Diapason unveiled its new Didascalia floorstanding loudspeaker at the Audio Video Show in Warsaw, Poland. According to the designers, the Didascalia is a symbol of Italian sound culture and craftsmanship. The Didascalia is a two-way loudspeaker, making the crossover relatively simple and uncomplicated.
Diapason Didascalia: two-way floorstander
Designed by Alessandro Schiavi and Paolo Tezzon, the Diadascalia is, according to the manufacturer, a loudspeaker that combines musical purity, naturalness, and emotional depth in a unique form. With the Didascalia, Diapason pays tribute to the so-called “Italian School of Electroacoustic Design,” a design philosophy in loudspeaker construction that has focused for decades on musical naturalness, directness, and emotional expressiveness. The two-way design is considered the ideal compromise between purity and precision. However, Diapason claims to have succeeded in overcoming the traditional limitations of this design by developing innovative solutions for bass extension, resonance-free response, and spatial reproduction.
Diapason Didascalia: design and housing
Each Didascalia is handcrafted in Italy and reflects the craftsmanship of the Diapason factory. The cabinet sides consist of eight carefully crafted and vacuum-dried walnut strips, glued crosswise across the grain and bonded with a special viscoelastic compound. Alternatively, a lacquered version is available with a carefully layered HDF and tulipwood sandwich construction.
A CNC-machined aluminum frame surrounds the cabinet, acting as a mechanical exoskeleton that absorbs vibrations and maximizes structural rigidity. The surface is hand-polished in multiple layers and finished with a natural, open-pore or high-gloss lacquer finish. According to the builders, this represents a synthesis of technology and aesthetics unique to Italian loudspeaker construction.
At the heart of the Didascalia is its advanced two-way design with side-firing passive cones. The 29 mm silk dome tweeter by Kurt Müller is manufactured by Scan-Speak to Diapason’s specifications and combined with a low-resonance aluminum chamber and a large neodymium driver.
The 180mm midrange/woofer is based on a hand-coated paper-nylon cone, which, in combination with an AirCirc neodymium system, ensures maximum transparency, minimum distortion and exceptional dynamics.
Two side-mounted passive diaphragms in a so-called “racetrack” shape, measuring 220 x 260 mm, extend the frequency response down to below 40 Hz. An integrated electromagnetic brake system allows the user to adjust the bass attenuation to three levels via a rotary switch on the rear – for precise adjustment to the room and installation.
The specified frequency range is from 25 Hz to 30 kHz. The sensitivity is 90 dB (2.83 volts/1 meter) and the impedance is eight ohms. The manufacturers recommend using an amplifier with a power rating between 50 watts and 250 watts.
Diapason Didascalia: Mechanical time and vibration optimization
The eco-leather front panel is designed to mechanically align the sound centers of the tweeter and woofer. The result is phase-stable reproduction with accurate impulse response and remarkable gradation in the soundstage, even at a relatively short listening distance of about two meters.
A special spike system with elastomer-based damping effectively decouples the speaker from the floor and minimizes acoustic feedback. This is ideal for sensitive floors or large spaces.
Diapason Didascalia: crossover and internal wiring
The crossover is a carefully hand-wired and symmetrically designed circuit. It uses components from Jantzen Audio (C-coil inductors) and Mundorf (Supreme EVO silver/gold/oil capacitors and M-Resist resistors). This combination ensures pure impedance and a dark, noise-free soundstage. Because it is a two-way design, the crossover filter can be simple yet high-quality. A three- or four-way design, after all, requires a much more complex filter than a two-way design.
The internal wiring is equipped with halogen-free cables from Van den Hul type CS12 for a long service life.
Price: €59,000 per pair.
