Robin Audio’s Oloron is a truly highend active loudspeaker housing the most advanced technologies one can think of: Active MFB, Current drive, Equalizer & Connectivity et cetera. INNER was the first to report of this amazing French loudspeaker already a while ago:
Now the Oloron has matured into its final version with all the technologies (sound processors, amplifiers etc.) and functions developed to their peak. Also, the outlooks has now improved from the first proto versions.
To begin with, Oloron is a massive 2 way point-source loudspeaker with a coaxial driver. Not just any coaxial driver though, but a very very special one with a 350mm (14 ‘’) woofer, and for frequencies above 180Hz, a 135mm (5’’) wideband unit (Velocity feedback) in the middle. The coaxial driver by itself is of a unique design but what makes the whole extraordinary is that the loudspeaker introduces Motional Feedback techniques and Current Drive amplifiers.
Motional FeedBack (MFB) is a major and unique technology for improving sound quality at low frequencies. MFB senses the accelerations (and velocity) of the cone of the woofer (acceleration is proportional to the sound pressure felt by ear), and feedbacks it to the incoming acoustic signal, resulting in a more accurate and extended bass performance, free from distortion.
To drive the coaxial unit Oloron utilizes Current Drive amplifiers (transconductance amplifier with a very high output impedance), instead of standard, low output impedance Voltage Drive amps. A control by a voltage source may introduce significant non-linearities and distortion in certain situations, which non-linearities Current Drive amps notably reduce, although at the cost of a much greater difficulty of implementation. Robin Audio parallel the Current Drive ‘sound’ with that of a tube amplifier.
In order to adapt the speaker to the room and to make it sound as the listener finds best, the Oloron features an Equalizer dividing the sound spectrum into 10 one-octave bands and for each there’s a respective volume.
The manufacturer claims free-field amplitude linearity: 28Hz to 18kHz +/- 3dB (on axis, direct sound), and max continuous SPL: 106dB @1m.
The new webpage declares: “One of the most difficult challenges faced by a quality audio installation lies in the interconnection of its various constituent elements. Whether it is to route the audio signal at the input (between the sound source and the amplifier) or at the output (between the amplifier and the speakers), there are always compromises to be made, and the qualitative result is not always up to expectations. OLORON uses a lossless optical fiber daisy chain connection which considerably simplifies the problems of implementation. Nothing could be easier to connect together 4, 6, 10, or even more speakers on the same sound source!”
In addition to the loudspeaker itself, there’s an external OLORON Channel Selector box that allows the connection of a digital audio source – USB, SPDIF, Bluetooth – to all the speakers connected downstream.
Where to listen?
Oloron will be available for audition later this fall. On the exact time and venue more info later.
Specifications
Dimensions: 143 x 51 x 53 cm
Weight: 98kg (216lbs)
Machined piece of wood, dual color painted
106dB SPL Two ways coaxial sound system:
350mm Woofer: acceleration and velocity control 28-180Hz
135mm Wide band: velocity control 180-20000Hz
Full digital proprietary sound processor engine with time aligned linear phase filters
True current drive amplifiers
Full auto stop
2 way system:
Woofer 350mm (14 ‘’) Motional feedback (acceleration & velocity paths)
Wideband 135mm (5’’) Velocity feedback
Amplitude linearity (1): 28Hz to 18kHz +/- 3dB in axis direct sound (free field) Max continuous SPL (2,3): 106dB @1m Crossover frequency: 180Hz Power amplifiers: Woofer 150W RMS true current drive (4)
Wideband 25W RMS true current drive (5) Amplifiers output impedance: Woofer > 60Ohms (6, 7) Wideband > 30Ohms (8, *9, *10, 11) Signal to Noise ratio: Woofer -99dB (4,12) Wideband -91dB (5,13) Distorsion graphs (THD): (2,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21)
Global: <1%
Equalizer:
2 stages: 1-for factory amplitude calibration, 2-for listening room correction
10 bands: 31Hz,63Hz,125Hz,250Hz,500Hz,1kHz,2kHz,4kHz,8kHz,16kHz
Efficiency: +/- 12dB
Time aligned FIR (Finite Impulse Response) filters
Global delay In/Out (*22): 31.7ms
Audio Input / Output (daisy chain):
Optical SPDIF 16kHz-192kHz 16-24bits
Audio connectors:
TosLink
Audio input mode selector:
Audio Left, Right, Left+Right, None
Audio input level attenuator:
0dBFS to -127dBFS
Cooling system for amplifiers:
Proportional mode fan
Overload protections:
Automatic power reducing mode on thermal overload
Circuit breaker on electrical overload
Power requirements:
115V or 230V (on demand) 50/60Hz 250VA
Automatic auto Off/On:
Low power mode (<1W) after 2 minutes without signal
Weight:
98kG (216lbs)
Dimensions (H x W x D):
1430 x 510 x 530mm
Cabinet assembly:
Machined piece of wood
Non parallelepipedal closed cabinet for woofer (50 liters)
Proprietary coaxial loudspeaker system
Finitions:
Standard: Glossy polyurethane paint (Black / White)
On demand: contact us
