MSRP: $279
Who Is AVI?
Who is AVI? This question has come up numerous times recently from passersby who've happened upon the lustrous black packing box sitting in my office. But how could they not know? AVI has been building car audio products for decades. In fact, I first encountered the company in the early 1990s while I was working for Competition Soundworks, a small retail shop in SoCal. So how is it that a company with this tenure has flown under the radar of the masses for so long?
Back in the day, the Canadian-based company was on the cutting edge of technology. Truth be told, it was that technology that made AVI's speakers stand out-bright yellow cones made of (then) rare, super-exotic aerospace material called Kevlar. I recall the rhetoric spewed by an eccentric British AVI engineer, Howard Doctor, explaining the properties of the material, something to the effect of it being lightweight and strong with good damping characteristics. This technology didn't come cheap and yet that may be why the AVI brand hasn't had a powerful following.
Since my first encounter things have changed. Our test subject strays from the pricey artifacts of past AVI designs in more than one way. First, they retail for a mere $279. Second, you won't find Kevlar or any other exotic material in the new CLS-160 point source speakers. Instead, you'll find a speaker that is more conventional than many of its predecessors. Nevertheless, AVI didn't skimp on quality.
The CLS-160s are built upon a solid, proprietary cast-aluminum frame with built-in venting holes below the spider. There are only four boltholes to mount each of the drivers with, so it might not be a quick fit in some vehicles. The motor structure is quite beefy, using a thick 20-ounce ferrite magnet and machined metal components that make its mounting depth moderately deep, yet still manageable. Lower frequencies occur via a good-sized 1.4-inch diameter voice coil pushing a black, mica infused polypropylene cone. A composite rubber edge connects the leading surround of the cone to the basket.
A 24mm silk-dome tweeter is in the center of the voice coil. As I mentioned prior, the CLS-160 is a point source, so its position is fixed near the base of the cone. The motor for the tweeter uses NeFeB, a type of neodymium that's commonly used with tweeters.
There are two solid speaker terminals-one for the tweeter, the other for the woofer-mounted to the legs of the speaker basket, but their location pose a problem with the terminals susceptible to shorting against the metal of a car door if slightly misaligned when mounting. As you may have guessed, the separate terminals mean this set uses external crossovers-and what nice crossovers they are, for a sub $300 system. The XN-18ELB crossovers are comprised of components befitting its price range, with a pair of Mylar capacitors and air coil for the tweeter, and a large iron core inductor and electrolytic cap for the mid. There is also time and phase alignment circuitry, and an attenuation (0dB/-3dB) and protection circuit for the tweeter.
Listening
Before jumping in with both feet, I always test the waters with a pre-listening session in order to set the crossovers and find that prime position where the speakers perform best. It didn't take long to figure out that the CLS-160 liked being on-axis to my seating position with the tweeter's level set to its highest position of 0dB, but I did have to reverse the polarity on the tweeters to get the best blend between the drivers. I mentioned that setup didn't take long because the tweeters were a tad relaxed, and off-axis they just didn't have the oomph to bring out the high-frequency details. In the real world this could pose a slight problem since these speakers will likely replace factory units behind door panels, most of which are located at shin level.
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