Perlisten S4b and D12s in house


The S4b is a fascinating speaker that has intrigued me.  Audoholics saying that the S7t was the best measuring speaker they have ever tested pushed me over the top.  I can't fit the S7ts in my space so the more appropriately sized standmounts were orderd.  Samples arrived.  

They showed up well packed in thick, double boxed corrugated.  The grills are packed in boxed that provide additional protection.  The speakers and subowoofer are in large, cloth bags for a final layer of protection. 

Out of the box the S4bs showed a lot of promise but seemed....dark.  I liked what I was getting.  Lots of detail but there was something off.  Distributor said they needed 4 or 5 days to break-in.  I played for hours and they got a little better....maybe.  I thought, this is more neutral than my speaker so let me grab a brighter amp than my standard AVM A5.2.  No change. 

I am impatient so I decided to use the old trick of aligning the speakers face to face, reversing the polarity of one of the speakers and playing brown noise for a few hours.  This is a suggested approach by Raidho as it radically hastens break-in and Raidho's take 500 hours to break in.  

After running the break-in, wow!  What a change.  This is one of the most profound changes in tonality I have heard.  For those of you who don't believe in break-in, buy these.  You can't claim this was a slow adaption of my senses because i was not listening to them.  Before and after, there was a huge difference in tonality.  

This is an open airy speaker with an incredible amount of detail.  The soundstage is wide and off axis performance is insane.  It is a three way design with a beryllium tweeter and two carbon fiber domes.  They claim this array took 18 months to get right.  I believe it.  This is the best beryllium implementation I have heard.  Not a HINT of a metallic edge to the tweeter and like I said above, off axis performance is simply better than any speaker I have ever heard.  This is sealed design so bass response is not insanely deep but it is refined.  Proximity to wall was highly flexible.  I have run them at 1', 2' and 3' and hear no significant difference in performance in terms of soundstage and imaging.  

Compared to my long-term reference Vivids Kaya 45s and my own Verdant Blackthorn 1s, the soundstage is similar.  They are a bit more forward and feel more unconstrained.  This is a common trait of composite cabinets vs. MDF/HDF but they are not close to the Perlisten's in terms of off-axis performance.  Basically, they are similarly detailed but the Perlisten's are more....I don't know how to describe it.  They aren't forward, they aren't laid back.  They aren't bright, they aren't dark.  The sound isn't thin.  It isn't bloated.  I guess this is what a speaker that measures essentially perfectly must sound like.  For certain types of music, I liked the increased energy of the Vivids or my speakers.  For other music, the Perlistens are superior.  Off axis, the Perlistens are superior.  

Regarding the D12s sub.  Perlisten was smart knowing the sub is super heavy and loaded it upside down.  You loosen ties on the bag and basically lay the box on its side.  This is a big, heavy unit.  But it is easy to place and is even easier to integrate. 

There are three bass DSP settings.  THX, Large Room and Small Room.  The cossover and setting are turned off.  I used the DSP, took measurements and and they were great and it sounded great.  I turned on the crossover.  I made tweaks to integrate with each of my speakers knowing where the appropriate crossover point are and it measured better with the DSP alone .  The DSPs calculate 1000x per second to ensure smooth integration with your speakers.  
128x128verdantaudio
@Nope, you are right. I am a dope.  I even asked them about that explicitly as I thought it would be really awesome if they had a high pass.  
So Erin’s audio corner says the drivers are not made by SB acoustics. Maybe the driver cone is sourced form the same place (TeXtreme), as some of AB acoustics’ drivers, Interesting. 
https://youtu.be/XMiavksmOCA
verdantaudio,

Thanks, a quick scan of the manual just shows a low-pass not a high-pass but correct me if I am wrong. 
Interesting brand for sure. I am interested in opinions as more people hear them. The measurements are about a good as a passive speaker can be. 
The subs do have a high pass built in.  It is just controlled electronically from the ap, not a dial on the unit.  You can also select the slope of the curve.  

Perlisten is new and only has 7 or 8 dealers at this point.  They are going to be making some big splashes over the next few months and I think that may be why you are unfamiliar.  They are well funded and have industry vets running the company. 

I have talked to Bo at SB personally and I think they make some awesome drivers.  As I said, I can't confirm or deny where Perlisten sources their drivers from.  The analogy to Revel is appropriate though in that these guys approach to speaker design with a focus on optimizing performance vs. a Klippel is very similar.   

Based on what I am hearing and what I see in terms of performance, these are probably more competitive with the Ultima Salon II and Studio IIs rather than the BEs.  The S7t sits smack dab in the middle between those in terms of price.    


Yes I see now you used the D12s not the D212s that is $7000. I buy in pairs so $7000 is hard to swallow but $4000 seems reasonable lol. It would be nice if they had a highpass though. 

My JL subs have broke a multiple times. They will be my last JL product (sound fine though). 

I am pretty sure all the drivers in the Revel 228be I currently use are all from SB acoustics. They are pretty good drivers to my ear and the ones used in Perlisten seem to be a higher top of the line driver from them. I am sure they are great. Very high resolution in the mids from SB. 


The interesting thing about Perlisten is they are clearly designed to use a sub. That is how I use my speakers anyway but it is not very popular around here to crossover that high. But I strongly believing that typical rooms do best with bass management\subs in general. It seems like a good  approach from Perlisten. I hope they do well but I don’t seem them being popular around here.  


I am not sure who popular highend home theater is these days.  Most seem to go soffit installs. 
I wouldn't be surprised at all if SB is making their drivers.  They have probably made some tweaks to it to make it their own.  Most driver manufacturers are happy to make adjustments if you order above a certain quantity.  

The subs are priced to compete with JL Fathoms.  IMO, the price is justified based on the tech.  I am sure they will eventually come out with an R series that will be more attainably priced.  
The drivers look like 7” versions of the SATORI TeXtreme from SB accustics. A good driver brand used by Revel. 

https://sbacoustics.com/product/7%C2%BD-satori-mw19tx-4-textreme/

They are interesting speakers for sure. Too bad the subs are so pricy. I would love to hear/own a pair. 
@roxy54  I agree that the drivers look like Rockports but evidently they are not.  Perlisten states that all the drivers are custom made for them so there is some difference.  
I never heard of the company, but the speakers are very interesting and I'd love to hear them. The pattern on the woofers reminds me of Rockport
Technologies. Thanks for the review.