SKU: V-5883-La-Belle-Center La Belle Center Speaker Kit

Visaton Speaker Kit - La Belle Center
Art. No. 5883

Visaton La Belle Center - shown assembled with suggested cabinets, not supplied.

Characteristics and Sound Properties
The objective during the development of the La Belle center speaker was to convey the outstanding sound quality requirements achieved in the La Belle column speaker to a horizontal center speaker. A key aim of the project was for the center speaker to emulate its big sister’s abilities in every discipline and enable perfect integration in a high-quality surround system at benchmark level. To achieve this high standard, the configuration and volume of the housing were retained and any changes to the crossover were kept to an absolute minimum.

One particular new feature that has been incorporated is a regulator allowing the bass level to be adjusted by very fine degrees over a broad level range. This takes account of the fact that centre speakers are often mounted close to a wall and this often leads to unpleasant over-emphasis of bass frequencies. To achieve even better freedom as regards the distance above the floor, the control is deigned to be infinitely variable. This enables this center speaker to be adapted for mounting at any desired point - whether free-standing or close to a wall or corner - without restriction.

The result is, in every respect, a complete success. Once correctly set up, the La Belle centre produces the same spatially separated, taught, dynamic and accurate results as we are already accustomed to from the La Belle column speaker. It is perfectly and harmoniously integrated in the system as a whole, enables a firm volume level and yet produces such an utterly clean-sounding surround system that the limits are defined only by the quality of the source and the ears of those listening. Both the quiet passages and louder sections are reproduced accurately and with attention to detail. No audible weaknesses are detectable and compression distortion is a term that is simply not used in connection with this speaker. The sum of these characteristics qualifies the La Belle Centre as a realistic alternative to the column speakers. This remarkable speaker, designed for everyday enjoyment but by no means mundane, is ideally suited as a powerful rear speaker. To ensure you make full use of the speaker’s capabilities (especially in the bass department), it is recommended that you do not use a high-pass filter in conjunction with your surround amplifier.

Technical Specifications

Frequency and Impedance Response

Exploded Cabinet Drawing

Exploded Speaker Box Drawing

Assembly
Due to the angular front panel and the resulting interaction with other parts of the cabinet, this construction is more difficult than other instructions and will require accuracy and close attention to detail. Particular attention is required when matching the bevels on the front panels and sides and the angled cuts on the base plate and lid. We recommend doing a trial assembly run without glue. If you find during the trial run that visible joints are unavoidable, it might help to use polyurethane glue but this definitely requires you to use sash cramps while the glue dries.

First, make the cut-outs for the bass level controller and terminals and do the milling work for the recessed driver mount and waveguide. Then glue together the mid-range & high-frequency compartment including the internal baffles, i.e. all the internal panels, to create a Y-shaped construction. It is essential here to ensure that the edges are cut exactly square and the panels are of identical height. Next drill the hole for the cables. Once the glue has hardened, the rear wall, side panels and mid-range & high-frequency compartment are glued in position on the base and finally the lid glued in place. In so doing, ensure the front edges of the side panels and of the mid-range & high-frequency compartment are exactly flush with the front edges of the base and lid. The crossovers are now screwed in place in the cabinets as follows: the bass crossover is placed in the same half of the cabinet in which the terminal and bass controller are located, while the mid-range/tweeter crossover is fitted in the other half.

Now the front panels are glued in place. Make sure the front panels do not slip on the fresh glue as a result of the force of gravity. This can be prevented if you use a strap to hold them in place, but do not tighten it too much.

In the final stage, the damping material is distributed in the cabinet as described, the KE 25 SC - 8 Ohm screwed to the waveguide and this assembly and the remaining chassis fitted inside the cabinet after the soldering has been completed. The LC 95 output control is soldered in place between the KN coil (15 mH) and the 330 µF capacitor. To this end, terminal tags 1 and 2 on the bass regulator are used, as shown in the crossover drawing. To prevent blur in the waveguide we recommend sealing the mating surface with sealing tape or removable glue.

Internal Damping
Four mats of damping material are uniformly distributed in each woofer chamber. Two mats are pushed into the mid-range loudspeaker chamber, one of them must be tightly rolled and positioned in the middle between the mid-range loudspeaker and tweeter. The second of these can be halved and the two halves arranged loosely around the mid-range driver and the tweeter

Component Parts List for Each Box - Supplied with Kit
The kit comes with all necessary components (see list below for one box), one set if the speaker is an each, or two sets for a pair, see price above for details.

Speaker Cabinet Material List to Make 1 Box - Not Supplied with Kit

Speaker Cabinet Dimensions

Loudspeaker Box Construction Diagram - all dimensions in mm.

Crossover - Supplied with Kit Already Assembled

Speaker Kit Crossover Circuit