Steinway Lyngdorf’s Model S Soundbar and Model C Loudspeaker
Steinway Lyngdorf, the only speaker company that’s allowed to use the Steinway name, compared the sound of its two “new” speakers. The Model S Soundbar is designed for rooms that cannot contain floorstanders. Sold as a complete, full-range on-wall system and usually chosen for custom installs, the Model S contains three AMT tweeters, three midrange drivers, and two woofers. Total amplification power is 1600W, and the specified frequency response is 40Hz–20kHZ –3dB. With machined, solid-aluminum front and back panels, it has MDF frame that contains five acoustically separate chambers. Available in matte black, high gloss black with gold details, or custom finishes, it weighs a substantial 106lb.
The Steinway & Sons Model C is sold as a whole 2-channel or 4-channel system. An open baffle dipole design, it contains an AMT tweeter with ultrathin, folded Kapton diaphragm and neodymium magnet along with two magnesium midrange drivers. Two accompanying woofers in different sizes and finishes are intended for placement near the room corner. Each speaker weights 93.5lb.
As nice as the Model S soundbar sounded on Norah Jones’s “Cold, Cold Heart,” the Model C floorstanders beat it by a mile in for open sound and air. Bass was nicely controlled if a bit soft around the edges. I wouldn’t call the sound organic, but it should work very well in home theater set-ups. Please excuse the lack of pricing specificity—I heard several different numbers—but it’s above $100,000 for the Model S or the Model C.
