It's not every day carefully designed, high powered, low profile loudspeakers are unleashed into the audio world so, following extensive field testing, German sound system innovator d&b audiotechnik is proud to announce the arrival of some new additions to its popular E-Series loudspeaker range.

The new E12 and E12-D are precision made, high performance two-way multipurpose loudspeakers employing a 1.3" exit HF compression driver and constant directivity horn accommodated within the circumference of a 12" LF driver. The E12 has an 80° x 50° dispersion pattern (h x v), while the E12-D has a wider 110° x 50° pattern. Should it be required, the horns in both loudspeakers may simply be rotated through 90° without the use of tools.

As is typical of d&b loudspeakers, these produce significant output levels given size and weight, being 580 x 350 x 334 mm (22.83 x 13.77 x 13.15 inches) and weighing a mere 16 kg (35.3 lb). When powered by d&b D12 amplifiers the E12 can produce 134 dB SPL (linear weighting) while the wider dispersion E12-D can produce 133 dB SPL (linear weighting). The E12 and E12-D are perfect for speech and music as a stand-alone full range system, or can be seamlessly incorporated into larger distributed applications.

This unbelievably lightweight, polyurethane integral hard foam cabinet can be easily mounted on loudspeaker stands, flown from overhead bars and be used either in vertical or horizontal orientation. The multi faceted shape of the enclosure also allows use as excellent, low visual impact, high power stage monitors. An elegant, high powered, multipurpose loudspeaker that is very easy to use.

With the usual exemplary attention to detail, d&b's new E15X-SUB fully complements the new E12 and the E12-D. The E15X-SUB is a compact, light weight, high performance subwoofer employing a long excursion 15" neodymium driver in a bass-reflex enclosure, extending the frequency response down to 40Hz (-5dB) with an output of up to 130dB SPL (linear weighting).

All this from a cabinet with a volume of just over 0.12 m3 (4.24 ft3), footprint of 0.29 m2 (3.12 ft2) and weighing 25 kg (55.1 lb). With the addition of an E15X subwoofer, the E12 and E12-D loudspeakers can easily reproduce high level music program. A single amplifier channel will power both the E15X-SUB and E12 using the built in passive crossover, greatly extending both low frequency headroom and bandwidth of the system. Alternatively, the E15X-SUB can be actively driven, without intervention, by a single d&b amplifier channel. In this mode the E15X-SUB can be used with any of the E-Series loudspeakers.

These new E-Series loudspeakers are specifically designed for use with d&b amplifiers. The new D6 dual channel amplifier will also include configurations for the E12, E12-D and E15X-SUB. Firmware containing configuration updates for existing E-PAC and D12 amplifiers can be downloaded from www.dbaudio.com