The French Robin Audio is known for its exceptional looking and extraordinary current-driven Oloron speaker, a closed two-way speaker with the company’s own 350mm coaxial driver with a servo-controlled MFB woofer (60 ohm) and 135mm wide-bandwidth unit (30 ohm) for higher frequencies, crossover frequency at 180 Hz, 28Hz to 18kHz (+/-3dB) frequency response, and 106 dB max. cont. SPL @1m.
Now this speaker has been given an additional name ‘Classic’ because another member has joined the Oloron product family: the Monitor.
Apart from the coaxial driver which is now a tad smaller (310mm and 75mm) and the rectangular cabinet, the Monitor looks technically similar, a truly current-driven/motional-feedback digital (16bits/48kHz) active speaker (150 W & 25 W amps) with a 10 band equalizer, and SPDIF inputs. Is that so?
“Yes, the driver is smaller to fit a relatively small cabinet, but the performance is almost similar than the ‘Classic’. And Yes, I can confirm that technology inside is exactly the same: fully digital 16bits 48kHz, Motional feedback, Current drive, equalizer and SPDIF connectivity”, swears the designer Philippe Rodin, and adds that he will soon carry out more complete audio-acoustic tests to confirm the first measurements (38Hz – 17kHz (+/-3dB), 104 dB max. cont. SPL @1m), and will publish them on Robin Audio’s website. Note that with the dimensions of 101 x 39 x 44 cm, and 48 kg weight, the Monitor is by no means a tiny speaker.
And now the good news: the price of the new Oloron Monitor is 6600 euros per pair, which is only a tenth of the price of the Classic with its spherical cabinet. Philippe Rodin also hints about a new yet a smaller and less expensive model incorporating all the characteristics of its two predecessors. And in 2024 we will have a good chance to see and hear Robin Audio’s new loudspeakers exhibited at a trade show for the first time! That will be super exciting as similar, equally ambitious current driven loudspeakers are very rare, if non-existing.
