Castle Acoustics Knight Series Speakers

Knight 1, Knight 2, Knight 3, Knight 4, Knight 5 (left to right)

Delivers real-wood veneers, innovative bass loading and sumptuous sound quality

Castle Acoustics has announced the Knight Series — a five-strong loudspeaker range delivering real-wood veneers and excellent sound quality at affordable price points.

The Castle Knight Series consists of two standmount speakers and three floorstanders. The 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 TPT (Twin Pipe Technology) bass loading system, using the internal volume of the cabinet to extend bass response.

TPT is new variation on transmission-line loading, delivering deep bass without the ‘boom’ that can result from traditional reflex-port loading. In many loudspeaker designs, room modes are easily excited by forward- or rear-firing reflex ports, which can cause audible resonance at certain bass frequencies. Whilst this can give the impression of a powerful bass response, the resultant ‘boom’ masks other low frequencies, making bass sound slow and poorly defined. Instead, the TPT system utilises the internal volume of the cabinet to extend bass response, delivering a smooth and even result that augments the main bass driver’s output perfectly.

TPT couples the rear output of the bass drive unit to the air in the room via a column of air in the cabinet. This column is tuned to optimise the output of the bass unit at low frequencies in the same way that the air columns in a pipe organ transfer energy efficiently, so the listener feels, as well as hears, the low frequency output. The result is deep, tuneful, well-defined bass from speakers that are easily accommodated in a wide variety of room shapes and sizes.

Peter Comeau, Castle’s Director of Acoustic Design, is responsible for voicing the Castle Knight Series speakers. Here, he further explains the TPT bass loading system:

“In essence, TPT a meld of Castle’s established quarter-wave loading and reflex loading, achieving what is essentially a mass-loaded quarter wave reflex pipe. The ‘Twin Pipe’ refers to the internal layout where the drive unit is positioned part way down a folded, tapered column. This exits through the base of the cabinet and is mass loaded by the air trapped between this ‘port’ and the plinth.

“The tuning of the TPT system can be altered by adjusting this air mass for the optimum bass extension and control. Castle’s existing Harlech S2 floorstanding speaker uses a similar Twin Pipe Quarter Wave system; the difference between this and the TPT system lies in the level of mass loading and damping used which, in the case of Knight Series, shifts closer to typical reflex performance, without the often associated boominess and lack of bass control, whilst still maintaining the benefits of improved bass extension.”

All four speakers couple a 25mm textile dome tweeter with an innovative aluminium-core voice coil, delivering a performance that matches or even exceeds the bandwidth possible from metal dome tweeters, whilst avoiding their inherent problems.
Bass and midrange cones are fashioned from a cocktail of natural fibres that is extremely rigid and very light, able to perform as a perfect piston at sufficient speeds to track even the most complex of musical scores. The random nature of the grain contributes to an exceptionally inert diaphragm that is free from the resonances and ‘ringing’ of cones fashioned from lesser materials.

The component parts of all five speakers were designed from the ground up and are manufactured in-house. This enables a close synergy between the drive units, which in turn allows Castle to implement a simple second-order crossover, without the need for complex electrical correction of drive unit characteristics. This contributes a sound that is accurate, detailed and ultimately faithful to the source material, whilst also ensuring that the speakers are easy for any amplifier to drive.

Castle has long been famed for the craftsmanship evident in its wood-veneered speaker cabinets and the new Knight Series is no exception. Despite the competitive pricing of all five speakers, their cabinets sport high-quality veneers sourced from sustainable timbers; only deep-figured slices are used, cut from real trees rather than reconstituted mush. Each pair of speakers is hand-finished with mirrored, book-matched veneers, sealed and waxed in a process that takes more than five days. Only when a depth of character and lustre that befits the Castle name is reached are they released for final testing.

Discussing the Castle Knight Series, Peter Comeau comments:

“Castle is now part of the International Audio Group family of companies, yet its core values remain: British design, furniture-grade cabinets and a performance that’s accurate, refined and musically absorbing. The new Knight Series is a perfect continuation of Castle’s fine traditions, delivering real-wood veneers and sumptuous sound quality at affordable prices, with all the component parts manufactured and assembled in-house, and painstakingly finished by hand.”

Castle Knight Series: The Range in Full The Castle Knight Series consists of five stereo pairs, ranging in price from £299.95 to £999.95 per pair.

Standmount Speakers

Knight 1

• Configuration: Two-way
• Bass/mid driver: 130mm natural fibre cone
• Tweeter: 25mm textile dome
• Dimensions: 290x165x265mm (HxWxD)
• Price: £299.95 per pair

Knight 2

• Configuration: Two-way
• Bass/mid driver: 150mm natural fibre cone
• Tweeter: 25mm textile dome
• Dimensions: 380x200x335mm (HxWxD)
• Price: £399.95 per pair

Floorstanding Speakers

Knight 3

• Configuration: Two-way, TPT loading
• Bass/mid driver: 130mm natural fibre cone
• Tweeter: 25mm textile dome
• Dimensions: 760x165x265mm (HxWxD)
• Price: £599.95 per pair

Knight 4

• Configuration: 2.5-way, TPT loading
• Bass driver: 130mm natural fibre cone
• Bass/mid driver: 130mm natural fibre cone
• Tweeter: 25mm textile dome
• Dimensions: 840x165x270mm (HxWxD)
• Price: £799.95 per pair

Knight 5

• Configuration: 2.5-way, TPT loading
• Bass driver: 150mm natural fibre cone
• Bass/mid driver: 150mm natural fibre cone
• Tweeter: 25mm textile dome
• Dimensions: 925x200x335mm (HxWxD)
• Price: £999.95 per pair

The Knight Series joins the established Classic Series speakers to form Castle’s range for 2010. The Knight Series will be in the shops from May, available exclusively at Audio T stores for an initial period, in a choice of eight real-wood veneers: black oak, natural oak, antique oak, maple, cherry, rosewood, walnut and mahogany.

About Castle Acoustics
Established in the early 1970s, Castle Acoustics has always been renowned for the quality of its craftsmanship, from the drive units it manufactures to the real-wood cabinets in which they are installed. Three years ago, Castle became the latest marque to join the IAG family of audio companies, and its traditional craftsmanship continues to set it apart from the loudspeaker crowd; genuine audiophile sound from speakers with the visual appeal of high-quality furniture.

Castle has always prided itself upon making the component parts of its speakers in-house, rather than buying ‘off the shelf’ parts (drive units and so on) from third parties. The same philosophy is true for all the brands within the IAG Group, and Castle continues to benefit from IAG’s exceptional resources in this regard. While Castle classics like the Richmond 3i, Conway 3 and Howard S3 remain in production, the Knight Series is the first new speaker range from Castle since joining IAG.