Xavian Electronics is a family-owned loudspeaker manufacturer founded in 1997 in Prague, Czech Republic by Roberto Barletta. Born in Turin, Italy, in a family of musicians, Barletta curiosity for home made speakers started when he was just 14 years old, leading him to embark on the development of loudspeaker systems and analog amplifiers for a living. After working for an Italian loudspeaker company during five years, in 1994 he decided to move to Prague, where he founded Xavian.
The name of the company "Xavian" is said to come from the Greek mythology (supposedly a sacred place to the Muses and regarded as a source of inspiration). The first Xavian workshop was located in the center of Prague, with the second factory in Kladno, near Prague. Since 2013 the company moved to an old, large mill in Hostivice, very close to Prague. The company already gained a reputation in hifi circles, for its passion and care in artisanal cabinet construction using solid wood.
Recently, Xavian launched the Medea family of speakers as part of its XN Series, which embraces the latest generation of Danish transducers, the Ellipticor range from Scan-Speak. The first design in this XN Series was the Virtuosa Anniversario, a limited edition to only 50 pairs of a floorstanding design, which Roberto Barletta says he designed "to make me look forward to music every time, just like I did at the beginning of my career."
The Virtuosa Anniversario project was the company's first to use only the Scan-Speak Ellipticor transducer technology - claimed to be the first in a commercially available loudspeaker design*. The three-way Virtuosa Anniversario's featured crossovers that don't use any capacitor, with the three Ellipticor drivers in phase alignment and equalized using only five components - as the company explains. The choice of Ellipticor drivers can be easily identified, but since Xavian doesn't list it we will respect that intention.
Now, Xavian created a new two-way stand-mounted system no longer limit in production, and which the company says was intended to "achieve an authentic Xavian solution at the highest standard that the stand-mounted concept allows." The Medea speakers feature a cabinet construction that was fully optimized for the Scan-Speak Ellipticor drivers, with a completely separate working chamber for the tweeter, rigid cabinet with internal bracing, and the same FaseZero crossover design of the Virtuosa Anniversario project, here in a simpler two-way configuration. The choice of Ellipticor drivers seems to be the same, just without the 15. Xavian claims every Medea speaker shipped is driver matched within +/- 0.5dB tolerances.
The cabinet features a low-distortion wooden elliptical bass-reflex port in the front, positioned horizontally - unlike in the limited Virtuosa Anniversario design where the elliptical shapes were all carefully aligned vertically. Every cabinet also features integrated a Soundcare adjustable anti-vibration system (removable) and 4 screws for attaching optional spikes or to attach the speakers to the stands.
Along with the Medea speakers, the company designed large greek-inspired stands filled with sand that clearly will not be to everyone's liking, although Xavian says they were "created to complement its confident aesthetic. We chose slightly eccentric proportions and style, the product of an extremely laborious manufacturing process, to not only ensure completely optimal working conditions, but also to underline the uniqueness of the whole solution."
The company offers 5 years warranty on all its products, covering quality of materials, functionality and finish.
www.xavian.cz
* According to Scan-Speak, several other brands have previously designed and presented speakers using only Ellipticor drivers, starting with a Danish brand in 2018, and YB Audio in their Epic line (2020). A more recent example being UK company, Living Voice, which launched the R80 in 2023. Xavian gets the credit because they were the first to tell the world they did it. Kudos to companies who do!
