Boston Acoustics Hoists Flagship
By Joseph Palenchar -- TWICE, 7/21/2009
Peabody, Mass. - Boston Acoustics expanded its flagship VS series of in-room speakers to seven SKUs with the shipment of the most slender VS model to date.
The VS 344 floorstanding speaker, available at a suggested $1,250 each, is promoted as packing as much output as more conventional tower speakers and delivering a room-filling three-dimensional sound stage despite their unobtrusive design. The VS 344 stacks four 4.5-inch woofers, one 4.5-inch midrange and a 1-inch tweeter in a curved cabinet.
"With its significantly smaller footprint and elegantly curved cosmetic design, the VS 344 is a slender alternative to traditional towers," said Joe Stinziano, senior VP of sales and marketing.
The 44- by 5.38- by 8.38-inch speaker features a rear-firing acoustically tuned port to improve bass output and extend it down to 42Hz. The cabinets are made of high-frequency-molded MDF with curved surfaces to reduce internal standing waves and yield "resonance-free" cabinets, the company said. A hefty internal brace strengthens the cabinets.
For the woofers and midrange, Boston uses the proprietary organic composite cone material available in all VS Series woofer and midrange drivers to maintain rigidity with minimal sacrifices in sensitivity. The cones use a mix of natural fibers to reduce resonance and improve accuracy.
The dome tweeter features a coupled dual concentric diaphragm, which terminates the center of the dome to a brass plug to ensure that the center of the dome moves in phase with the rest of the dome. The design prevents cancellation of higher frequencies above 10kHz to 12kHz, delivering greater transparency. It also delivers a lower frequency resonance point, allowing for a lower crossover point to deliver what the company called "a more full-bodied sound character at high output levels."
The speaker features piano lacquer finish and high-gloss furniture-grade end panels to match its VS siblings, which also includes the VS 336 floorstanding speaker, the VS 325C center channel, the VS 224 LCR, the VS 260 and VS 240 bookshelves and the VPS 210 subwoofer. The VPS 210 and VS 336 represent the series' top price points of $1,699 each.
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