Sit the Comtesse beside the Marquis and it’s remarkable that it generates the bass output that it does. It’s so much smaller, visually and physically, than the next model up, that there’s clearly something clever happening here. Like the other Divin speakers, that’s to do with the bass driver and its loading, but even in that context, the Comtesse is a little bit special. The 8” driver uses a composite paper/carbon cone, mated to a 2” voice coil and a motor system/suspension that’s capable of delivering a ±12mm excursion! That’s moving a lot of air: good when it’s going forwards, but a potential problem when it’s moving backwards. In order to handle all that energy and pressure, Göbel has built an incredibly rigid, complex, reflex loaded bass enclosure, incorporating a combination of parasitic and Helmholtz resonators to control and dissipate the considerable levels of unwanted mechanical energy. The driver is symmetrically loaded by a pair of ports, above and below it, to help prevent asymmetrical pressure within the enclosure exerting eccentric forces on the driver, a potential source of significant distortion. That porting isn’t as evenly disposed as the four ports that surround each driver in the Majestic, but with the symmetry of the cabinet, the top and bottom placing still improves significantly over the performance of a single, off-set port. The ports themselves are tuned to 34Hz, but even so, useful output still extends to the -3dB point at28Hz. More importantly, the careful control of the enclosed air volume helps prevent it slowing or interfering with the response of the bass driver, maintaining the speed and attack that characterises the Divin Series mid-band performance.
Talking of mid-band, the Comtesse sports the same 8”, glass-fibre reinforced paper cone, 2.5” voice coil driver seen in the Marquis and other Divin speakers. Again, this is a long-throw driver (at least for a midrange unit) with over 4mm of linear excursion. It uses a lightweight, glass-fibre bobbin and a mixed copper/aluminium voice coil, to keep the moving mass low. It is also heavily vented, to try and maximise thermal stability and limit compression under heavy load. It’s isolated in its own chamber, occupying roughly a quarter of the total cabinet volume. Above it sits the AMT treble driver, deep in its machined aluminium wave-guide and operating all the way up from 1600Hz.
So much for the drivers. The cabinet construction, materials, fit, finish and hardware on the Comtesse are exactly the same, or to the same standard, as on the other Divin speakers – with the considerable advantage of smaller panels adding even greater rigidity. The crossover is isolated in its own internal chamber. The rear panel is equipped with a quartet of the same WBT binding posts you find on the other Göbel speakers, meaning that the smallest model in the range offers the same option to bi-wire or bi-amp. The cabinet stands on a quartet of adjustable, ceramic coupled, stainless steel feet and, in a particularly useful option, Göbel offer a choice of tall or short posts for these, allowing additional tuning of the bottom-end balance to room size and placement. I used the taller feet/posts in the (smaller/narrower) Reading Room, the shorter ones in the main listening room, to good effect, demonstrating that these are more than just a nicety. Finish is the same, deep piano lacquer that graces the other models, available in black with soft-touch matt black aluminium parts and brushed silver highlights (other finishes are available, but may cost more). In fact, in every single way, the Comtesse is a Divin writ small.
