The Ovator S-800 loudspeaker was recently presented by the British high-end audio specialist Naim Audio, on the occasion of the Hong Kong High-End Audio Visual Show.
It has taken them 5 years of research and painstaking work to create the brand new technology appointed Balanced Mode Radiator, or BMR, integrated into the signature Naim BMR drive, which reportedly eliminates the need for any separate tweeters, being able to emit sounds of all frequencies.
The speaker is contained into a 40-liter cabinet, sturdily planted on an aluminum die-cast plinth. It features a 280 mm flat-panel bass drive unit and an 82 mm flat-panel BMR. Rather unusual for regular speakers, which feature cone-shaped technology, the bass unit inside the Ovator S-800 has been conferred a flat-diaphragm shape. This feature allows for more space behind the unit, helping it emit a better sound quality. The walls sport nine constrained damped layers of MDF, curved and bonded together in the presence of heat, with stunning improvements in the speaker’s performance.
The loudspeaker weighs a respectable 93.5 kg and measures 1,393 mm in height and 520 mm in width. It is available in various paintjobs, among which we truly like the Gloss Rosewood model, and it would reportedly be a good idea to attach them to a Naim music system consisting of any Naim NDS, NAC 252, NAP 300 etcetera.
There are two configurations the speaker is going to be available in – passive and active. Passive configuration will be available since January, featuring a cross-over unit within the die-cast aluminum plinth connected to an amplifier. The Active configuration will reportedly be available starting December, based on the principle that each drive unit is tied to a different amplifier, with electronic cross-over between the power amplifiers and pre-amplifier.
Priced at a whopping £30,000 ($47,000), the Naim Ovator S-800 would make for one hellish addition to your home cinema.
