The Auditorium story actually starts with a Dali speaker, a speaker that Definitive Audio had been selling consistently – right up to the point where the brand discontinued it. That loudspeaker used a simple, two-way D’Appolito topology in a slim, floorstanding cabinet to deliver the unusual balance of bandwidth, easy drive and efficiency that happened to match Definitive’s preferred, low-powered tube amplification. Faced with losing one of their core products, Definitive’s Kevin Scott decided to build his own, improved version of that speaker, under his Living Voice manufacturing umbrella (the production arm of the company, established in 1990 with the Air Partner and later Air Scout horn designs).
Thus was born the Living Voice Auditorium, an essentially simple, 30-litre box with a small plinth stand, two 6.5” doped-paper mid/bass drivers and a 25mm soft-dome tweeter. At 215mm wide, 270mm deep and a shade under 1200mm tall, the small footprint, narrow baffle and rear firing reflex port all contribute to room-friendly aesthetics and performance and if the form factor’s not that unusual these days, it certainly was 25-years ago! The genius of the design lies not in the details but in its balance of virtues: small enough to accommodate (and work) in most rooms it was big enough to deliver a convincing sense of scale and weight; with 94dB sensitivity and a flat 6Ω load, it was easy enough to drive with small amps – whether that meant entry level solid-state or high-end SET; its twin bass-mid drivers moved enough air with sufficient alacrity to generate real musical impact; its soft dome tweeter was as musically engaging and communicative as it was forgiving of recordings and partnering equipment; its proportions were pleasing and its price was approachable. Best of all, its tuneful, articulate bottom-end and easy, responsive drive characteristics made it an agile and rhythmically involving performer, just the ticket for getting maximum music out of a minimalist system.
Growing up tough…
Over the years the design has evolved, retaining and building on that innate sense of balance. Some of those changes have been imposed by circumstance, with suppliers failing, or failing to deliver. Others have been the result of experience and the lessons learnt from working with the more expensive models in the line. But all have offered the opportunity to reassess and improve on the original. Cabinet material – or more importantly, the combination of cabinet materials – has developed over the years, while the crossover has seen considerable refinement, both in terms of topology and component choice. In fact, in mechanical terms, I’m not sure that this R25A has anything in common with the original Auditorium save the basic dimensions of the cabinet, the driver topology and the M8 spikes it stands on. But while most of those advances in performance have been steady but incremental in nature – refinement rather than revolution – the latest R25A represents a step-change in musical articulation and communication. Those cabinet materials have changed, as has the height and construction of the stand. The mid-bass drivers were discontinued by the manufacturer, which meant that Living Voice had to have them re-tooled as a proprietary unit, taking the opportunity to refine certain aspects of the design. The tweeter has changed to a more recent model while the crossover has undergone a complete revision for the R25A, of which more later…
