Odeon Audio Rigoletto 2020 Floorstanding Speakers (pair)

The Rigoletto 2020 is the perfect match for tube amps with low output power. The Rigoletto uses a downward firing bass horn system that is a technical achievement especially for its size and price range. The bass-midrange driver works backwards into a horn that is folded over the entire height of the cabinet and ends in an opening above the floor. ODEON AUDIO is known for being one of the first manufacturers to produce such concepts in a series of enhancement. This third generation of compact bass horns combines the experience of previous generations with new individual manufactured driver technology to create a new class of loudspeakers: the high efficiency of 95 db, the impedance of 8 ohms combined with ultra-fast bass response and three-dimension reproduction allow the potential of triode amplifiers to be fully exploited. With a custom-made bass-midrange driver and a one-inch compression driver, this model is characterized by outstanding speed, fine detail and an immediate emotionality.

“What impressed me right from the start was the clear sound that the Rigoletto 2020 is capable of. […] Like an acoustic magnifying glass, it brings out the finest guitar decay, breathing or blowing sounds to their fullest, and takes loving care of the smallest details and nuances. I promise you, you will rediscover your record collection with these Odeons.”

Carsten Bussler, HiFiStatment.net

CROSSOVER

To keep the deviations between the channels as small as possible, we use selected components for the crossovers with a maximum deviation of only one percent. Only non-aging components (film capacitors) are used. The Rigoletto 2020 works with capacitors from WIMA. The inherent sound of these capacitors extends the sound image and harmonizes perfectly with the sound character of the tweeter. The flat and round wire coils used are made by Mundorf.

The crossovers of the Rigoletto are wired by hand, soldered point to point and then mechanically secured to avoid movement of the sensitive components and thus negative influences on the sound. The point-to-point wiring minimizes electrical transitions in the signal path. What is regarded as a quality feature in high-quality tube amplifiers is rarely implemented in loudspeaker construction as consistently as in ODEON AUDIO products.

CABINET

In the Rigoletto 2020, the outstanding qualities of the speaker systems are optimally combined in a special cabinet made of a material mix of various woods and by using a specially tuned crossover. The Rigoletto 2020 uses the cabinet principle of the bass horn. This means that the bass-midrange driver works into a multi-folded horn that ends above the floor and radiates downwards. The result is a seamless, highly dynamic bass, an intensive basic tone range, which is particularly noticeable in vocal reproduction, and a particularly high efficiency of 95db. In combination with an impedance of 8 ohms this makes the Rigoletto 2020 the ideal playing partner for low power amplifiers (like 300B and 2A3).

LOW-MIDRANGE DRIVER

The handmade bass-midrange driver come from a German manufacturer. It combines a modern aluminum die-cast frame with a powerful neodymium magnet that drives the voice coil with a magnetic force of 1.35 Tesla. The system is characterized by an ultra-light cellulose membrane in NAWI (non-unwind able) form. This hyperbolic membrane shape, in contrast to the conventional cone shape, ensures a more even movement and load on the membrane under heavy stress, thus preventing induced vibrations that can lead to cancellation effects.

The bass-midrange driver is further characterized by a particularly accentuated, controlled and fast movement. This is made possible by a very fine, centering and the one-piece construction of diaphragm and surround. Instead of a rubber surround that connects the cone to the basket, the multiple folded edge of the cone takes over the function of the surround. This prevents unwanted back reflections between membrane and amplifier.

TWEETER

A new generation of one-inch compression driver is used as tweeter. The tweeter is driven by a particularly strong neodymium magnet, which guides the voice coil with a magnetic force of 2 Tesla. The result is a system that guarantees highest resolution and speed. The result is a system that guarantees highest resolution and speed. With a linear transmission of more than 25,000 Hz, the Rigoletto 2020 covers a frequency range that is significantly extended. These qualities are supported and significantly enhanced by the use of the ODEON AUDIO birch multiplex horn. The 17 cm measuring horn functions as a mechanical amplifier, which relieves the tweeter and thus contributes decisively to a relaxed sound character with the highest possible resolution.

CABLES AND CONNECTIONS

The Rigoletto uses a particularly pure oxidation-free copper cabling (OFC) from German production. In the high-frequency range, a thin solid core cable with Teflon insulation is used. The high purity 7N copper is drawn in a monocrystalline structure and enables the transmission highest tone information. The result is a very fine and high resolution.

For a trouble-free contact, the Rigoletto 2020 is equipped with WBT Nextgen loudspeaker terminals made of pure, gold-plated copper. Due to their design and low material usage, they suppress eddy current effects that usually occur in plug connections.