Canary-XT (Silver Flute W17RC38-08s with XT25TG30-4)

I bought this shielded version from Madisound in 2012. I really wanted to like it but I have never been able to design something that’s satisfactory. I made the speaker “livelier” in the Canary but the Pellegrene waveguide and the rather involved crossover inflated the final cost. Whenever I tried to make it affordable, the performance ended up disappointing. Until today.

Fig 1 – Silver Flute W17RC38-08 (shielded version) RAW Response. Disregard notch at 150Hz. It’s caused by a floor bounce.

Fig 1 is the Raw Response of the W17 in a 13 liters box with a baffle with of 8.5″. It resembles closely the manufacturer’s plot. There’s a slight bump at 1kHz followed by a peak at 5kHz.

Fig 2 – Silver Flute W17RC38-08s with 12dB Low Pass Filter

Fig 2 is the W17 with a 12dB Low Pass Filter (Blue plot). The peak at 5kHz is now lowered by 15dB. More importantly, the knee of the slope is at 2kHz.

Fig 3 – Silver Flute W17RC38-08s with Peerless XT25TG30-4 Frequency Response

The Red plot in Fig 3 is of the Peerless XT25TG30-4 tweeter. Acoustically, the two drivers are crossing at about 2.5kHz. In the summed response (Black plot), the Canary-XT stays within a +/- 2.5dB window.

Fig 4 – Canary-XT Harmonic Distortion

Generally, the Canary-XT’s harmonic distortion is about -50dB below the fundamental. There is, however, a 3rd harmonic peak at 1.5kHz (violet plot). Fortunately, it’s still -40dB below.

Fig 5 – Canary-XT Frequency Response

Fig 5 is the Canary-XT Frequency Response with frequencies below 500Hz omitted. Measurements taken with mic at 1 meter, tweeter axis, 1/12th octave smoothing.

The Silver Flute W17RC38-08s has a more “laid back” sound. Bass is prominent, in fact, it would be too much in small rooms. The bass lacks the attack and definition of expensive drivers. Due to this character of the bass, the Canary-XT sounds “slow”. Overall, transparency is about average. It is not as clear as I am accustomed to. Is this a bad thing?

Not really. It all depends on the listener. This kind of reproduction is more suited for easy listening. High definition, fast speakers are too revealing for most people. Only those who are really into hi-fi can appreciate them.

The Canary-XT is best suited for playing soft background music while you work. Commercially, I would install them in places of business like restaurants, fashion boutiques etc. Quality background music. No subwoofers necessary.