Reviews : New Performance Home Theatre System

Equipment

Replacing the much-praised P31 floorstanders are the P32 floorstanders. Simultaneously, both a lot and very little has changed. What remains the same are the drivers. Configured as a two-way system, a pair of 170mm bass/midrange drivers are coupled with a centrally located 35mm tweeter. This unusual unit has a fixed centre plug protruding out in front of it, designed to act as a wave guide.

The crossover networks have also been redesigned for the new models. Whatmough says that these speakers have a sensitivity of 92dB, an impedance of four ohms, and a frequency response of 40-20 000Hz ±3dB.
What differs most obviously are the cabinets. These are gorgeously sculpted enclosures, with their 250mm wide baffles curving around the edges to the side panels, to narrow rear panels. The tops, likewise, can never be used as pot plant stands thanks to their curved surface.

The hand-built cabinets are finished in a wood veneer called ‘Bubinga’, a strongly grained, heavily knotted, darkish finish. Unlike some curved speakers, this styling has not been achieved at the cost of structural integrity. Each speaker weighs a massive 32 kilograms. The P32 loudspeakers stand 1135mm tall and are 350mm deep. The bass reflex port is at the front.

The P7 centre channel is no piddling little thing designed merely for movie dialogue, but also features a curved enclosure, 17kg of weight, similarly numbered and sized drivers, in an enclosure 730x230x370mm (WHD).

The PFX surround speakers make do with single 140mm bass/midrange driver to accompany the same tweeter, all these located in a sealed enclosure measuring 185mm wide, 180mm deep and 300mm high. The enclosure design makes them take a hit on sensitivity, dragging it down to 85dB.

The subwoofer goes by the name of ‘Hurricane’, continuing the company’s range of storm-themed subs. This one is a daunting size at 480mm tall by 4400mm wide and 510mm deep. Sound is produced by a 300mm long throw driver, supported by the bass reflex enclosure, and pushed by an amplifier capable of producing 240 continuous watts of power.

Performance

It would be nice to list the deficiencies of this speaker system, but we can’t because there simply weren’t any worth mentioning…aside, perhaps, from the low sensitivity of rear channel speakers potentially requiring more power than many an inexpensive receiver could deliver.

By contrast, the front and centre channels were clearly more sensitive than average, delivering more sound than most speaker for a given amplifier power. This is especially important in light of the 4 ohm nominal impedance rating, and we found that even inexpensive amplifiers were happy to deliver with these three speakers. But we recommend something better. We used a couple of monoblocks for the front stereo pair.

So, the performance on stereo music? Check! Stereo sound stage? Deep, wide, three dimensional – check! Tonal balance? Double check! Bass extension? The bottom strings on bass guitars handled nicely and, better, articulately so – check! Detail? All was revealed – check! Smoothness? The retention of clarity, without emphasising sibilance on poorly recorded vocals was excellent. Check!

And for movies? Good localisation of surround sound thanks to the excellent tonal matching of the speakers. Between speaker imaging was wonderful for those few titles in which the sound engineers were permitted to be adventurous. And surround music? Here we resorted to a collection of DVD Audio discs (we felt that movies were a bit wasted on speakers of this quality). Deep Purple’s Machine Head pulsed with mighty power and glorious ambience and total clarity. Telarc’s new 1812 was silky in the choral parts, body smashing with the cannons, and smooth with the strings.

The Hurricane subwoofer, by itself, is an extraordinary bargain ($2499). To significantly improve on its performance, extension and, most of all, control, you’ll need to spend something like $4000.

Conclusion

Clearly Whatmough Monitors is not resting on its laurels, well deserved though they were. These new Performance speakers are a step up in both, performance, and in styling.