Opera Mezza v2 Bookshelf Speaker (Pair)

Opera Mezza v2 is the smallest speaker in the Classica line. With a two-way bookshelf design and a rear bass-reflex duct, it uses drivers made in collaboration with Scan-Speak: a 26mm soft dome tweeter and a 150mm midwoofer. Its compactness, versatility and surprising rendering, especially in the vocal range, make it a point of reference in its category.

Since its debut in 2014, the Classic Line has become the best-selling speaker series ever for Opera Loudspeakers. Its renovation required long, ambitious and engaging design work, driven by the constant search for natural and refined sound performance.
The real challenge? Exceed the already very high level of the previous generation.

This range embodies the classicism of the best Italian manufacturing tradition: from the design to the construction of the cabinets, up to the artisanal attention to every detail, celebrating the excellence that has made our country a point of reference in the world.

At the same time, its name reflects the deep passion for classical music, which has always been an inspiration for Opera in the creation of Hi-Fi speakers.

While retaining its original name, the Classic V2 has been completely rethought, starting with aesthetics. New finishes include a modern wood-effect variant and a new concrete finish. The eco-leather covering, which characterizes the speakers front, top and rear, has remained a distinctive feature of the series.

The basics of the floor models have also been completely redesigned. The goal? Visually lighten the structure and transmit maximum vibrations to the ground, thanks also to the new tips with Black Gun finish.

Consisting of two shelf speakers, two floor models and a central channel, the new Classic Line V2 presents itself as a new reference in the stereophonic Hi-Fi category, without however giving up the versatility required by the Home Cinema world.

The Cabinet

The first step in the design of Opera Mezza was to minimize any possible coloring caused by internal vibrations and reflections. Our team carefully took care of the proportions of the cabinet, starting from the use of a 4 centimeter thick front panel, a key element to guarantee rigidity and control.

Given the compactness of the speaker, the internal reflections could have negatively influenced the average frequencies, a very delicate portion of the audio spectrum. Intervening on this aspect made it possible to keep the naturalness of the musical message intact, improving the transparency, environmental richness and precision of the sound scene.

The rear reflex duct, although small in size, gives more body at low frequencies. As in the other models in the line, it is positioned on the back of the diffuser: we therefore recommend maintaining a minimum distance of 20 centimeters from the rear wall for optimal performance.

Drivers

The collaboration between Opera Loudspeakers and Scan-Speak he created a midwoofer tailor-made for this project, with perfectly calibrated parameters to obtain an ideal harmony between extension, control and dynamics.

Generous moving coil dimensions and linear diaphragm excursion ensure high power management, even at the lowest frequencies. The use of an aluminum diaphragm allows the moving mass to be reduced and high-frequency resonances to be avoided, simplifying crossover filter design and improving timbral cleanliness.

The tweeter, also derived from Scan-Speak, has been modified with a reinforced magnetic structure, to ensure superior control especially in the mid-range. The result is fast and natural transient response, with optimized phase behavior emphasizing micro-dynamics and attack.

Crossover

The crossover filter was designed after careful analysis of cabinet size and elimination of internal standing waves. The design is deliberately simple, but with audiophile quality components and attention to every detail and to guarantee tonal coherence and precision in response.

The design considered both the acoustic response of individual sections and the phase alignment between the two transducers, optimized both on-axis and off-axis. This allows for accurate and realistic spatial reproduction in the environment, with a large and well-defined sound scene.

The inductors are air-wrapped with low-strength copper wire, while the damping resistors have been carefully selected to optimize the frequency response and phase behavior of the system.

Design Philosophy

Designing an approximately eight-liter speaker using a midwoofer with an effective diameter of just 105mm is a fairly classic choice in the audio design landscape. However, this is not a simple task: it requires targeted, often counterintuitive, design choices.

Many manufacturers favor low-frequency extension by adopting very strong bass reflex chords, but sacrificing damping and power management. We have chosen a different path: to seek an optimal balance between extension at the bottom and control, avoiding extreme parameters that would compromise the reliability of the system.

The result is a compact but solid diffuser, with a frequency response that goes beyond simple linearity on the axis, returning concrete performance even in a real environment. Its small size, ease of positioning and surprising performance in the vocal range make it a true point of reference for balance and sound quality.

Features

• 2-Way Bookshelf / Stand-mount speaker
• Custom Scan-Speak Drivers
• Veneered wooden cabinet with faux leather wrap
• Rear-ported design
• Easy to place in small and medium-sized rooms
• High-quality components used throughout
• Made in Italy

Specifications