Event Electronics OPAL
Active Studio Monitor Speaker, 8" 2-Way Front-Ported, Bi-Amped 387W LF + 112W HF Continuous, Sold Each

OPAL

The EVENT Opal is the result of several years of research and development with the goal of building the most accurate studio monitoring system available.

From its inception the Opal was destined to be a very special loudspeaker. The 'no compromise' design brief for these speakers was essentially the impossible: The Opal was to be an 8" two-way speaker with the same dynamic and extended mid-range as the most expensive three-way systems.

It had to feature extended bass response, and have seamless and transparent integration through all the frequency range. Distortion was entirely unacceptable.

After many years of research and development, EVENT has defied conventional audio philosophy and created the Opal. Its woofer, tweeter, amplifier and cabinet all feature innovative and unique design and technology elements, combined to create one of the finest studio monitoring systems ever released.

The Woofer
The Opal's EX8 mid-low driver is a technical innovation, and is essentially the 'secret' to the Opal's sound. As a raw speaker it provides a practically unheard of response of 30Hz to 10kHz and a power handling of up to 1000 watts.

Designed completely from scratch and specifically for the Opal, the EX8 is capable of reproducing mid-range frequencies with the clarity and speed of dedicated mid-range drivers found in three-way systems. At the same time it can deliver defined and accurate frequencies down to the Opal cut off of 35Hz, without resorting to rear-porting and manipulation of the listening space to increase perceived bass.

Two proprietary EVENT technologies allow for this previously unimaginable performance from a single driver - X-Coil and XBL.

X-Coil refers to the use of a secondary shortening coil on the driver's pole piece. This magnetic coil is set in opposite polarity with the speaker's moving coil, creating a magnetic resistance between the two elements and dramatically increasing both the driver's control and speed of the cone. This in turn improves the mid range dynamics, while exhibiting incredibly low distortion characteristics.

While the benefits of a secondary shortening coil have been observed in recent times, it requires a very large degree of speaker excursion (essentially the movement of the speaker cone and voice coil forwards and backwards, often referred to as Xmax) to fully realize any benefits. This movement is dictated by the speaker's magnetic circuit as it controls the voice coil inside the speaker. In traditional designs this movement is rather limited - after the cone moves only a few millimeters the control of the voice coil decreases, which introduces distortion.

One technique often used in hi-fi speakers is to simply increase the coil length, therefore ensuring that it is always within magnetic control. This is effective in increasing controlled excursion, but has incredibly reduced efficiency which results in low output.

After a long period of research and development EVENT developed XBL, a patented magnetic motor design that dramatically increases the effectiveness of the magnetic circuit. This has resulted in the EX8 possessing an unprecedented 36mm of linear excursion.

The EX8 features a bespoke cone comprised of a paper pulp and long strand carbon fiber composite that provides extreme stiffness and low mass. While materials such as polypropylene are popular amongst other manufacturers, EVENT concluded that this material gave the finest clarity and 'realness' of sound.

The Tweeter
The Opal's ULD1 high frequency assembly features a metal-dome tweeter mounted in a unique elliptical waveguide.

Early in the Opal development it was decided that a detailed waveguide was critical to controlling the horizontal and vertical dispersion characteristics of the speaker system. This in turn indicated that a metal tweeter would be required to provide the rigidity required to work correctly within a waveguide, as even shallow waveguides create an acoustic load on the surface of a speaker cone.

The ULD1's beryllium-copper dome maintains absolute stiffness right up to its resonant frequency point, essentially acting like a piston across the audible frequency range. Coupled to an extremely high force neodymium motor, this results in incredibly low harmonic distortion at all power levels, up to several factors lower than tweeters found in other esoteric hi-fi and monitoring speakers.

Painstaking attention was given to the relationship between the tweeter dome, suspension, motor and waveguide, to ensure that output, directional control and power response was acoustically optimized, and in turn tuned to work in perfect synergy with the EX8 woofer.

Additionally the Opal's entire waveguide assembly can be easily rotated to allow for correct usage in the horizontal position.

The waveguide is designed to align precisely in this orientation to minimize diffraction and discontinues.

The Cabinet
The Opal's no compromise cabinet is cast from aluminum to provide a high level of strength and rigidity that minimizes resonance. Almost every surface on the Opal is a curvature of complex radii, minimizing any diffraction that can be caused when the energy from the drivers reflect off flat surfaces.

Internally, the cabinet design is no less complex, assisting in the elimination of standing waves and resonance and thus minimizing any mid-frequency leakage.

The Opal features front mounted bass reflex ports, contradicting current porting trends that see manufacturers placing ports at the rear of the cabinet to enhance the perception of low frequencies by relying on room reflections, or passive radiators that introduce other acoustic compromises.

It seems fairly obvious that the porting should be at the front of the cabinet where the sound is directed, however traditional front mounted ports have limitations. The primary issue is the introduction of port noise and artifacts caused by increased air turbulence, often heard as a "puffing" or "chuffing" sound. In the Opal this is overcome by the introduction of asymmetrical geometry across both the horizontal and vertical axes of each port. This variable impedance lowers the velocity and associated air distortion to the point where it is inaudible even at high output levels.

A 180 degree bend at the end of the port assembly acts as an acoustic low pass filter that aids the cabinet in eliminating any mid-frequency leakage.

The Power
Like all other elements that combine within the Opal, the amplifier is a completely custom design. With such transparent, low distortion drivers as the EX8 and ULD1 it becomes imperative that the amplifier must have the lowest distortion levels possible, and therefore a Class B topology was chosen.

By focusing on sound circuitry design the EVENT engineering team has achieved a four-layer PCB that exhibits less than 0.005% total harmonic distortion (THD). Additionally a 'soft clipping' circuit is employed, allowing the signal to maintain an organic wave structure even as the amplifier eventually enters clipping. This dramatically decreases the perceived distortion of the audio signal.

In order to reproduce the dynamics and transient of music facilitated by the EX8 driver, the Opal's power capabilities were focused on burst power over constant power. Up to 1kW of burst power is available to the Opal to deliver the acoustic energy required at low frequencies.

The Opal control electronics were carefully designed, using phase coherent, basic filters that maintain a flat phase response at crossover and equalization. A set of acoustic filters are hidden behind a panel at the front of the cabinet, allowing for painless and simple adjustment of the speaker's response curve while in position.

Specifications, General

• Frequency Response: 35Hz-22kHz
• Crossover Frequency: 1600 Hz
• Crossover Type: Acoustic 8th order (48dB/Oct)
• 3rd Harmonic Distortion @ 90dB SPL, 1m:
  500-7kHz - 0.08%
  200-20khz - 0.2%
  <200Hz - 1.5%
• Acoustic Output - SPL @ 1M
  Long Term (80Hz-20kHz): 111dB
  Peak (80Hz-20kHz): 114dB
• Signal Input: Combo XLR, 1/4" TRS (bal/unbal)
• Input Sensitivity: .755 V/rms is 0dBu
• AC Input Voltage: 110-120V or 220-240V (selectable)
• AC Input Connector: 2-pin IEC
• Average Long-Term Power Consumption: 220 watts
• Quiescent Power Consumption: <20 watts
• Cabinet Volume: 28 Liters
• Cabinet Construction: High Pressure Injection-Molded Aluminum
• Cabinet Finish: Black Powdercoat
• Low Frequency Vents: Two variable impedance ports (patent-pending)
• Waveguide Construction: High pressure injection-molded aluminum
• Waveguide: Elliptical waveguide - rotatable
• Mounting Points: Four each; M8 omni-mount pattern
• Cabinet Dimensions (W x H x D): 11.6" x 17.7" x 10.8"
• Cabinet Weight: 46.74 lbs
• Shipping Dimensions (W x H x D): 15.4" x 22.6" x 15"
• Shipping Weight: 53.57 lbs
• Operating Temperature Range: 40°-95° F
• Agency Approvals: CE, UL, CCC, C-Tick, SASO, NON, EK, PSE

Low Frequency Transducer

• Piston Diameter: 7.1"
• Voice Coil Configuration: X-Coil double; Low distortion design
• Voice Coil Diameter: 2.6"
• Shortening Coil Diameter: 2.56"
• Former Material: High Strength Polyamide - Glass Fiber
• Voice Coil Wire: Copper Clad Al
• Magnet Type: Neodymium
• Magnetic Gap Design: XBL - Split Gap
• Impedance Nominal in Cabinet: 5 ohms
• Cone Type: Carbon fiber composite
• Power Handling:
  Continuous Pink Noise: 240 watts
  Program Power: 360 watts
  Peak Power: 720 watts

High Frequency Transducer

• Dome Diameter: 1"
• Voice Coil Diameter: 0.98"
• Magnet Type: Neodymium
• Impedance DCr: 6 ohms
• Impedance Nominal in Cabinet: 5 ohms
• Dome Type: Beryllium Copper
• Power Handling:
  Continuous Pink Noise: 25 watts (above 1.6kHz)
  Program Power: 50 watts (above 1.6kHz)
  Peak Power: 100 watts (above 1.6kHz)

Low Frequency Amplifier

• Frequency Response: 20Hz-20kHz (+/-0.1dB)
• Operating Band Pass: 20Hz-1,600Hz
• Total Harmonic Distortion: 0.009% @ 300 watts into 5 ohm load
• Voltage Gain: 24dB
• Long Term Power @ 5 ohms: 270 watts
• Continuous Power @ 5 ohms: 387 watts
• Burst Power @ 5 ohms: 600 watts
• Output Topology: Class AB
• Cooling: Convection - Aluminum Heat Sink

High Frequency Amplifier

• Frequency Response: 20Hz-20kHz (+/-0.1dB)
• Operating Band Pass: 1,600Hz-20,000Hz
• Total Harmonic Distortion: 0.003% @ 90 watts into 5 ohm load
• Voltage Gain: 15dB
• Long Term Power @ 5 ohms: 50 watts
• Continuous Power @ 5 ohms: 112 watts
• Burst Power @ 5 ohms: 140 watts
• Output Topology: Class AB
• Cooling: Convection - Aluminum Heat Sink

Our Part #  OPAL-EVENT