Perlisten S7t Tower Speaker Review

S

shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
S7t pair18.jpg
Perlisten Audio is a new high-end loudspeaker manufacturer that has already created a buzz with their THX-certified Dominus speakers. They are currently the only loudspeaker manufacturer to hold this rarified level of certification, but there is a heck of a lot more going on with these speakers than a THX logo. Perlisten Audio was established by a group of industry veterans who decided to make the best speakers that they knew how to make instead of designing products to fit some market segment. They set out to make a loudspeaker that they would want to own above all; a loudspeaker designer's loudspeaker. What they came up with aren't the least expensive speakers on the market, but, on paper at least, they seem to have come up with some very serious high-fidelity speakers that push the envelope of loudspeaker design in a number of ways. In for review today is the pinnacle of their efforts, the S7t tower speakers which are their flagship loudspeaker. Read our full review to find out what these experienced engineers have cooked up when they are freed from the constraints of serving specific market product needs and instead design the coolest loudspeakers that they can conceive.

READ: Perlisten S7t Tower Speaker Review
 
ryanosaur

ryanosaur

Audioholic Overlord
Dunno what your experience was, yet, but I can tell that veneer must sound as amazing as it looks! ;)
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Would love to experience these but that's not very likely....
 
ErinH

ErinH

Audioholic General
Yoooooo….. that's crazy good!

Couple things:


shadyJ said:
The most significant on-axis deviation from neutrality is a 1dB bump at around 11kHz, and that wouldn’t be audible at all.
I'm willing to bet the response is actually smoother than you're showing and likely (somewhat) corrupted by the mic/boom comb filtering.




shadyJ said:
One aspect to note is the terrifically flat First Reflections Directivity Index curve
I think you mean linear (instead of flat)?



shadyJ said:
In our polar map view of the vertical dispersion of the S7t speakers, we get a better look at how effective Perlisten’s beam-forming technique really is.
For real!

How did you measure the vertical axes for the SPIN data? Just laying on its side on the stand? My condolences on lifting this thing up that high!



shadyJ said:
The above graph depicts harmonic distortion quantities of the S7t for a 95dB output level at 2 meters using a swept sine wave tone.
Ground plane measurement? Or in the air? Just making sure what the reference output at 1m is so I can mentally compare against some of my tests.


If you have the means, could you provide the Predicted In-Room Response (I don't know if your software yields that; I assume you are using VituixCAD?). I know it will mimic the ER curve but it would be nice to know what it looks like *if you have the time and ability to provide it*.

My only complaint would be the finish of this particular pair but they have other colors so that's not a problem. And if that's the only complaint then...


Killer work as usual! And I'm happy to see vertical spin data as I know you sometimes don't have the luxury of providing that with larger speakers. Kudos for the time you took to provide us data on what appears to be a world-class speaker! Tell Gene to give you a raise. A dollar for every foot you had to lift this monstrosity off the ground. :D

- Erin
 
Matthew J Poes

Matthew J Poes

Audioholic Chief
Staff member
Well now that the cat is out of the bag, you all can see how fantastic these speakers are. This has already been noted elsewhere, but I was so hugely impressed with how good these speakers are, that when a client reached out to me for recommendations on what speakers were the right upgrade for them, I recommended Perlisten. When we had trouble finding a dealer, I became one. Once I reached out to Perlisten, it just made sense. So...If anyone is interested in buying these speakers, obviously check if you have a local dealer first, but if not, feel free to reach out to me.

Unfortunately I cannot demo these for anyone yet, but there is a plan in place to allow demo of the speakers by this summer, so look for that opportunity.

For obvious reasons, you will not see me joining reviewing these speakers. I have a bias. However, I am close with Perlisten and know as much or more about these speakers as anyone other than the Perlisten team (and maybe James).

I really do think this speaker is different and unique from others on the market. Those who know me know I am a big dynamic range guy. I like waveguide speakers that play really loud. Not because I listen so loud, but because I like the effortless sound of a speaker capable of such high output. It means the speaker is never compressing or distorting unusually at any reasonable listening level. Admit it or not, many normal speakers do compress and do distort. Very few can do THX reference levels and this inability goes beyond just movies at a loud volume. It impacts realistic reproduction of high dynamic range music. Symphonies don't sound real. Being realistic, rock concerts don't really sound real either. They may sound very natural, the timbre may be spot on, but they still sound smaller than real life. A good high output speaker doesn't do this, but often such speakers can only do a few things well, while making other compromises. The Perlisten is the only speaker I am aware of that can do so many of my speaker priorities so perfectly. It has an absolutely perfect listening window response as you see. The Off-axis response behavior is really excellent, near perfect. Distortion is crazy low to the point of approaching some average amplifiers (normally the THD at reasonable linear listening levels is many magnitudes of order beyond that of any electronics in the system. While this one still is, it's so close that some crummier amps could actually have more distortion than this speaker). Bandwidth is fine for what it is, its designed to work with a subwoofer while still being a full range speaker as well. Meaning it has bass down to around 20-25hz in a typical room, but can be easily and properly blended with equally high output and low distortion subwoofers.

My honest opinion is that this is an end-game speaker. Most speakers I hear can be bettered or are bettered by other speakers in one way or another. These just do everything so well that the competition, even for 5 times the price, aren't better, just different. Even the finish quality isn't necessarily any better. Just different.

The line is expanding dramatically and a lot of cool stuff is coming. These products are so good that I am finding them making entire segments of the market irrelevant. A lot of the custom cinema install speakers from Procella, Pro Audio Technology, Grimani Systems (Sorry Anthony, I still love you!) can't better or even compete with these in setups designed to target those 3000 to 7000 cubic foot rooms. Basically, I would not necessary go to one of those other systems unless the room was quite a bit bigger (and that's an awfully big room). The passive Perlistens with good amps and a flexible processor (Storm, Trinnov, etc.) gives you all the flexibility of those custom install systems and better sound.
 
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
So On-axis FR tolerance from 200Hz-10kHz is about +/-1.5dB?

Excellent accuracy as it should be for ultra-high-end speakers.
 
ryanosaur

ryanosaur

Audioholic Overlord
Finally caught up. :) Great review, Shady: Thank you, as always.
 
Eppie

Eppie

Audioholic Ninja
Anyone else see that $8,000 speaker 11' up in the air and think, "OMG that must have made James nervous as hell!"?
 
S

shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
I'm willing to bet the response is actually smoother than you're showing and likely (somewhat) corrupted by the mic/boom comb filtering.
Possibly a mic holder thing but Perlisten's spec sheet shows the same thing and used a different measurement technique so I am guessing it's the tweeter.
I think you mean linear (instead of flat)?
Flat, linear, same thing in this case.
How did you measure the vertical axes for the SPIN data? Just laying on its side on the stand? My condolences on lifting this thing up that high!
S7t vertical response testing2.jpg

Ground plane measurement? Or in the air? Just making sure what the reference output at 1m is so I can mentally compare against some of my tests.
Distortion was made from free-air measurements. That can be seen from ground bounce combing in the low-frequencies.
 
ErinH

ErinH

Audioholic General
Thanks for the reply.

I hope you guys had a crane lift... ;) :D
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
@Matthew J Poes just in case I go a traveling....can you advise if an audition would be available in Portland OR or San Francisco CA?
 
Kvn_Walker

Kvn_Walker

Audioholic Field Marshall
Damn… if I was still living the bachelor life, I’d put real thought into taking out a loan for a pair of these. :D
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Damn… if I was still living the bachelor life, I’d put real thought into taking out a loan for a pair of these. :D
A loan for speakers, are you nuts? :) Seriously, one of the last things I'd ever buy on credit unless I was so frickin' old I didn't care about paying the bastards back! :)
 
J

Jerkface

Audioholic
You lost me as soon as you explained "beamforming". At least, if I'm understanding correctly, these speakers are designed to sound perfect in one, extremely narrow, section of a room, and basically like crap everywhere else.

My next upgrade will only be to something that expands the sweet spot, not contracts it.
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
You lost me as soon as you explained "beamforming". At least, if I'm understanding correctly, these speakers are designed to sound perfect in one, extremely narrow, section of a room, and basically like crap everywhere else.

My next upgrade will only be to something that expands the sweet spot, not contracts it.
Did you read the article? These speakers have a +/- 40 degree listening angle. That would give excellent coverage throughout the vast majority of listening rooms.
 
J

Jerkface

Audioholic
Did you read the article? These speakers have a +/- 40 degree listening angle. That would give excellent coverage throughout the vast majority of listening rooms.
I read the article, but maybe I didn't read it clearly enough. This is the sentence that threw me off:

This is done to create an acoustic beamforming effect where all the drivers sum up on an intended listening angle and subtract elsewhere.
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
Perlisten Audio is a new high-end loudspeaker manufacturer that has already created a buzz with their THX-certified Dominus speakers. They are currently the only loudspeaker manufacturer to hold this rarified level of certification, but there is a heck of a lot more going on with these speakers than a THX logo. Perlisten Audio was established by a group of industry veterans who decided to make the best speakers that they knew how to make instead of designing products to fit some market segment. They set out to make a loudspeaker that they would want to own above all; a loudspeaker designer's loudspeaker. What they came up with aren't the least expensive speakers on the market, but, on paper at least, they seem to have come up with some very serious high-fidelity speakers that push the envelope of loudspeaker design in a number of ways. In for review today is the pinnacle of their efforts, the S7t tower speakers which are their flagship loudspeaker. Read our full review to find out what these experienced engineers have cooked up when they are freed from the constraints of serving specific market product needs and instead design the coolest loudspeakers that they can conceive.

READ: Perlisten S7t Tower Speaker Review
These seem like really impressive speakers, that actually do contain some well thought out novel features that advance the art from the norm. This has been achieved without absurd impedance and phase angles. The world continues to be awash in expensive so called 'high end' speakers, that when you really get down to it are not very good. I agree these speakers are a bargain.

I think these speakers would handle the LFE channel. So with a pre pro and a couple of power amps, you could use both the line outs and the balanced XLRs and mix in the LFE output to the bass section. This is what I do. I firmly believe in an integrated full range speaker system that does not need spaced subs. Having had the experience of this approach for 15 years now, I do believe that is optimal.

The fact that speech was very good without a center, attests to the fact that these are very good speakers. There would be few, if any centers on the market currently that would not detract from these speakers.

There really is a place for good truly full range speakers in the HT environment.
 
B

Beave

Audioholic Chief
You lost me as soon as you explained "beamforming". At least, if I'm understanding correctly, these speakers are designed to sound perfect in one, extremely narrow, section of a room, and basically like crap everywhere else.

My next upgrade will only be to something that expands the sweet spot, not contracts it.
The beamforming constricts output into a narrow *vertical* range, but the horizontal coverage is wide.

So you probably shouldn't listen from the floor, or from the ceiling, or when standing up if you're 7' tall.
 
S

shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
I read the article, but maybe I didn't read it clearly enough. This is the sentence that threw me off:

This is done to create an acoustic beamforming effect where all the drivers sum up on an intended listening angle and subtract elsewhere.
By that, what is meant is that the speaker throws sound where you would want it and not where you wouldn't . There is a case to be made for eliminating vertical acoustic reflections, and these speakers do that as very few others have been able to.
 
Kvn_Walker

Kvn_Walker

Audioholic Field Marshall
A loan for speakers, are you nuts? :) Seriously, one of the last things I'd ever buy on credit unless I was so frickin' old I didn't care about paying the bastards back! :)
Only live once. Were I to add it all up, I’ve blown a hell of a lot more than that on women I’m no longer even with. Relatively speaking, that’s a damn bargain.
 

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