OPERA CALLAS DIVA - PAIR

Opera Callas Diva is the most compact three-way floor-standing loudspeaker in the renowned series from the Italian manufacturer.

Thanks to its artisanal construction, with traditional, elegant, and high-class cabinets, and thanks to its performance, it ranks at the same level as the Grand Callas model but with a significant reduction in size and a notable increase in versatility for positioning in any environment.

Opera Callas Diva – High-End Performance with Minimal Footprint

Opera Callas Diva is the midrange speaker of the eponymous series, the flagship of the 100% Italian company Opera Loudspeakers. Positioned just above the Opera Callas bookshelf speakers, it is a three-way floor-standing speaker, with smaller dimensions compared to the top-of-the-line Grand Callas.

It is designed for use in smaller listening rooms thanks to reduced volume levels and has a flexible design that can easily adapt to different environments, providing natural and dynamic audio performance.

Like the rest of the line, it features rear reflex ports. The intention is clear: to maintain all the best characteristics of the higher model to offer complete, high-quality sound, all within a more compact, aesthetically pleasing cabinet, and with a particularly attractive price-quality ratio.

The result is a three-dimensional soundstage with excellent impulse response and power, good dynamics, and remarkable low-frequency extension, identifying it as the best in its category.

One of the characteristic features of these speakers is the rear radiation system that uses two tweeters connected as a natural dipole. The dipole execution is practically indistinguishable from the triplet used on the previous Grand Callas, renewed, like the rest of the series, in 2014.

The rear radiation feeds the reflected field without interfering with the direct sound, preserving the accuracy of the transient response. Rear radiation balances power response and increases "brilliance," which is a quality related to the perception of sound details. Improving detail perception means improving "space" perception.

This demonstrates that Opera Callas Diva represents the right balance between tradition and innovation: on one hand, handcrafted construction in their laboratories in Treviso, with meticulous attention to detail, using precious and carefully selected woods and materials, and on the other hand, their designs boast state-of-the-art HiFi technologies.

Essentially, it's a Made in Italy excellence since 1989 that brings listening pleasure to our homes, with a warm yet never fatiguing tone.

Woofers

The Opera Callas Diva floor-standing speaker mounts an 8-inch long-throw woofer for the low range, tuned in rear reflex, with an excursion that nobody would have even dreamed of just ten years ago. The midrange is instead handled by a slightly smaller 7-inch midrange driver, consisting of a polypropylene membrane stiffened through special processes.

Usually, a speaker with such a rigid cone suffers from resonance at high frequencies, but Opera Loudspeakers designers have managed to address this issue without sacrificing the final performance, which is indeed defined as "an important midrange."

Tweeter

But the real peculiarity of this speaker lies in the high frequencies. The 1-inch Scanspeaker 9700 tweeter, famous for its dual rear chamber and total absence of ferrofluid in the air gap, maintains the same characteristics of incredible sound quality and reliability as the Grand Callas.

The rear radiation system uses 2 tweeters configured as a natural dipole, which is almost identical to that used on the Grand Callas. Designed to feed the reflected field without interfering with the direct sound, it preserves the accuracy of transient response, improves sound detail, and creates an open soundstage.

Crossover

As always, Opera Loudspeakers' crossover filters are very well engineered. In this case, it is made with good-quality components, including Mundorf capacitors and MOX resistors, and also includes a high-pass filter for the two rear tweeters. The crossover frequency between tweeter and midrange is set at 2,000 Hz, made possible only by the extremely wide frequency response of the tweeter. The result is an extremely natural overlap. The woofer's cutoff frequency is declared at 200 Hz.

On the rear, there are three reflex ports, which can be filled with the supplied polyurethane cylinders, and two pairs of terminals that allow bi-amplification and bi-wiring.

Traditional Look

The look is typical of Opera: sober, distinctive, conveying a sense of remarkable solidity and elegance without excessive stylistic exaggerations. The cabinets are made of MDF and curved plywood veneered, with thickness ranging from 25 mm for the sides to 50 mm for the front panel.

Finishes are available in two shades: Lacquered Walnut and Lacquered Mahogany. In any case, the faceted front panel and the rear panel are covered in fine black leather, while the top is lacquered black.

The pyramid profile of the Callas Diva provides fantastic resonance absorption, resulting in maximum clarity. Furthermore, the interior of the cabinet, besides being reinforced to connect the four vertical walls, is further damped.

This floor-standing speaker, in the best tradition of the Treviso-based company, although gentle in listening, is heavy: each one weighs 65 kg. Indeed, the base of these Calla Diva is made up of a heavy metal structure where the spikes are fixed, giving them great stability.

Their power and size make them suitable for sublime sound reproduction in medium to large environments.

However, as always with speakers, placement and room acoustics play an important role in the final result: position these speakers at least 10 centimeters from the back wall, and the Calla Diva will reward you with acoustic performance!

Opera Callas Diva: Sound Result

The manufacturer states that this model has the same tonal performance as the higher model, Grand Callas, having the same drivers, all in a slimmer and more versatile configuration.

The cabinet of the Callas Diva is shaped to ensure that it is possible to reach a "close listening position" so that the listener can sit at a distance of one and a half meters from the speaker and enjoy a three-dimensional soundstage. This makes the speaker highly versatile in different situations. The low-frequency response can also be modified by closing the reflex port, further increasing the speakers' positioning flexibility.

The overall sound of the speakers throughout the Callas line is warm, with good dynamics and a sweet midrange. The result is so well-balanced that it presents a soundstage capable of making the speakers disappear in the room, leaving only pure musical performance.

Specifically, the soundstage of the Callas Diva floor-standing speakers is three-dimensional, powerful, and dynamic, with a wide extension to the low frequencies that are round and well-damped.

The rendition, concerning detail, is spine-chilling, with a remarkably natural emission and articulation, especially in the mid-frequency range. Perhaps the best quality, however, lies in the very high range of this tweeter: clean, never fatiguing, and always very extensive, with very little emphasis. The rear tweeters help produce a significantly wider soundstage than average, without ever becoming too harsh; rather, Calla Diva's tendency is always to caress the listener with its sweetness.

Pairings

Opera declares for the Callas Diva model a frequency response ranging from 30 Hz to 25 kHz, a nominal impedance of 4 Ohms, and a sensitivity of 90 dB. Thanks to these characteristics, it does not require huge amounts of power, but certainly, to make them express their best, it is necessary to choose a high-quality amplifier. Otherwise, all the articulation and cleanliness of the speaker would be lost.

The pairing with Unison Research amplifiers is now well-known as well as recommended, but if you want to pair with a more neutral amplifier to let these speakers express themselves fully, already characterized by a "warm and enveloping" sound, we recommend the H190 integrated amplifier, but for those who desire more power, they could opt for the higher model, H390.

Another highly recommended match is found in Cyrus i9 XR, characterized by its typical English sound.

For bass lovers and enthusiasts, Cambridge offers the Evo 150, an amplifier equipped with a streamer that pairs very well with the look of these speakers.

As for power cables, we recommend Chord Company, the leading brand in HiFi cable design. In this case, we recommend the ClearwayX and ShawlineX lines to get the maximum performance from the amplifier and speakers.

Finally, to further improve the result of these speakers, IsoAcoustics products are designed to isolate components from unwanted resonances. Specifically, for a more transparent, brilliant result and a deeper soundstage, we recommend using a set of Gaia I for each speaker.

Technical Specifications

Dimensions: 116 x 37 x 53.5 cm (HxWxD)

Weight: 65 kg each, base included

System: Three-way floor-standing, Reflex with rear radiation system (dipole)

Finishes: Lacquered Mahogany / Lacquered Walnut

Front Speakers: 1 long-excursion 8" woofer; 1 7" midrange with polypropylene membrane and ogive; 1 Scanspeak 9700 1" tweeter without ferrofluid, double decompression chamber

Frequency response: 30 – 25,000 Hz; Crossover: 12 dB/octave for woofer; 12 dB/octave for midrange; 12 dB/octave for front tweeter; 12 dB/octave for rear tweeters; 200 and 2000 Hz (approximately)

Maximum power: 240 Watts (without clipping)

Sensitivity: 90 dB/2.83 V/1 m

Nominal impedance: 4 Ohms (Zmin > 3 Ohms)

Room placement: At least 10 cm from the back wall