"The Stratton Acoustics Element 12 is a passive loudspeaker with an integral stand, designed and developed to deliver a specific style of musical presentation... one that’s dynamic, rhythmic, tuneful, engaging and addictive. Like in the Elypsis 1512, some very specific design decisions have been taken in order to recast the traditional compromises of passive stand-mount loudspeakers and to achieve the Element 12's ultimate musical goals," the company states.
Every aspect of the Element 12 – available in four, distinctive high gloss finishes - is wholly artisanal in nature, being precision-engineered and hand-made in the UK by a team of talented specialist contractors, under the watchful eye and direction of the creators.
Formed from 26mm/46mm bamboo ply panels, the Element 12's internally braced cabinet, as the name suggests, houses a single, custom-made 12" bass/mid driver with dual voice-coils and a NeFeB (neodymium-iron-boron) magnet motor system, moves a curvilinear, part-coated paper diaphragm and rubber-roll surround. Twin reflex ports - located out of sight on the underside of the speaker - are tuned to deliver an in-room response down to 38Hz.
As Stratton details, this twin voice-coil system, in which two 88mm (3.4") diameter coils, serially wound on a shared former, move through twin front and rear gaps in the magnetic circuit, brings very significant benefits in terms of reduced distortion and compression.
High frequencies come courtesy of the same 29mm (1.2") soft dome tweeter used in the Elypsis 1512 model, housed in Stratton's patented Mechanically Isolated Tweeter Assembly and, once again, using a NeFeB magnet motor with a double copper-capped, T–shaped pole piece and a flow-optimized rear enclosure.. The tweeter is fitted with a CNCmachined aluminum waveguide that both defines its dispersion characteristic and provides increased radiation efficiency through acoustic impedance matching. At 94dB the overall system sensitivity is impressively high, placing little in the way of restrictions on partnering amplification.
The Element 12 passive crossover integrates the drivers at 1.7kHz via damped 3rd order filter slopes. Crossover components are all high-end audiophile grade and comprise plastic film capacitors and air-cored inductors. No cored inductors or electrolytic capacitors are used. The system impedance that results from the combination of drivers and crossover remains above 6Ω between 100Hz and 10kHz. Electrical phase remains within ±45° over the same frequency range.
Supporting the speaker is an integral stand, formed from 3mm thick, powder-coated, structural steel panels – based on Voronoi geometry – all underpinned by a high-gloss bamboo ply and natural cork base.
Initially, the speaker will be available in four, high gloss mirror finishes: Piano white with silver, Piano black with Black and Gold, Maple with Silver, and Ziricote with Black and Gold.
"There are many, many forms of addiction," says David Fowler, "Ours is simply the desire to continue creating beautifully crafted, artisan-built loudspeakers that nail you to your seat the instant you hear them playing the music you can’t get enough of."
"In short, we get our ‘fix’ by supplying customers with theirs..."
The Element 12 speakers are making its UK debut in the Vertere Acoustics room (Stowe) at AudioShow Deluxe, taking place at Whittlebury Hall in Northamptonshire, March 23-24, 2024. Orders are available direct, with shipping (charged at cost) to anywhere in the world. Price (per pair): GBP £32K, USD $42K, EUR €38K.
www.strattonacoustics.com
