Perlisten Releases a Supercharged S7t Limited Edition Speaker

The Perlisten S7t is, without a doubt, one of the finest loudspeakers we’ve ever reviewed. The launch of the formidable S7t (and the rest of the S series) was less than two years ago, but Perlisten’s engineering team has revisited its flagship model with the aim of pushing the state of the art even further. The result of these efforts is the new supercharged S7t Limited Edition, which made its world premier at the 2023 High End exhibition in Munich.

Limited to just 50 pairs worldwide, the S7t Limited Edition will sell for $30,000 per pair, with distribution taking place in the fall of this year. The new speaker features updated woofers with lowered inductance and increased linear excursion for an overall improvement in low frequency capability. The transducers in the speaker’s signature DPC-Array haven’t changed, but all three of the drive units have been coupled to a massive aluminum heatsink that “takes power handling and reduced thermal compression to all new levels,” according to Perlisten. The crossover has been updated as well. Perlisten CEO Dan Roemer will pair-match parts to 0.5dB and perform a full battery of measurements for each speaker at the company’s USA head­quarters. This measurement data will then be provided to the customer. Each speaker will be signed, certified, and serialized by Dan Roemer.

Perlisten Supercharged S7t Limited Edition Woofers Dig Deeper

If you’re lucky enough to have ears-on experience with the S7t, you’d be forgiven for wondering how the new woofer in the S7t Limited Edition could exceed the standard-setting performance of the original, which exhibited superb transient response, low distortion, and excellent extension. But the Perlisten engineering team sought to improve low frequency capability and thermal management, starting with a redesigned voice coil and magnetic circuit.

The new woofer has lower overall inductance and is capable of 20% more linear excursion. How was this achieved? First, a secondary shorting ring was used, which “doubles as a large heatsink inside the motor structure, coupled to the external copper heatsink using a unique mounting system of aluminum fasteners.” The external heatsink is then floated above the rear of the t-yoke assembly. This arrangement allows the airflow created by the voice coil’s excursion to provide convection cooling of the voice coil and heatsinks. The voice coil windings have also been redesigned. Together, these changes result in improvements in linear excursion, distortion, thermal compression, transient performance, and midrange clarity, according to Perlisten.

The new woofer, with its increased excursion, required Perlisten’s engineers to look for ways to improve the speaker’s stability and vibration isolation. They decided to team up with the folks at IsoAcoustics to design a custom isolation/damping system only available on the S7t Limited. The speaker’s massive 40-pound machined steel base is now perched on custom isolation feet, which attenuate internal reflections and isolate from external vibrations while resisting lateral movement and oscillations to maintain correct alignment with the listening position. Perlisten says the result is “greater sound clarity and openness.” (We’ve heard for ourselves how effective IsoAcoustics isolation feet can be.) Meanwhile, the speaker’s cabinet has been upgraded for the Limited Edition, and it now sports radiused carbon fiber over HDF side panels. Not only do these radiused panels increase cabinet stiffness, they also provide an 8% increase in cabinet volume without increasing the speaker’s footprint. Plus, they look positively badass. Perlisten says the increased volume “allows for full advantage to be taken of the newly designed woofer’s excursion capabilities.”

Last but not least, the S7t Limited Edition features a revised crossover to optimize the changes made to the woofer and cabinet. In addition, Perlisten is sorting all components to 1% tolerances before hand-matching each crossover and speaker pair to within 0.5dB. This process is taking place at the company’s R&D headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin. Each speaker will be subjected to Klippel nearfield scans before being pair-matched and certified. Customers will receive spinorama measurements of the specific pair of speakers they purchase.

The S7t Limited Edition represents something extraordinary, introducing new dimensions to our global presence within the audio industry. Each individual component has been optimized and the enclosures have been updated with radiused carbon fiber over HDF side panels. Simply stated, the Limited Edition stands as our masterpiece, bringing new kudos to the Perlisten team.

— Perlisten CSO Lars Johansen

Be sure to tune into our Youtube Livestream event June 8th at 2pm EDT where we talk with Dan Roemer about the S7t Limited Edition speaker and he shows us the inner workings of these beauties.

More information: Perlisten S7t Limited Edition

Unless otherwise indicated, this is a preview article for the featured product. A formal review may or may not follow in the future.