Audiovector SR1 Series Bookshelf Speakers Review

Posted on 15th September, 2015
Audiovector SR1 Series Bookshelf Speakers Review

Denmark is a small country in Scandinavia. It is a country that has beautiful scenery and a reputation for its stylish high quality furniture. Lego, makers of the popular children’s plastic construction toys also come from Denmark, but perhaps most significant, it is also where the discovery of electromagnetism was made.

Review: Audiovector SR1 Signature LoudspeakersCloser to the topic at hand, Denmark is also the home country of Audiovector. Back in 1979 Ole Klifoth founded Audiovector, firstly under the name of F3/LYD. At that time he had been in the audio industry for 8 years, selling different brands of speakers manufactured by others. He wasn’t altogether happy with the ability of them to reproduce all aspects of musical reproduction correctly. Some were good at one aspect or another, but not all aspects. Not being able to find a speaker which did everything to perfection, he decided to build them himself.

Audiovector make a large range of domestic loudspeakers, from the bookshelf and in wall series to the exciting floor standers, centre channel speakers and subwoofers. They invest heavily in research and development of all the components that are used to produce high quality loudspeakers.  They have created 5 design concepts that are utilised in their core design. The Audiovector website explains those principles and one quickly picks up that they are an engineering based company. Like most things Danish, good design is integral in all their products. They care about doing things right.

Description

The Audiovector SR1 Signature is the model that is under review, distributed in Australia by National Audio Group. The Signature is the second of four models of the SR1 range and retails at for $4,100. The range starts at $3,320 and tops out at $7,750. An optional high gloss finish is available in 20 colours for an additional $1,150. Worth particular mention is that despite the Australian dollar being currently in freefall, National Audio Group has decided to hold the current pricing at least in the short term.

The Signature is based on the same basic enclosure as all the SR1 models, but in this version it uses a heavier rear baffle that assists in absorbing vibration from the cabinet.

Review: Audiovector SR1 Signature Loudspeakers

Evidently a lot of research went into the mechanics of this speaker, the cabinet/ driver interaction, the sandwich technology used for laminating the cabinet with front and rear baffles and the curved sides which are much stronger and vibration resistant than straight sides.

It is a book shelf or stand mount two way loudspeaker, with two rear firing ports. It is reasonably tall at 37cm tall but has a narrow front width with tapered sides, allowing it to look slim and very attractive. The review pair is finished in white gloss with removable black speaker grills that show off the hi-tech pair of drivers. It looks great with the grills either on or off, allowing either a formal or casual look in my opinion. I’m a fan. Perhaps it’s the good taste and design of the Danes, but they convey a feeling of European quality and good taste. If you don’t like the white finish, there is the choice of black, or two wood finishes available to match it to your own décor.

At the rear are the two ports, which are moulded into the rounded rear panel with a grated guard to keep fingers and small insects out. Connection is via two sets of extremely good quality speaker binding posts at the rear, also suitable for bi-wiring.

Audiovector uses the 3rd generation Evotech tweeter in the SR1 Signature, the fastest and most delicate soft dome tweeter in their range. The membrane is made from natural silk reinforced with carbon fibres. Combining a special accelerator behind the membrane with LCC (Low Compression Concept) technology and SEC (Soundstage Enhancement Concept) open-back system, the Evotech tweeters have both excellent transparency and power handling capability.

Mark Gusew's avatar
Mark Gusew

Starting his first audio consultancy business in the early ’80s whilst also working professionally in the electronics industry, Mark now splits his time between professional reviewing and AV consultancy.

Posted in: Hi-Fi

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