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Cabasse Pearl and other speakers from the Future™

q3cpma

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pearls.jpg


After hearing a lot of noise and seeing measurements of the Devialet Phantom, I noticed this interesting speaker by Cabasse. Here are the official specs:
Code:
Price: ~2800€
118 dB peak mono / 124 dB peak stereo
14 - 27 000 Hz
Medium-tweeter 13 cm coaxial BCI
Woofer 25 cm HELD
Tweeter : 300 W RMS / 600 W peak
Medium : 300 W RMS / 600 W peak
Grave : 1 000 W RMS / 2 000 W peak
Ethernet - WiFi - Bluetooth - Optical SPDIF - Analogue RCA - USB storage - Bluetooth remote
Audio formats : MP3 - AAC -WMA - AIFF - FLAC - ALAC
DAC 768 kHz / 32 bits
326 x 327 x 323 mm
18 kg

It also has a builtin room correction system called "CRCS", all the modern gizmos (streaming, assistants) expected by the target demographic and a rather generous (5 years speakers and 2 years electronics) warranty extension.
There's a smaller version called Akoya that costs half and goes down to 30 Hz and 115 / 121 dB peak available, too.

Even if I'll never buy something like this, I can't help but to think that this is how Hi-Fi should be like: inventive, high-tech and so extravagant it makes Genelec look conservative. In other words, interesting.
So, in this spirit, I wonder if some measurements and more in-depth construction analysis are available somewhere for these sci-fi speakers. I guess subjective opinions are also welcome, better than nothing.

pearl_akoya_exploded.jpg
 

sergeauckland

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Cabasse have a good reputation for well engineered products. I hope they're successful with these. I also hope they aren't working to the same 'can't be repaired' scenario as Devialet.

Look forward to seeing some measurements.

S
 

Haint

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I wonder which tech giant is going to be the first to do a full range active stereo or surround system with speakers like these that aims to replace the soundbar or surround AVR system.
 

Wombat

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I'm intrigued by the 14Hz.

These look ideal for Madrigal installations. Maybe Amir can swing a appro. set.
 
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q3cpma

q3cpma

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q3cpma

q3cpma

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Cabasse is not new to this.
They released their first "Sphere" as soon as 1992, I think
https://www.forumcabasse.org/wiki/Atlantis
Was one of the most expensive speaker worldwide at that time...
Interesting, I didn't know about this model. It's too bad Cabasse got bought and kinda stopped its madness. Those Pearls are probably their last interesting thing.
 

extenso

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Interesting, I didn't know about this model. It's too bad Cabasse got bought and kinda stopped its madness. Those Pearls are probably their last interesting thing.

Another perspective, from the Devialet forum: "Interestingly, they were acquired by AwoX - a company dedicated to Internet of Things and Smart Home Solutions. It looks like this was a good combination, since they kept Cabasse doing their thing (building High-End speakers), but helped them with the software / IT sector (which, looking at the comments in this forum, Devialet is struggling with)."

https://devialetchat.com/Thread-Reactor-vs-Akoya?pid=91239#pid91239
 

wwenze

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Cabasse have a good reputation for well engineered products. I hope they're successful with these. I also hope they aren't working to the same 'can't be repaired' scenario as Devialet.

Look forward to seeing some measurements.

S

Why is this opposite from my experiences with the 4-digit price products like their Stream Bar for example
 

wwenze

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I wonder which tech giant is going to be the first to do a full range active stereo or surround system with speakers like these that aims to replace the soundbar or surround AVR system.

I wonder which tech giant is going to be the first to do laser-sensor to detect driver position and then apply servo correction to achieve perfect linear response across all frequencies

We use negative feedback with amplifiers so that we can take the most un-linear of transistors and produce practically perfect performance. We need to do that at the transducer stage. And finally do that acoustically for the global feedback loop.
 

sergeauckland

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Why is this opposite from my experiences with the 4-digit price products like their Stream Bar for example
I don't know anything about a Stream Bar, only their loudspeakers and amplifiers going back to when they were run by Christophe Cabasse, who seemed to me a very decent sort when I met him a few times. He had taken over from his father, so at the time I knew Cabasse they were a family owned company, doing good things in engineering terms. If that changed with the new owners, I don't know.

Sadly, companies get bought and sold like cans of beans and company names are now just brands on often generic products.

S
 
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q3cpma

q3cpma

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I wonder which tech giant is going to be the first to do laser-sensor to detect driver position and then apply servo correction to achieve perfect linear response across all frequencies

We use negative feedback with amplifiers so that we can take the most un-linear of transistors and produce practically perfect performance. We need to do that at the transducer stage. And finally do that acoustically for the global feedback loop.
Motional feedback and various sorts of servo controlled woofers exists, but I think a circuit wouldn't have enough time to act with the mid and high frequencies.
 

bigx5murf

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One of my thrift store friends found an older pair of these last year.
 

direstraitsfan98

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Cabasse La Sphère
120 000 euros (manufacturer information)
Sales: Cabasse Germany Phone: 07851/957414 www.cabasse.com

Wt: 100 kg
Installation tip: free-standing, listening distance from 3m, any damped rooms from 30m2

Frequency response & impedance curve:
index.php

La Sphere, measured on the stereoplay listening room, shows on the one hand how little the DSP had to intervene there for linearization, and on the other hand how low the angle dependency of this sound transducer is.

Frequency response & distortion 85-100dBSPL:

13E17057-69C5-4027-98B4-4970E2772135.jpeg


Low distortion - especially in higher frequency ranges. However, quite high distortion in the super deep bass.
 

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direstraitsfan98

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The four-way coax, internally called QC 55, differs fundamentally from the systems of other manufacturers, which rarely consist of more than two drivers and generally use funnel-shaped outer membranes. This creates sound guides that impair omnidirectional behavior; bandwidth and sound pressure are also limited for two chassis. Large boxes with spotlights * are therefore often equipped with additional basses and super tweeters. Cabasse circumvents the problem
* Strictly speaking, the term “point radiator” in acoustics stands for infinitely small sound sources with equally loud radiation in all spatial angles.
The drivers are artfully nested. The bass sits farthest behind.
the mutual sound guidance through the consistent design as a ball and the use of ring-shaped, slightly curved diaphragms for the middle systems. La Sphère is a masterpiece with a role model function, which is followed by significantly cheaper systems. stereoplay keeps you up to date.

C4D7278F-1457-4E57-A7DF-31640FCE02E9.jpeg


1 The 25 millimeter calotte membrane starts at 4000 Hertz.
2 The midrange (12 cm) operating range starts at 800 Hertz.
The 21-centimeter ring driver takes care of 3 basic tones from 150 Hertz.
4 The gigantic bass (55 cm) occupies most of the volume
 

direstraitsfan98

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Above two posts are just translations I took the time to do from the supplied PDF from thewas. I thought it may be useful for anyone glancing through this thread and does not understand German.

Personally, if I had 120,000 euros to spend, I would not look to acquire a speaker that uses DSP to fix flaws a room may have, but rather, I would renovate or perhaps even start from scratch a room that will be acoustically acceptable for any loudspeaker.

I know that is not the topic of the thread, but it seems to me that state of the art or future hifi comes with a price tag to match.
 
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