers BUT 100% made-in-China ????

If these same speakers were 100% made in USA (assuming that this would even be possible today), they probably would cost twice as much or more.

Quote:

Glad Stereophile honestly pointed out its country of origin as no indication showing its manufacture location at the back panel of the loudspeaker.

Reporting country of origin has been our policy for some time.

Quote:

IMO, what a very smart way of making audio consumers' money by building them in an OEM overshore cheap at the expense of the qualtiy consistency of the product.

How presumptuous.

Jack L's picture

Hi

So ??

When many digital fans can afford $10,000 +++ for a DAC, would they worry to spend $40,000 for a pair of front loudspeakers, a very major component of the home audio rig, made 100% in the country of origin?

Yes, quite a few loudspeakers manufacturers get their products assembled in China using wooden boxes built there (huge cost saving) but still using the critical components, e.g. speaker driver units & other electronic parts supplied by the original manufacturers. That's will restore the consumers confidence.

Likewise, I never own a car not built in its country of origin.

Jack L

PS: I fixed quite a few tube power amps built in China provided by my audio friends. I got good experience how good are China-built electronics.

Kal Rubinson's picture
Quote:

That's will restore the consumers confidence.

What will instill (rather than restore) consumer confidence is the track record. Obsessive adhesion to "country of origin" is only a little piece of the puzzle.

Jack L's picture

Hi

My question as a consumer:-

Is the "track record" based on the loudspeakers made in USA or made by OEMs offshore ??????

Otherwise I would consider such "track record' INVALID without disclosing where the products are actually built.

There is no countdry of origin showing on the loudspeaker box. So why ???

Jack L

Kal Rubinson's picture
Quote:

Is the "track record" based on the loudspeakers made in USA or made by OEMs offshore ??????

Neither. It is based on the loudspeakers of a particular manufacturer.

Quote:

There is no countdry of origin showing on the loudspeaker box. So why ???

Take a closer look. On terminal panel on the back of the speaker, just above the terminals, it says "Designed and Engineered in the USA - Made in China"

Jack L's picture

Hi

"Presumptuous" !

Sorry. The picture showing the loudspeaker panel above only shows, in pretty fine letters: -
"& engineered in USA & made".
So you still assume we readers could presume it is made in China !!
Ironically, all other signs on the back panel, e.g. THX, Dominus, even
minor signs like RoHS & CE are so much larger in size to be seen so obvious.

"track record" - "Neither" ..

Please defne your meaning for "traack record" to avoid further confusion to naive consumers like yours truly.

Jack L

Kal Rubinson's picture

Now you are just being churlish. The country of origin was clearly indicated in the review. It is, also, printed on the back of the speaker and visible to anyone at a showroom, even if not completely so in our photography.

What is meant by track record? The most general meaning (from Oxford via Google):

Quote:

the past achievements or performance of a person, organization, or product. "he has an excellent track record as an author"

Consider this my final reply to you.

Jack L's picture

Hi

"Churlish" !!

When I asked you how you determine the performance of the loudspeakers when they were made-in-China, you redirect the issue to something else: "track record".

So what is that to do with its geneeal meaning by Oxford.

Likewise when Bill Clinton's presidential career was ruined by his affair with his intern, so would YOU still take Bill's brillient performance in the past as 'excellent track record' ??

This is my last response to your non-answer to the above.

Jack L

MatthewT's picture

Thank god for that!

John Atkinson's picture
Jack L wrote:
The picture showing the loudspeaker panel above only shows, in pretty fine letters: - "& engineered in USA & made". So you still assume we readers could presume it is made in China !!

When I measure a product I always take a photo of the back panel and the box, showing the country of manufacture. Though my photos weren't included in the review, the Perlisten's terminal panel does indeed say "Made in China." This information is included in the review's Specifications sidebar.

John Atkinson
Technical Editor, Stereophile

Jack L's picture

.

Carl Pendola's picture

I'll not be purchasing any equipment made in China.

Lee Robert's picture

No disrespect but I will wait for a more credible review before I seek these out for a demo.

Kal Rubinson's picture

If you doubt our credibility, you can easily find several other reviews out there but, of course, I cannot vouch for their credibility.

Ortofan's picture

... a better way for 'Lee Robert' to have phrased that comment, rather than "wait for a more credible review."

Following is a link to another review (that includes a set of measurements) and their results essentially confirm the findings of KR, along with those of JA1.
https://www.audioholics.com/tower-speaker-reviews/perlisten-s7t

rschryer's picture

From whom?

Kal Rubinson's picture

My remark was not to impugn other reviewers nor did I intend to provide links to other reviews but as directive in response to the implication that our review was less credible than other, yet undefined, reviews. They do exist and Mr. Robert should use Google to seek them out.

BluesDog's picture

I can’t believe how many people engage in what the Brits would term “rather shirty” remarks just for attention. People the caliber of Kal and John have WAY better things to do then defend themselves from what radio announcers were forced to call “bullsch.” I read another article about the Perlisten S7t with testing. While a good and decent article, Stereophile is always the gold standard. It’s like comparing Double AA or Triple AAA baseball players to the Gods of Baseball, Sheesh! Long after the universe has shrunk to it’s last dying star, people will be saying about Stereophile reviewers, especially Kal and John, To add lib Aztec 2Step: There will never be a faster gun or another one like you are!

So to snarky readers here is what bikers would have to offer: Sit down, shut up, and hold on!

BluesDog's picture

Amen!

gpdavis2's picture

Reads to be an excellent speaker. However, as long as China continues to steal our (and other free-world country's) technology and manipulate their currency to undercut free/fair trade I'll not own anything made there when I can possibly avoid it. Why support our economic enemy who may in our lifetime become our military enemy?

Kal Rubinson's picture

I respect your position. These days, it is difficult to avoid products of complex technology that do not contain any component part from China.

Jack L's picture

Hi

I can't agree more. We are dealing with a major Communist
country, no kidding !!!!

Now quite a few free-world countries. led by USA, have already declared boycotting the Beijing Winter Olympic Games next year by not sending any
official delegates to its offical opening ceremony !! First in Olympic history ever !

Some countries even consider to stop sending over their athletes to the Game. Let' see !

Jack L

Jack L's picture

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Jack L's picture

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gpdavis2's picture

Yes. Absolutely true. I'm sure my new Pass INT-25 will have any number of lower-value parts made in China. As you state, impossible to avoid. But, when one has the choice.......... stick with the free-world when possible.

Jack L's picture

Bingo !!

Jack L

HighEndOne's picture

Has anyone besides me noticed the close similarity to the XA (expanding array) David Smith developed at Snell for the XA series back around the year 1999?

The bracketing of the mid-woofers, two mid-ranges and a dome tweeter in a waveguide looks very familiar to me. Even the stated design goals of the XA array echo what Perlisten is looking to achieve.

See this review in this very magazine...

https://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/334/index.html

I am going to compare the JA test results, as applicable, to look for similar measurement results. It should make for interesting reading.

And for the record, I am still the happy, original owner of a pair of XA90's. Thank you David!

And as far as 'Made In China" is concerned: I too will avoid purchasing high-dollar goods sourced there. My preference for solid, long term reliability and serviceability win out over price for high-dollar purchases.

And lastly, thanks to all the folks at Stereophile for a great publication.

HEO

prerich45's picture

Yep it reminded me of the the old Snell XA's. What it reminded me even more of was my own Infinity Composition Prelude P-FR's. The configuration is very similar but the craftsmanship on the Perlistens is just out of this world.
For those who talk of China, I understand buying USA, however most of the magnets in our speakers come from China, due to them having the metal that they're made from. Circuit boards, TV's, and more have Chinese materials in them. It's impossible to avoid in a modern world.
I'd also like to shout out a "Bravo Zulu" to Kal on his review. I trust his measurements, and they're verified by the spins that are included on the Perlisten site. I believe between Kal, and the other independent reviews out there, we have enough data to say these speakers measure well. If Amir can get his hands on a set, I believe he will come back with the same answer. As far as Perlisten goes....specs and data wise, I've seen enough - I'm a believer. Now only if I could get out of Audiophile prison and PERhaps LISTEN to a pair.

prerich45's picture

I've went back and looked at the measurements and I'm surprised at how close they are. Both have a recommendation that says "Dont listen to these speakers while standing", I found that quite amusing indeed!!!!

steve59's picture

If one was to remove all the parts from everything we own that have any china sourcing we would have to walk to work barefoot and wouldn’t be responding to this review because wtf do you think your typing on?

These speakers look to have original thinking and solid engineering and I’m glad you guys found them then took the time to share them with us.

Buckchester's picture

Great review, Kal.

In the upper bass difference you describe, would you say this area lies below the room transition frequency? If so, I wonder if this difference might have more to do with how each speaker interacted with your room, from their respective positions, and less to do with the speakers themselves? After all, many of us would be applying EQ below the room transition frequency anyways, so if that difference disappears after doing that, then I personally wouldn't put much weight on it anyways.

Also, I've read the these speakers are probably able to play much louder with less distortion than some other worthy competitors, such as your speakers or the 328be. But I wonder, in most rooms, would that extra ability actually provide a real added benefit, or would you need an extremely large room for that benefit to be aparent?

Thanks.

X