The five-model Knight Series is the latest product development to depart the R&D ‘ramparts’ of Castle Acoustics, reports David Davies. Delivering real-wood veneers and “excellent” sound quality at “affordable” price points, the Castle Knight Series comprises two standmount speakers and three floorstanding models.
Knight 1 and Knight 2 are both two-way standmount designs, while the floorstanding Knight 3, Knight 4 and Knight 5 incorporate Castle’s proprietary Twin Pipe Technology (TPT). A new variation on transmission-line loading, TPT uses the internal volume of the cabinet to extend bass response but without the ‘boom’ that can result from traditional reflex-port loading. The result, says Castle, is “deep, tuneful, well-defined bass”.
Peter Comeau, IAG’s director of acoustic design, told IE Residential: “Knight Series is the first all-new range of loudspeakers from Castle since joining IAG [in 2007], although established classics like the Richmond 3i, Harlech S2 and Howard S3 remain in production. Further new products will be introduced in the first quarter of 2011, once again featuring the high-quality, hand-finished cabinets and natural sound quality for which Castle is justly famous.”
All four speakers couple a 25mm textile dome tweeter with an aluminium core voice coil. The component parts of all five speakers were designed from the ground up and manufactured in-house, while the cabinets’ high-quality veneers are sourced from sustainable timbers. Each pair of speakers is hand-finished with mirrored, book-matched veneers, sealed and waxed in a process that takes more than five days.
Due to be made available from May, the Knight Series were shown in the UK for the first time at Sound & Vision – The Bristol Show at the end of February. The Knight Series ranges in price from £299.95 to £999.95 per pair.
