Opera Callas loudspeaker

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<p><img class="story_image" src="http://www.stereophile.com/images/813opera.promo_.jpg" /></p> Colleen Cardas strongly urged me to try the Callas loudspeaker from Opera Loudspeakers (whose products she also distributes in the US), which she claimed was an ideal match for the Unison S6 amplifier I <a href="http://www.stereophile.com/content/fifth-element-80">reviewed last August</a>. In my experience, the stand-mounted Callas ($5000/pair) is unique among loudspeakers in being the logical contrapositive (inverted and flipped, so to speak) of the usual D'Appolito driver array of midrange-tweeter-midrange (MTM).
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In the well-known D'Appolito array, one tweeter is partnered with two midrange drivers, one each above and below it. Opera's two-way Callas has one vertically centered 5" mid/woofer with a copper phase plug, and identical 1" soft-dome tweeters above and below it. As if that weren't enough, on the narrow rear panel are three more tweeters, identical to those in front, in a vertical array. The enclosure has two small ports, side by side at the top of the rear panel.
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The Callas measures 14.8" high by 9" wide by 13.4" deep, its cabinet symmetrically tapering toward the rear, and weighs about 57 lbs. The cabinet is made of elegant solid woods and veneers in a high-gloss finish of medium-shade cherry (except for the recessed, black-painted base plate), with black leather cladding on the faceted fascia. There's a small brass badge on the base plate. Front grilles are provided, but I didn't use them. A single pair of robust, naked (non

[Source: http://www.stereophile.com/content/opera-callas-loudspeaker]
 
The original Callas, with just one tweeter and one woofer per cabinet, was probably my favorite monitor. They just sounded so damn musical, cohesive, and larger then their footprint with good bass (but not that overextended bass that doesn't really hold up that so many monitors try to produce). They had texture and beauty and a naturalness that sometimes seems forced in speakers.

I haven't heard them since they added all the tweets, and I'm not really sure why they didn't name this new version something other than "Callas" when they did the redesign.
 
Attractive looking and well-built speaker. However, JA measurements could be a concern.
 
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