Audience ClairAudient 1+1 V5 speakers

AUDIENCE CLAIRAUDIENT 1+1 V5 SPEAKERS
- Brand new sealed in box V1 factory updated to V5

Defying both size and price, the Audience 1+1 speakers are probably what most would need for medium to small size rooms. Unobtrusively small, polished in aesthetics, you can tuck it away without any objection from cherished wife or partner. Yet it fills your room with reference sound quality that's both arresting in its accuracy and fulfilling in its portrayal of music.

The ClairAudient 1+1 is a bi-pole (front- and rear-radiating) design that is compact, yet provides surprisingly expansive sound. Recipient of Greatest Bargain and Best Sound (highest value) accolades at T.H.E. Show: Newport 2012 from The Absolute Sound when presented as a pre-release prototype, the ClairAudient 1+1 utilizes two of Audience's proprietary A3-S full-range drivers, one in the front and one rear along with two side-firing passive radiators in a crossoverless design, a configuration that yields exceptionally coherent and musically natural performance. The 1+1 is striking in appearance, with a high gloss black multi-angled enclosure accented by rosewood sides.

Versioning:
From the original 1+1, V2 included a greatly improved driver called the A3S2-16 from the original A3S2-8 dual 8-ohm voice coil. The dual 8-ohm VC is very flexible as it can be configured as 4, 8 or 16 ohms by patch wire configuration. The A3S2-16 eliminated 8 solder points within the dual VC driver. Further, the voice coil wire in the A3S2-16 is OCC vs. OFC in the previous model. Lastly, the magnet and frame were refined. The end result produced a wealth of sonic improvement in terms of greater clarity and dynamics. Version 2+ was the offering of improved internal wiring from Audience OHNO 21 AWG OCC hook up wire to Audience OCC Au24 SX loudspeaker wire. There was also a change in the damping weight of one of the passive radiators. The original gold-plated brass binding posts were changed to Tellurium. Lastly, the enclosure interior divider panel was removed along with amended damping.

Version 3 included a voicing circuit was added to correct for a baffle step response FR dip around 450 HZ and the Audience proprietary EHVP (extreme high voltage process) was applied to the entire loudspeaker circuit.

Version 4 included retuned passive radiators for improved bass response, ultra-low mass pure copper binding posts.

Version 5 included second generation voicing circuit that balanced out a FR rise in the 1 – 5 K.

Version 5 also includes a high pass filter to eliminate frequency below 40 HZ allowing the speaker to be played louder without driver damage during low bass passages. The result was actually an improved bass response. It also improved distortion levels for greater clarity.

Even though these changes occurred over a number of years, it’s probably more changes than you’d normally expect. The original driver and 1+1 loudspeaker version were designed by Audience engineer Roger Sheker. After the passing of Roger, John McDonald, President (not engineer) made some common-sense changes by trial and error with the assistance from the supplier of drivers. Later Audience developed the EHVP system during the tenure of a new engineer. Lastly, Audience hired a new engineer, Phil Ducote, a master acoustic engineer.

The V5 employs a significantly redesigned version of Audience’s full-range driver, top-level Au24SX internal wiring, retuned passive radiators, and custom tellurium solderless binding posts. The result is far more resolution and detail (particularly in the treble), superior transparency, wider dynamic expression, and even greater midrange purity.

The Audience proprietary A3-S driver, although just 3 inches in diameter, delivers extremely flat frequency response from 50Hz to 22kHz (depending on room placement), eliminating the need for a separate woofer, midrange driver, tweeter, and crossover network. As a result the inherent problems of integrating multiple sonically dissimilar drivers and the accompanying phase distortions, loss of resolution and transient response degradation of a crossover network are completely avoided. The dual side-mounted passive radiators augment the output of the A-3S drivers and enable the 1+1 to deliver outstanding presence and dynamic contrast.

"By employing our A-3S driver in a bi-pole design with dual passive radiators, the 1+1 is able to provide an expanded soundstage, extended low-frequency response and offer increased power handling," said John McDonald, president of Audience. "Most importantly, the 1+1 attains a level of sonic purity and musical accuracy that removes all obstacles between the loudspeaker, the listener and the performance."

The 1+1 also utilizes Audience's unique SSIT SweetSpace TM Imaging Technology that provides an expanded listening area rather than the usual single listener sweet spot.

The A3-S driver features a large patented neodymium-magnet motor structure and voice coil that moves with a highly linear excursion. It utilizes an exclusive rigid lightweight anodized aluminum-magnesium alloy cone material with a curvilinear shape. The driver's concave dust cap is made of a proprietary material that is specially designed to control high-frequency cone breakup and provide optimum dispersion.

The patent-pending A3-S surround has a unique "S" shape that allows the driver to provide large excursions without impacting the movement of the cone, enabling the driver to behave more like an ideal pistonic (back and forth) radiator. The driver's patent-pending basket (frame) provides rigid support and eliminates sonically degrading resonances. Other refinements include large pole-piece vents for efficient heat dissipation, a spider (the circular piece that holds the driver's voice coil in place) that allows unrestricted cone movement and many additional enhancements.

The loudspeaker is built using the highest-quality components including the company's custom-made mono crystal Auric internal wiring. Like all Audience audio components and loudspeakers the ClairAudient 1+1 is designed, engineered and handcrafted in the United States.

ClearAudient 1+1 Loudspeaker Specifications
- Impedance: 8ohms
- Frequency responseL 50 Hz - 21kHz
- Efficiency: 87db
- Max RMS Continuous Output Per Pair: 104db
- Max RMS Continuous Power/Speaker: 50w
- Dimensions: 8” high x 9.75” deep x 6” wide
- Weight: 9 lbs. per speaker