Snell Acoustics XA Reference, THE Ultimate Tower Speaker

Snell Acoustics made great speakers right down the road from us, initially in Newburyport, and later in Haverhill, Massachusetts.  Snell Acoustics were founded in 1976 by Peter Snell to develop a speaker that "disappeared" sonically; providing the listener with uncolored and pure music.  Snell's approach combined excellent quality drivers sourced from Europe, and hand-built, hand-matched crossovers to ensure those drivers were performing at Peter's highest possible standards.  

Fast forward nearly 3-decades from Peter's first designs to the massive and impressive XA Reference model that we have here. The XA Reference was introduced in 2002 as the pinnacle of Snell's performance capabilities...Not just relative to the company's history, but relative to the entire speaker development industry.  The XA Reference was meant to be "it" - "fin" - simply the best speaker available.

The first thing that one notices when approaching the XA Reference is the sheer size of these pieces.  Each speaker standing just over 6-feet tall and weighing in at over 210 lbs. They have a physical presence that sufficiently matches their acoustic performance; and the acoustic performance is nearly flawless.  The speakers sound light and airy when needed and have enough drive and heft at other times that they can cover literally ever music genre, and the entire audio spectrum, with absolute ease and authority.  

The driver compliment consists of a 7-element "eXpanding Line Array" - a take on a more traditional d'Appolito array.  Starting with the highest possible quality 1" front-firing Vifa and 1" rear-firing Focal tweeters (the rear being adjustable), then moving on to twin 4.5" composite cone midrange drivers by Vifa; and then rounding out with four 8" custom-designed Scanspeak reflex-loaded black anodized aluminum cone woofers - Every component is carefully chosen, matched, and aligned for perfect aural symmetry. 

Their relatively low efficiency of 87 dB is masked by the dynamic response this system has, even with moderately powered systems; and the nominal 4 ohm load brings out even more current to every driving element.  

Stereophile's review of this speaker system in 2002 was nothing but complimentary -- transparent treble, powerful bass, effortless imaging, majestic dynamics, exceptional finish -- The accolades were numerous, and well-deserved. This system really is an experience, and when it topped the market 20 years ago at $25,000 in black ash finish, it was considered expensive but worth it.  

At today's price, given this timeless performance, the XA Reference is an audio bargain!

Demos are available at our new showroom in Andover, MA.  Oh, and we also have a matching, massive XA 2900 Center Channel to go with this pair, if home theater is a consideration.

$6,999/pair (plus applicable sales tax and/or shipping)

* In-person pickup is preferred with you and three of your strongest friends. Otherwise, we can prepare for freight shipping, which will be priced on an individualized basis.