RICHTER WIZARDS
We’ve always considered loudspeakers to be magical items — wooden boxes that can make the sound of any singer or instrument! So it’s entirely appropriate that Richter’s floorstanders should be named ‘Wizards’.
The Series 6 floorstanders cement the rep of these Aussie speakers
Aussie company Richter Audio says its Wizard speakers, now in their sixth generation (or should that be ‘incarnation’, seeing as they’re wizards?) hold the record for being the world’s best-selling Australian-designed loudspeakers. Given the number of years the ‘Wizard’ has been available, it’s a claim we can well believe.
In which case we would also add that they’re likely also Australia’s best-known loudspeakers, because anyone who owns a pair of good-quality speakers will have heard of the ‘Wizards’… even if they don’t own a pair themselves.
Equipment
Not surprisingly, the design of the Wizard has changed dramatically over the 30 years it has been available. Over the decades the cabinet has changed, the exterior finishes, the drivers, the crossover, internal wiring, terminals — and, on this Series 6, even the feet have changed. So what has remained the same over the years? Umm… if you don’t count the model name, the only things that are still the same are that the cabinet is still a (mostly) bass-reflex design, that it’s still a floorstanding model, and that the driver implementation remains a ‘quasi’ three-way one.
‘Quasi’ three-way designs were new and unusual when the first Wizard was designed, though back then they were often called ‘2½-way’ designs. These days, ‘quasi’ three-way designs are almost de rigueur. What this design approach means is that at low frequencies, both the cone drivers on the front baffle work in unison, but at midrange frequencies, only the uppermost of the two operates to deliver the mids. And, of course, at high frequencies, the tweeter takes over entirely.
The beauty of this ‘quasi’ approach is that you get the advantage of greater cone area and greater power handling at low frequencies, but the advantage of a ‘point source’ across the midrange frequencies, which means better stereo imaging and an overall more ‘realistic’ presentation of the sound. It would be better to go the full ‘pure’ three-way route, with two drivers on bass and a third for midrange, but that increases the required cabinet size, the complexity, and the price.
Since the previous version, which was the Wizard MkV (the suffix has changed from a Roman numeral to an Arabic numeral in the process), the most important changes are the use of completely new 165mm diameter drivers, which necessitated the development of a completely new crossover network. The two cone drivers have slightly increased diameters over those of the drivers used in the previous model, so this S6 gains increased cone area, enabling improved bass. Designed by Richter, the new cone drivers have cones made from a pulp
that is comprised of paper, hemp, kapok, wool and engineered chemical fibre which is then coated with a surface sealant that’s black enough and shiny enough that it makes the cone look a lot like it’s made of polypropylene… which it most certainly is not.
We were intrigued about that ‘hemp’ ingredient. The hemp is indeed sourced from the same plant that supplies the marijuana used for medicinal purposes. This might be a nice talking point when your friends come around, but don’t let them try to smoke these cones — they have no hallucinatory properties. According to Richter designer Martin Gosnell, the resulting cone is extremely lightweight and extremely stiff, which has the effect of minimising cone break-ups and roll-off resonances.
Also new in the Wizard S6 is its 25mm soft-dome tweeter, powered by a neodymium magnet. Gosnell says that it has lower distortion than the tweeter used in the Wizard MkV, a lower resonant frequency (“well below 900Hz”) and has: “the desired phase characteristics of a gently inclined sound pressure level frequency response to beyond 30kHz.”
The bass reflex port on the Wizard S6 is rear-firing, and has been tuned so that it can be ‘closed’ by fitting it with the foam plug supplied by Richter to deliver an infinite baffle alignment, or left open for a bass reflex alignment. In a nice move, the foam is black, rather than the more usual grey colour, so if you do block the port, the foam plugs aren’t really visible.
One issue that affects all modern floorstanding speakers is the trend towards tallness and narrowness, which reduces their stability — they become more prone to topple over in the event that they’re accidentally bumped. Solo audio fans needn’t worry so much, but those with pets or small children might be concerned. But with the Wizard S6 there is no need for such fears. Stability will not be an issue, because they come with ‘speaker stabilisers’ that brings their stability up to furniture-industry standards. These stabilisers come included as standard with the Wizard Series 6 speakers but they’re also available separately (for $249) as an after-market upgrade that can be fitted to the previous Richter Wizard MkV. However, in very welcome news (and thanks to their extremely clever design) the Wizard stabilisers are also able to be fitted to a wide range of floorstanding speakers made by manufacturers other than Richter as well. So if you already own tall floorstanding speakers and have stability concerns (for the speakers, not yourself), we’d encourage you to see if the Richter outrigger feet will fit them, and if so, would further encourage you to buy and fit them to your speakers.
The cabinet finishes are also new for Richter. One is a ‘Matte Black’ colour with a very attractive textured finish, while the other is what Richter’s owner, Brian Rodgers, calls ‘New Walnut’ which has an equally attractive but wood-grained finish. Unusually, the walnut finish doesn’t cost any extra.
Performance
The increase in stability afforded by the outrigger feet is remarkable, as we were able to prove to ourselves by fitting only one of the Wizards with the feet, then comparing its stability against the other. The outrigger feet also make it easier to adjust the ‘tilt’ of the cabinet, should you wish to aim the tweeters at a specific point in the room.
And once the music starts, it’s easy to hear why Richter’s Wizards are so popular with Australians. What’s not to like?
The bass is deep and extended no matter whether the ports are plugged or left open, with the alignment being dictated more by your personal preferences, the speaker location and the type of music you listen to most often. Whatever combo you use, you’ll hear lively, toe-tapping bass with a true-to-life tonal quality, so you’ll never be double-guessing the instruments that are playing, and you’ll also be hearing the pitch of a note from the instant it starts to sound. Listening to Pierre Fournier play Bach’s 6 Suites for Cello, we were mesmerised by his superb bowing — his technique is second to none — as well as by his musical sensibilities. Just listen to his rubato (perfectly delivered by the Wizards) and to the sheer joy he brings to the Gigue from Suite No. 1.
The midrange is very linear but has not been manipulated in such a way as to give the ruler-flat linearity that can make studio monitors sound bland and lifeless. The Wizard S6s’ midrange sound is lively, dynamic, and as kind to vocalists as it is to instrumentalists, while at the same time being very forgiving of poorly engineered recordings. Even recordings where dynamics have been quashed sound impressive when replayed through the Wizard Series 6s… and when you play a well-recorded album, wow… get ready for fireworks.
High-frequency performance was excellent, being nicely balanced against the mids and beautifully sweet, so you can really hear the shimmer of cymbals and the delicate purity of the overtones of piccolos and other high-pitched instruments.
Conclusion
On this performance, it seems highly likely that the Richter Wizard will continue to wear the crown of being the best-selling Australian loudspeaker. This latest S6 version takes a proven award-winning design to its highest level yet in terms of sound quality, visual appearance, cabinet stability and amplifierfriendliness. It’s a magic combination.