Stenheim Ultime Two 2x5 5 Drivers Fully Passive Reference Floorstanding Speaker
The Reference Ultime Two is the most compact speaker in the Reference line, but it is still considerably bigger than the Alumine Five and built to a different scale. It is designed for larger spaces and to front more powerful systems, to fill big rooms with dynamic, captivating sound that covers the full bandwidth, providing deeper bass than is possible with a smaller cabinet design.
The cabinet is constructed in typical Stenheim fashion. It uses solid aluminium panels over a critically braced, internal chassis, CNC machined from solid billet aluminium. The sheer quantity of aluminium employed is impressive, ensuring that these cabinets are sonically inert and will not flex, no matter how loud the music gets. Beneath the sleek outer panels, each driver is mounted in its own chamber to minimise interference from the others.
Like all the Reference Line models, the Reference Ultime Two is a full d’Appolito design, with a symmetrical driver layout conferring significant sound dispersion advantages. It uses a pair of 30 cm (12-inch) forward-firing woofers to provide deep bass from 25 Hz. Control and bass extension is further enhanced through a pair of rear-facing, laminar flow, reflex ports similar to those used so successfully in the award-winning Alumine Five. These have the advantage of reducing the turbulence that can occur with traditional ported designs giving better transient response which is crucial for reproducing fast and dynamic musical passages. This speed and attack underlies the amazing clarity and dynamism with which Stenheim is synonymous.
The five drivers – two woofers, two midrange and a tweeter - are kept to the minimum, in common with other Stenheim designs, enabling the crossovers to be simpler than they otherwise might be. Nonetheless, they are the fruit of many hours of listening in the development phase and painstakingly designed to ensure that every driver is working in its optimum frequency range. The passive crossovers are constructed from the very finest electrical components available. This is part of the Reference Line brief, to produce the most captivating music irrespective of cost, and allows us to make our component selection without compromise.
The Reference Ultime Two is a room-friendly design that demands considerably less space between it and the rear wall to perform well. Performance in any given room can be optimized by means of the room control back panel. This enables the highs, mids and bass to be individually dialed in, allowing the Reference Ultime Two to be fine-tuned to provide the best possible sound.
Whilst the Reference Ultime Two is an imposing speaker, it possesses a classical slim elegance that enhances multiple décors. It shares the same form factor as its bigger brothers in the Reference Line and the same design philosophy but looks more at home in smaller rooms. Available in the standard colours of Light or Dark Grey, it can also be ordered in the custom colours of Ivory, Mocca, or Full Black. The metal trim parts that visually divide the cabinet can also be ordered in several colours to match the owner’s system or furnishings. These can also be retro-fitted should your décor change in the future and you would still like your Reference Ultime Twos to complement it.
Like all Stenheim speakers, it is hand-built to order in our manufacture in Switzerland and is designed to deliver captivating music for decades. The Reference Ultime Two delivers audio performance that honours the musical performance, a listening experience that captures the energy and atmosphere of a live concert and live audience.
Reviews
Axpona 2023 in Chicago : Best sound
We were presenting the Reference Ultime Two in Nordost room with VTL, DCS and VPI
STENHEIM won 3 Best Sounds from some of the most reputed audio press guys !
Stereophile : Jason Victor Serinus, Best of Show
The Absolute Sound : Andre Jennings for the Analog room best of show
U-Audio Magazine, Jerry Kuo 2021
"Was spending just one afternoon with the Reference Ultime 2 enough? Of course not, but it is enough for me to outline the sound personality of Reference Ultime 2. Reference Ultime 2 is soft, warm and comfortable, easily bringing out the music listening pleasure, smooth music lines and wide sound field, presenting the natural music expression. The newly arrived Reference Ultime 2 is opening its sound, so why not take a trip and experience the goodness of the Stenheim speakers with your ears?"
My Hi End, Ted Chen, August 9 2021
"The low-frequency control is excellent, and the cleanliness is unimaginable. The overall experience of listening to the Stenheim Reference Ultime Two was invaluable.
(...) This is a sound arrangement album without vocals, but very tense and detailed, relying on the musical dynamics, high and low frequencies are constantly stacked, quiet and repetitive to form an article like the rise and fall (...)
Here the Stenheim Reference Ultime Two showed its power and speed in the low frequencies, and the cleanliness of the low-frequency percussive points, which I have never heard on this track before..."
Product Specifications
Type
Reference loudspeaker with eight transducers in a full d’Appolito configuration.
Construction
Massive aluminum cabinet with six independent sealed chambers (no bass ports).
Options
Motorized angle adjustment for the MTM (midrange–tweeter–midrange) section.
Frequency Response
15 Hz – 100 kHz.
Power Handling
1,400 W RMS (bass section); 250 W RMS (midrange/tweeter section, active version).
Sensitivity
Minimum 96 dB SPL (2.83 V/1 m), active version.
Drivers
Four 32 cm high-excursion woofers, two 17 cm neodymium midrange drivers, one neodymium tweeter, and one ribbon super tweeter.
Crossover
Passive-active 4-way design with an active or passive analog crossover for the bass section and a 3-way passive crossover for the midrange, tweeter, and super tweeter sections. Available as an active version with one stereo active analog 2-way crossover or a fully passive version with two mono external passive crossovers.
Connection Options
Supports connection to two stereo or four mono separate amplifiers. The passive version supports one stereo or two mono amplifiers.
Finishes
Light Shiny Grey, Dark Shiny Grey, Full Black, wood veneer, leather veneer, or special finishes on request.
Warranty
5 years.
Dimensions
1,670 × 370 × 560 mm (H × W × D) / 65.7 × 14.5 × 22 in.
Weight
240 kg each.
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