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Silverline Audio
Home-Theater
Speaker System
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Description Model:
Corona II speakers
Price: $4499 USD per pair
Dimensions: 44"H x 10"W x 16"D
Weight: 100 pounds each
Model: SR16 speakers
Price: $1499 USD per pair
Dimensions: 13"H x 8"W x 14"D
Weight: 25 pounds each
Model: Center Stage center-channel speaker
Price: $1199 USD
Dimensions: 8.5"H x 22"W x 8.5"D
Weight: 22 pounds
Warranty: Five years parts and labor,
non-transferrable |
Features
- Soft-dome tweeters
- Copper binding posts
- Pulp paper woofers with rubber surrounds
- Bass reflex enclosures
- Magnetically shielded (Center Stage)
- Bi-wireable
- Real-wood veneers (Curly Maple, Rosewood, and Cherry)
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Feed a signal to a speaker and it should be
able to reproduce it, whatever the medium or source. This has been the conventional
wisdom, and it makes perfect sense to me. I know the arguments on the other side of the
debate though. Some would say that speakers all involve tradeoffs to one extent or
another; most are optimized for a specific purpose. Well, this makes sense to me too. I
certainly would not expect a bookshelf speaker to be able to reproduce a 20Hz tone, but I
would expect it of a subwoofer or full-range tower. There are good examples on both sides
of the argument, even though the theoretical ideal is oftentimes superseded by the
practical reality.
It was this very subject that intrigued me going into the
Silverline home-theater-array review. Silverline models have garnered praise from a number
of SoundStage! writers whose hearing I trust. This seemed to bode well for them,
but they had not as yet produced a system designed specifically for home theater. Would
Silverline speakers fare as well with movie soundtracks? If so, would it mean that this
system is not a pure music-making machine like some of the others? There are lots of
questions to answer. Hmmm.
I asked Alan Yun to choose a system he was confident would
perform well in the theater, and he did not hesitate in assembling one. The Corona II,
SR16, and Center Stage arrived in walnut veneer ready to take on the likes of Tom Cruise,
Mel Gibson, and an assortment of characters who love to talk, blow things up, and
generally make a lot of noise. And no, my description is not incomplete -- there is no
subwoofer. Yun feels the Corona IIs are capable of producing enough bass for home
theater. This is how the system was submitted, so I did not augment the bass with my
subwoofer.
The array
The system under review is based on the Corona II, a
largish three-way speaker with a centralized 1" soft-dome tweeter flanked by two
4" midranges, flanked again by two 8" woofers. The speaker itself is narrow but
deep and slants back away from the listener. The SR16s are a two-way bookshelf design that
is similarly slanted. Each speaker possesses a 1" tweeter and a 6" pulp woofer.
They appear close in overall width to the main speakers, which makes the system look
cohesive when set up. In other words, it’s not just a thrown-together-looking kind of
thing, but an attractive ensemble that will enhance the right decor. The last model of the
bunch is the Center Stage center-channel speaker. This is a somewhat conventional-looking
box that holds three drivers: two 6" midrange drivers and one 1" soft-dome
tweeter.
The veneer is finished very nicely to a smooth, though not
glossy degree. The cabinets appear well made, which you would expect at the price point.
Each speaker came with two pairs of copper binding posts for biwiring, although I did not
use this configuration during my audition. Supplied spikes are also included for the
Corona II, and these thread into the bottom of the cabinet.
Setup
The Corona II was not fussy about setup, which leads me to
believe that they could be used in a room that for various reasons requires flexibility. I
ended up with just a slight bit of toe-in and about nine feet of space in between
speakers. I placed the Center Stage on a small stand directly below my monitor, angled up
slightly to point at the listener. The SR16s were placed on stands behind the listening
position at just above ear height. Since the listener’s position is somewhat closer
to one speaker than the other, I adjusted the further one so that the listening position
remained the same for each speaker. This helped to balance the sound tonally from the rear
of the room. Of course, I compensated for this setup discontinuity in my processor as
well. I set all speakers to "large" in the Denon AVR-5800’s menu to
optimize bass response without a subwoofer.
Overall sound
I started the review with a few music DVDs. This allowed me
to get a good handle on overall performance, coloration (or lack thereof) of voices, and
continuity from one speaker to another. The first thing that I noticed was a full, rich
midrange. Male vocals leaned slightly to the warm side of neutral, possessing a
full-bodied sound that gave weight and structure to voices. When a male voice was
guttural, that’s how it sounded. This is in contrast to many systems that are
detailed but lack apparent weight and realism. Not only were vocals tonally correct, they
were placed properly within the soundstage as well. What was evident from the start was
that I was getting a solid center image with plenty of vocal projection into the room. I
tested the system in both 5.1 configuration and in phantom mode and the results were
similar. The Corona II could place voices precisely, but with the Center Stage added,
vocals became more solid, with even more weight. James Taylor's Live at Beacon Theater
showcased this midrange prowess to good effect. The scale throughout the vocal range was
very close to what one hears in real life. This, I surmise, comes from the ability to move
the requisite amount of air while having a solid lower midrange/upper bass. As well, the
sound never became overly thick or plodding. This midrange characteristic would prove
important with movies too.
Moving to the frequency extremes, I observed solid low bass
that was never boomy or muddy. It did not have the sheer punch of some larger, more potent
systems I have heard, but was not slow, lightweight, or plodding either. There seems to be
a good combination of low-frequency extension and midbass agility in the Corona II.
Neither quality was state-of-the-art, but both were present to a degree that served the
music well.
The treble was clear and smooth. It did not possess the
last bit of detail and air that is found in the very best systems, but it also displayed
none of the bright, spitty quality that many speakers seem to possess. This made various
rock recordings in my collection listenable over a longer period of time than is usually
the case with speakers having a less refined treble. Everything I threw at the Silverlines
was handled without confusion. The Dave Matthews Band's track "Crash into Me"
from Crash [RCA 07863 66904-2] was clear and focused with no congestion,
which is a testament to the speaker system since this song is the epitome of busy
music.
Movies
I started the movie auditioning with one of my reference
DVDs, the most entertaining U-571. For sheer visceral punch and explosive dynamics,
this movie is very hard to beat. The depth-charge blasts that the submarine has to
persevere need to explode through the speaker system in order to communicate to the
listener how bad the conditions were. The Silverline array did a very good job of
delivering the goods while also reproducing the more subtle sounds, such as water drips
and metal creaks. While the inclusion of a subwoofer would have added to the low-end
impact and sheer physicality of the sound, most of the information was passed to the
viewer without a hint of dynamic compression or strain. The Silverlines could startle you
with their sound when the soundtrack called for it.
Another excellent DVD, Gladiator, was used to
examine dialogue intelligibility and vocal projection. The Center Stage easily handled the
pep talk Russell Crowe gives to his troops just before going into battle. I have heard
other systems muffle this speech a bit as the center channel is overtaken by the effects.
This was not a problem with the Silverlines, the midrange being the strength of the
system. The German shepherd in this scene also makes a few noises that get lost on lesser
systems. The Silverlines did a fine job of reproducing this scene in its entirety -- even
the dog. The upper treble was not harsh while reproducing the Gladiator effects; if
anything, it was a bit relaxed, which allowed the movie to be played back at a slightly
higher volume than usual without the listener fatigue induced by an overly etched sound.
The somewhat warm midrange character of the system was also a contributing factor in this
regard, making the movie’s characters come to life with full-size, lifelike voices.
Comparison
The following comparison may seem a bit odd, but it is
intended to describe just what you get when you make a major upgrade from an entry-level
system (although an excellent one) to a fairly expensive array capable of equal
performance with theater and music. The EdgeAudio 502D system is quite simply a steal at
its $1399 factory-direct price. In terms of performance and build quality, it is typical
of more expensive systems, possibly because of the direct Internet access to the
manufacturer. At $7200, the Silverline array constitutes a serious outlay of cash, and
would obviously be a major investment next to the EdgeAudio system.
What does the difference in price buy you? First, a much
better midrange in either two-channel mode from just the Corona II or in theater mode from
the Center Stage. The vocal presentation is just more full, rich and lifelike. It is also
capable of projecting further into the room, denoting more output capability. The midbass
has more weight and heft as well, with a slightly more refined treble. The upper reaches
are equally revealing, but also have finesse and subtlety not found in the lesser-priced
system. One area where the EdgeAudio system can compete, though, is in the extreme low
bass. The subwoofer-enhanced Edge array plays slightly lower and with more output than the
Coronas. But add a sub to the Silverlines and the score would be settled on all accounts,
as it should be for the price.
Conclusion
The Silverline home-theater system offers music and film
aficionados a finely balanced package capable of displaying subtlety and power. It does
not offer the last drop of bass wallop that separate subwoofers are capable of, nor does
it have over-the-top detail, but this is not nearly as important as what it does
offer. The midrange clarity in musical passages and the dialogue intelligibility in the
theater are clearly top-notch. Add to this the impressive dynamic range, excellent build
quality and finish, and refined top end, and you have a winning system overall.
This package, it seems to me, will appeal to the audiophile
who wants to integrate home theater into the listening room, but does not want to
sacrifice the capability to reproduce fine music. It is also a system I would recommend to
those with an eye on multichannel music from either of the two new formats. Although you
can achieve more wallop for the same money, in all likelihood it will be at the expense of
subtle music reproduction.
If you want to balance performance characteristics in a
combination music/cinema system, look toward Silverline. They have married the two
successfully, with few tradeoffs in either.
| Review
System |
| Receiver - Denon AVR-5800 |
| Source
- Pioneer DV606D DVD player |
| Cables - JPS Labs speaker
cables, Apature interconnects, Audio Alchemy digital cable |
| Monitor
- Sony WEGA FD Trinitron direct-view |
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