The Malibran model is the first speaker designed by Opera and marketed under the trademarks Unison. This speaker concentrates the technology and know-how of the top of the line Opera loudspeakers. The basic idea is still the same: to deliver a high quality passive speaker with acceptable dimensions for your home. This was made possible by the new high excursion 10″ woofer: a pair of Malibran, with 6 10″ woofer, can move three litres of air. Malibran sets new limits in terms of dynamic, bass extension and low distortion. The reconstruction of the acoustic scene, another peculiarity of this speaker, has unique qualities near the limits of the holographic reconstruction of the sound stage. The frequency response is extended and regular, impulse response is fast and well defined, the impedance curve is very smooth and conforms to DIN: the Malibran can be matched to a good HiFi amplifier starting from 10-15 watts even if they give the best with more powerful amplifiers.
The heart of Malibran is the front speakers (four mid-woofers and tweeter) that reproduce from then mid-bass to the extreme audible. The four mid-range are connected to progressive low pass filter. This filter topology, developed by Opera, allows a system to act as a single large area woofer at low freq. And as a small midrange at high frequency ensuring excellent linearity. Malibran behaves as if it has a 18” sub-woofer, an 10” mid-bass unit, 5″ midrange and a one inch tweeter but without the complexity of a four-way system and with the consistency of emission typical of much smaller speaker.
The group of midrange reproduces in full a number of instruments and virtually the entire voice spectrum. Only the last note of the flute falls near the frequency crossover. This choice makes a significant contribution to the consistency of representation and reconstruction of the acoustic scene in particular on the vertical axis. Voices and instruments tonally correct and precise located in space, well-focused and credible with a physical dimension.
The lower section of Malibran uses three high-excursion 10? woofers with aluminium cone and the total radiating area like a 18? woofer. Each woofer is loaded in a 40 litres closed box adequately damped with lining material. The division of the cabinet into smaller volumes increases the stiffness and eliminate low-frequency standing waves. The three woofers, mounted on the side of the cabinet, limit the influence of the side walls of the room making the placement easier. The choice of the load in totally enclose box avoids any noise or turbulence produced by tubes and gives the ideal low frequency damping.
The Malibran also has 4 tweeter on the rear side: the CLD device. The CLD was introduced first by opera with the Tebaldi model and has already been amply illustrated in the working principles and advantages in reproduction in terms of better Brilliance and Spaciousness (three-dimensional detail and reconstruction).