A two-way in-ceiling loudspeaker whose drivers sit at a 30° angle: a 25 mm AL-MAC tweeter and a 203 mm AL-MAG woofer, intended for steering sound towards the listening seats in stereo and home cinema systems.
CI Elite E80-A v2: design notes
In the CI Elite E80-A v2, tweeter and woofer do not fire straight down at the floor: they are mounted at 30° to the ceiling plane, so the sound can be aimed at the listening area. The crossover is a third-order design centred on 2 kHz and the on-axis response runs from 60 Hz to 22 kHz within ±3 dB, with useful low-end extension down to 39 Hz. In-room sensitivity is 94 dB, so amplifiers from 15 W upwards are enough, up to 160 W.
The tweeter dome is made of AL-MAC, Paradigm's mix of aluminium, magnesium and ceramic: light, stiff and reluctant to ring. In front of it sits the perforated PPA lens, which shields the dome and brings its output into phase. The woofer cone is AL-MAG (aluminium and magnesium) with an ART surround moulded straight onto the cone, a patented shape that the maker says adds 3 dB of distortion-free output over a conventional surround. A 38 mm voice coil copes with high power without compression.
The die-cast aluminium basket, with a heat sink built in, is mechanically decoupled from the CARBON-X front baffle by the Shock-Mount system, which cuts the vibration passed between chassis and baffle. At the back a polycarbonate cover keeps ceiling-void debris away from the components. The frameless micro-perforated grille is held by neodymium magnets and can be painted; the nickel-plated sprung terminals take heavy-gauge cable or banana plugs. The series is built in Canada.
Specifications
- Type: in-ceiling, 2-way, 2 drivers angled at 30°
- Tweeter: 25 mm AL-MAC dome behind a PPA lens
- Woofer: 203 mm AL-MAG cone, ART surround, 38 mm voice coil
- Baffle: CARBON-X with Shock-Mount decoupling
- Crossover: third order, 2 kHz
- Response on axis: 60 Hz to 22 kHz within ±3 dB
- Response 30° off axis: 60 Hz to 18 kHz within ±3 dB
- Bass extension: 39 Hz
- Sensitivity: 94 dB in room, 90 dB anechoic
- Suggested amplifiers: 15 to 160 W
- Peak input power: 100 W
- Impedance: suits 8 ohm amplifiers
- Cut-out: 291 mm diameter
- Depth needed behind the ceiling: 146 mm
- Size with grille: 320 x 155 mm
- Weight: 4.1 kg
