Minissimo Forte
When Crystal Cable launched the original, glass cabinet Arabesque in 2009, the audio world was stunned by the performance of a speaker that sounded as clean and clear as it looked. The Arabesque shape of this groundbreaking loudspeaker was developed to prevent resonance and standing waves and to eliminate parallel walls and common dimensions, resulting in natural resonant decay without resorting to damping materials. This unique design and technology was then further perfected in the following Arabesque speaker models: the Arabesque Mini, the Arabesque III and the Minissimo.
Now, the new Minissimo Forte takes things to an even higher level. Crystal Cable’s goal was to further refine the performance possible from a standmount loudspeaker, while maintaining its predecessor’s beauty and compactness. An advanced new passive-active crossover has been added, alongside special fully balanced filter technology. Our unique MAD™ (Multiple Absorption and Dispersion) system and the new stable and decoupled stand further reduce cavity resonances, and improve sound quality. Together, this series of engineering improvements delivers superb sonic performance.
Standard Colours
other colours available upon request
Development
With so much of the design right first time, the original Minissimo stand mount loudspeaker was a hard act to follow. So our engineers thoroughly analyzed the behavior of the loudspeaker using tools like COMSOL™ Multiphysics computer aided design facilities and our custom-made vibration measurement system. The decision was then taken to focus in on three specific areas where further improvements could be achieved, namely the speaker cabinet, stand assembly and crossover.
Developing the cabinet
One key design aim was to take the Minissimo’s cabinet and support stand out of the equation, making them as acoustically inert as possible. This was done by identifying and then eliminating all vibration paths inside the speaker, by the fitment of a special layer of internal resonance-reducing material. This is unique in the field of loudspeaker design, and has further lowered cabinet noise as well as preventing extraneous vibrations between cabinet and stand.
Developing the crossover
For the ‘passive-active’ crossover design, our engineers benefited greatly from the spectacular results achieved while designing the Symphony loudspeaker of sister-brand Siltech, with which Crystal Cable shares all resources and production facilities. Most loudspeakers employ a passive separation filter using coils to provide the drivers with the correct signal, but this can cause non-linearity and dynamic compression of the signal. The passive-active filter used in Minissimo Forte eliminates these limitations by using frequency dependent components, which allows for much greater control of the sound, higher resolution of details in the music, and increases the dynamic range.
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Cabinet
The Minissimo Forte cabinet is machined from a single PU aluminum alloy block that is supremely rigid, creating a perfect platform for the Minissimo Forte’s premium quality drive units. The carefully engineered MAD™ structure diffuses resonance, which in turn lets the drivers deliver the music – and not the cabinet. The result is a translucent, glass-clear sound that reveals striking amounts of detail.
Stand
Each Minissimo Forte comes with a sturdy, bespoke aluminum stand, designed to deliver high frequency sound at ear level when the listener is seated. It is as acoustically inert as possible, reducing resonance rather than adding noise of its own. The stand’s structural parts decouple it from the cabinet, preventing the transfer of vibrations. At the same time, it also functions as the housing for the passive-active system in the loudspeaker.
Crossover
Crystal Cable has developed a radical new type of passive-active crossover filter which is almost unique in the industry. Its active, powered electronics and the absence of the troublesome coils better tailor the drivers to the music being reproduced – in turn losing less of the original electrical signal. This delivers a more accurate, detailed and vibrant sound than is possible from conventional passive crossovers, and is more consistent over time,
The Scala
Always innovating and searching for improvements, our engineers came up with a brilliant upgrade to further optimize the radiation pattern of the Minissimo Forte. A spatial form placed on top of the existing Arabesque Minissimo loudspeaker which improves the Minissimo’s ability to perform like live music in various room types even further.
– The Scala’s 3D shape is precision machined from a solid block of aluminum.
– The staircase shape is modelled by our engineers using advanced Comsol physics. Its acoustic behavior is also modelled carefully to further improve the sound of the Arabesque Minissimo series loudspeaker.
Specifications
Crossover filter
• Semi-active balanced second order filter (low Q)
Internal Wiring
• Crystal Cable Infinite Crystal Silver
Specifications
• Efficiency: 95dB/2.83v
• THD: less than 0.2%
• Impedance: 16 Ohm
• Maximum Sound Pressure Level (SPL): 105dB
• Frequency response: 48Hz-38kHz (+/-3dB)
• Bass power: 150W
