A four-way tower that can have its four woofers reflex- or sealed-box–loaded, the S7t features a unique high-frequency driver array with a beryllium-dome tweeter mounted in the center of a “Directivity Pattern Control” waveguide and two units with “thin-ply carbon” diaphragms above and below it.
All three units operate in the low treble, while just the central tweeter operates above 5.5kHz. After some experimenting with placement, KR found that listening to Ry Cooder’s Jazz, “placement of the instruments was perfectly clear. More than that, the relationships between them and their tonal characteristics were more consistent and seemed less artificial.” He was also impressed by the S7t’s dynamic capabilities, and while the PERLISTEN’s low-frequency extension, even when reflex-loaded, didn’t extend to 20Hz, the bass was “full, dynamic, taut, and balanced at all listening levels,” obviating the use of a subwoofer. JA’s measurements confirmed the high specified sensitivity of 92dB/2.83V/m, but JA warned that the S7t should be used with amplifiers that don’t have problems driving 2 ohms. JA commented that “To say that I was impressed by the PERLISTEN S7t’s measured performance would be an understatement. It typifies excellent loudspeaker engineering.” KR concluded that the S7t was overall the best speaker he’d heard in his room.