Loudspeakers

Measured at the average listening height (just below the C-CAM tweeter) the '7G' Silver 500's response is remarkably flat and even [see Graph 1, below] with an exceptionally low ±1.0dB error from 200Hz-15kHz, the –9dB/24kHz treble dip increasing this to ±3.8dB across the wider 200Hz-20kHz span. The HF response limit of 22.6kHz (–6dB/10kHz) is set by this 'dip' although this is only the prelude to the +10.6dB resonance of the hard dome at 30.9kHz [pink shaded area, Graph 1 and also see Graph 2]. Pair matching is also exceptional at 0.4dB (200Hz-10kHz) and 0.6dB (200Hz-20kHz) while the grille adds a circa –2.5dB disruption between 4-9kHz [blue trace, Graph 1]. The two 200mm (160mm effective diameter) bass drivers operate over a 55-425Hz/–6dB bandwidth and the rear-facing ports, both tuned to 35Hz, maintain the low freq. reach to a diffraction-corrected 34Hz (–6dB re. 200Hz). Incidentally the lower woofer and port both have a 'cleaner' output.

As importantly, while MA has engineered a response that's both flat and uniform, it's also achieved its high rated 90.5dB sensitivity at 90.2dB/1kHz (and 90.3dB re. 500Hz-8kHz) combined with low 0.1-0.2% midband distortion (re. 90dB SPL) without imposing an especially punishing load on the partnering amplifier. Strictly speaking the Silver 500 presents a 5ohm nominal load (it's rated at a harsher 4.1ohm) with an impedance minimum of 4.2ohm/164Hz and a further dip to 4.25ohm/2.35kHz, both instances with negligible impedance phase. Similarly, the maximum, modest swings in phase angle of +31°/–45° both occur at >8ohm impedance. PM