Speaker Asylum: REVIEW: Chario Constellation Cygnus Speakers by Gerrit

Model:	Constellation Cygnus
Category:	Speakers
Suggested Retail Price:	$1800
Description:	Three way floor standing
Manufacturer URL:	Chario
Model Picture:	View

Review by Gerrit ( A ) on December 11, 2003 at 05:51:22
IP Address: 163.195.192.13

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for the Constellation Cygnus

After months of auditioning countless sets of speakers I decided to go with the Chario Constellation Cygnus.

They have been in my system now for three months so here goes my review.
Description:
Three way, Three driver setup. Woofer 5.5" downward facing paper/carbon in seperate twin-ported compartment, 5.5" Midrange Paper/carbon and 1.5 Inch Soft dome tweet In sealed compartment.
Crossover: 170Hz and 1500Hz 4th order LKR
Cabinet 955(H) x 200(w) x 270(D) solid walnut and HDF (17 Kg / 37 Pounds each)
Sens: 87Db
Imp: 4 Ohm
Resp: 50Hz (-3Db)
Performance:
The trained eye will immediately see the "weird" low HP-filter Freq. Of 1.5Khz and the oversized tweeter. This was done to avoid compression in the upper-mids that is caused by larger mid-range drivers trying to produce frequencies who's wave lengts are shorter than 1/6 of the cone diameter. The results is a speaker with a very good off-axis response at the cost of having the x-over in the critical hearing range. To mitigate this, the manufacturer used high quality components in the HP filter and the cross-over is (to my ears) inaudible.
These speakers are (to me) the most transparent of any speaker system I've ever heard with a wonderful open sound.
The solid cabinet construction also ensures a stable platform for the drivers with very little coloration.
Voices and acoustical instruments are well reproduced with an extremely natural and life-like presentation.
Positioning is difficult 'cause of the down firing bass ports and they will boom like crazy in a small room or even close to corner.
In home theater they AMAZE 'cause of their absolute transparency, they work very well with my KEF Reference 100 Center. I still cannot believe the soundfield that is generated by this trio in front.
On music they sound almost laid back in their overall presentation with good slam and bottom-end extension. The woofers are as fast as lightning and I will have to find another sub for music 'cuase mine just can't keep up.
Overall:
These speakers are not for everyone. You will need a big room and an amp that can deliver into a low impedance load. For me they do very little wrong in terms of their musical presentation and I've found that I can listen to music at lower volume but enjoy more detail. On large orchestral works these babies let you hear everything in it's right place and time, they just sound so right.
They don't suffer from the harsh sound that some metal domed tweeters bring to the party (like my B&W's). You can listen more longer without any hint of fatigue.
You will see that my product weakness colum is rather long, but I was sold on performance not on convenience. I just had to adjust to accommodate them. Was it worth it? YES.

Product Weakness: Low sensitivity, difficult to drive.
NO provisioning for bi-wiring / bi-amping.
Will boom near corners.
Low Impedance (I have to use a separate power amp 'cause the NAD get's too hot while driving them.)
The binding posts can only take spades or 4mm banana, although the standard 4mm bananas fits so loose that you don't even want to consider them! NO provisioning for bare wire.

Product Strengths: Transparant!!
Very good depth and imaging with the soundstage on 2-Ch material almost tangible.
Very realistic presentation.
Never harsh or fatiguing.
Very Musical.
Looks good too.

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	HK Power amp (100W)
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	NAD T752 as pre
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Rotel RCD 975 (tweaked) and RDV 1060 DVD/DVD-A
Speakers:	Chario Constellation Cygnus, B&W CDM7 SE
Cables/Interconnects:	Cheap Ixos and Kimber PBJ
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Rock (Floyd, Deep Purple etc.), Blues (Clarence
Room Size (LxWxH):	42 x 16.5 x 12
Room Comments/Treatments:	Cathedral roof (thatched), All walls non-parallel, DIY Bass-Traps
Time Period/Length of Audition:	3 Months
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	Dedicated 40 Amp lines (x2)
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner
Your System (if other than home audition):	Home audition