T+A Pulsar ST 20

The German company T + A has been producing various electronics and Hi-End acoustic systems for more than 40 years. Floor standing units of the updated Pulsar ST 20 series costing almost $5,000 are positioned by the manufacturer as the entry level. Let's try to figure out why the newcomer is so indecently expensive.

Strictly classic

Acoustics is not distinguished by outstanding design. These are conventional towers measuring 920x190x320 mm with slightly convex sidewall geometry to improve anti-diffraction properties and suppress standing waves inside the hull.

The large phase inverter port is placed on the front panel, which guarantees the possibility of installing speakers close to the walls. Cabinet cases rest on a base with small “paws”, to which spiked legs are attached on round metal stands. As you can see, everything is quite banal, without frills, including with colours. The system is available in white or black.

All for great sound

Much better is the situation with the sound design. Three-way acoustics received four drivers : a 25 mm tweeter built into the waveguide between the bass and midrange speakers, a 120 mm midbass and two 150 mm long-throw woofers with aluminium cones. Carefully calculated crossovers provide seamless sound from 32Hz to 30kHz. And four screw terminals — a two-wire connection type — biwiring / biamping.

As a result, we can say that the ordinary appearance of the Pulsar ST 20 is perfectly compensated by the absolute omnivorousness in musical terms. In any genre, the system sounds fast, dynamic and balanced, with open highs, well-defined natural mids, deep, tight bass and a wide stage. But even this, in our opinion, is too little to justify its indecently high price.