Perlisten asks 'R you ready?'

This 5.1 set proves the performance of the US brand's debut S range wasn't a one-off, says Mark Craven

- Mark Craven

Just as Fast & Furious spun-off into Hobbs & Shaw, Perlisten's S Series (HCC #331) has birthed the R Series - and like the Statham/Rock movie, it proves nearly as good as the original. In fact, place the loudspeaker ranges next to each other and factor in their price points, and the R Series might even have the edge.

This is not a step-down range engineered from scratch to hit a certain market slot. Rather, Perlisten's R Series takes much of what makes its flagship lineup so impressive, and just dials it down a bit to keep your bank manager sweet. The similarities between the two, across styling, technology and performance, are striking.

Sense of direction

For example, both S and R offer the same loudspeaker varieties - floorstander, monitor, centre, bookshelf and angled-baffle surround. Both are Certified THX Dominus, meaning they reach THX specifications for rooms 'up to 184 cubic meters' and with six-metre viewing distances. And both feature Perlisten's DPC (Directivity Pattern Control) array.

This is very much the American company's pride and joy. Developed with acoustic modelling software to optimise driver size, position and waveguide, it mounts three units - two mid-range and one tweeter - in an 'acoustic lens' intended to accurately control both horizontal and vertical dispersion.

The DPC is a feature of all the R Series speakers, but is one area where Perlisten has reduced costs. Instead of the beryllium HF dome and thin-ply carbon diaphragm (TPCD) mid-range units of the S Series, all the DPC drivers on the R models use silk diaphragms. Additionally, the bass/mid and bass drivers of the R speakers are a hybrid pulp fibre design, not the TPCD of the S Series. This also means you don't get the funky checkerboard finish.

AV INFO

PRODUCT: Floorstanding THX-certified 5.1 speaker system