AIRPULSE A80 High Res Audio Certified 100W Active Bookshelf Speakers - Blue

Enter the world of superior sound with Airpulse, a Phil Jones legacy speaker company.

 

British audio engineering has been lauded the world over and in the Airpulse speaker range, reference sound quality is delivered with great aplomb. Impeccable in design and built to last, this high-performance speaker brand is the beginning of an auditory sensory journey.

The Airpulse brand is trademarked and owned by the Platinum Audio Systems Company, founded in 2004 by renowned speaker designer and audio engineer, Phil Jones in partnership with Edifier Technology Co., Ltd, manufacturer of Edifier speakers and headphones.

Specializing in the design and development of consumer, professional and MI products, Airpulse is the epitome of Phil Jones creative journey spanning decades spent in pursuit of developing the perfect loudspeaker. Phil Jones is a legendary speaker designer who founded another speaker brand, Acoustic Energy in 1987 and designed the now equally legendary AE-1 near-field monitors that were used in Abbey Road Studios amongst other notable venues of music.

A decade later he went on to design and produce the Platinum Air Pulse 3.1 loudspeaker system in 1998 that challenged the minds and hearts of audiophiles worldwide for its innovative design methodology. Priced at a cool USD$275,000 a pair, Phil Jones was awarded the prestigious Golden Sound Award for Best Loudspeaker developed over the last 100 years, by the Japan Audio Society.

Continuing the company’s legacy in both consumer and professional audio products, Airpulse powered speakers combine reference monitor sound quality and timeless retro styling for the discerning music lover. Guided by the simple design philosophy for simplicity and efficiency, a considerable about of research was spent on product design and the selection of components. The company’s dedication and acute attention to detail combined has contributed to the Airpulse speakers indelible performance.

 

Overview

The all-new A80 diminutive bookshelf speakers with a 4'5” aluminium cone ferrite magnet woofer now join the Airpulse active speaker family. The perfect combination of Hi-Res digital audio processing technology and a youthful sturdy system that pays homage to HiFi speakers of old, the A80 is a High-Fidelity audio system with intoxicating sound quality and immense visual appeal. The A80 adopts its sound characteristics from our flagship model the 7001 near-field monitor speakers designed by Phil Jones. Using the same XMOS core as its older siblings, this unassumingly basic cabinet delivers outstanding performance beyond expectations.

 

Ultra-low Distortion Signal Processing & Amplification System
The entire digital system is built on a multi-core signal processor XMOS XU216, a 16-core powerful audio processor based on XMOS xCore200 architect, which is proud of having up to 2000MIPS processing horse-power.

 

Horn Loaded Ribbon Tweeter

The A80 horn-loaded ribbon tweeter continues in the tradition of the flagship 7001 near-field monitor speakers. The thin aluminium ribbon diaphragm has high sensitivity, superb transient response, extended frequency range, and well-defined resolution, perfect to meet any music you play head-on. The meticulously formulated horn shape produces directional and optimized high frequencies from the ribbon tweeter, so they are aimed at the listeners, minimizing unwanted effects from room reflection. This also leads to superior imaging of the speaker. The result is unequivocally full and three dimensional sound with each detail well defined.

 

4.5” Aluminium Cone Ferrit Magnet

The Mid-woofer is a 4.5” unit with a hard-anodized aluminium alloy cone suspended in a heavy, ultra-rigid cast magnesium alloy frame. The proprietary aluminium alloy cone was designed through a meticulous process analysing different types of cone geometry and materials using a Klippel Laser Doppler Interferometer. The 35mm diameter voice coil is larger than most loudspeakers of this size. It has been shown that larger voice coils have less power compression because they run at a cooler operating temperature. Sonically this means a more realistic dynamic representation of the music. It is dynamics in music that gives it emotion and exhilaration. The cooler running temperature of the voice coil also has the side benefit of a more reliable loudspeaker since cooler voice coil means much less chance of speaker failure.

 

Fully Digital Amplifier

The power amplification part is built with 2 pieces of TAS5754 Class-D amplifier from Texas Instruments. This component is one of a handful of Class-D amplifiers on the market which combines high input sample rate support and high output PWM carrier frequency. These two characteristics are essential to achieve low background noise and low distortion. The up-to 192 KHz input sample rate support guarantees the entire link for digital processing run without any change in sample rate signal. Its 768 KHz output PWM carrier frequency, double the typical 384 KHz found in traditional Class-D amplifiers, is more suited to driving the highly sensitive ribbon tweeter. One TAS5754 is connected in bridge mode to the left and right channel woofer while the other amp is connected in bridge mode to the left and right channel ribbon tweeters.

 

Features

• Supports Input Sample Rate up to 192 KHz
• Hyper-Rigid Cast-Magnesium Alloy Frame Woofer
• Internal Wiring by TRANSPARENT
• 18-mm thick high strength MDF
• Qualcomm’s Bluetooth V5.0 chipset CSR8645
• 2x 384 KHz Traditional Class-D amplifier

 

AIRPULSE A80 Specifications

Net Weight: 9.3 Kg(20lbs)

Mid-Woofer: 4.5inch Aluminium ferrite magnet

Gross Weight: 9.3Kg (20lbs)

Cabinet Size (WxHxD): 140x250x220mm

Tweeter: Horn Loaded Ribbon Tweeter

Signal-Noise Ratio: L/R:≥90dB(A)

Input Mode: AUX, PC, USB, Optical, Bluetooth.

Amplifier System: Digtal Amplifer With Xmos Processor

Sample Rate Input Sensitivity: AUX: 450± 50mV | PC: 550±50mV | USB: 400±50mFFs | Optical: 400±50mFFs | Bluetooth: 450±50mFFs

Power Output: 100W RMS (40w x 2+10W x 2)

Packing Size (HxWxD): 160 x 283 x 255 mm

Mains Voltage: 100-240 V AC/50-60 Hz

Frequency Range: 52Hz-40KHz

Colour: Pine