Raven Audio Ciqala

Mastering-Level Accuracy in a Compact Form

The CiQala has been developed to function as a truly reliable reference, capable of revealing the finest details upon which critical listening depends. While most audiophile speakers are voiced for character, the CiQala is built upon the same principles that define mastering-grade reference monitor speakers, where every adjustment in balance, tone, and dynamics must be judged with complete confidence. Only a select group of speakers achieves this level of precision and honesty. The CiQala brings that standard into the listening room, offering a clear, unembellished window into the recording, while remaining deeply engaging and musically satisfying.

Detailed, Musical, and Naturally Engaging

Many speakers capable of true reference-level accuracy tend to sound clinical and dry, presenting detail without musical involvement. The CiQala has been designed to avoid that compromise, achieving a rare balance between precision and natural musicality. It reveals the finest nuances of a recording with clarity and honesty, yet does so with a sense of ease and sweetness that invites extended listening. Whether the program is a finely recorded classical performance or a well-loved recording from another genre, the CiQala delivers detail, coherence, and a musically engaging presentation that remains both accurate and deeply satisfying.

Ruler-Flat Response

A truly flat frequency response is not the sole requirement for musical accuracy, but it is a fundamental one. The CiQala has been engineered to maintain exceptional linearity across the musical spectrum, allowing recordings to be heard as they truly are, without emphasis or omission. Its carefully designed high-frequency waveguide further enhances this performance by controlling dispersion and reducing the influence of the listening room on the upper registers. The result is a presentation of remarkable clarity, where every detail, from the most delicate nuance to the full weight of the music, is revealed with precision and coherence.

Lightning-Fast Impulse Response

Impulse response refers to a speaker’s ability to start and stop precisely with the signal, preserving the true shape and timing of each note. This is a critical element in achieving genuine musical realism. The CiQala utilizes a carefully engineered sealed enclosure to deliver an exceptionally fast and controlled impulse response, resulting in a presentation that is clean, articulate, and free of overhang. Transients are rendered with precision, allowing the natural attack and decay of instruments to be heard clearly, contributing to a heightened sense of immediacy and realism.

A Word about Bass Response.

This bookshelf speaker, although it has respectable bass, is designed with a clear understanding of what is truly possible within its size. No small speaker can reproduce accurate and authoritative low bass response, and any claim to the contrary is misleading, as there are fundamental laws of physics involved that cannot be defeated by anyone. Small speaker designs that aim to extend low-frequency specifications beyond what the enclosure can realistically support inevitably introduce compromises, sacrificing midrange clarity and high-frequency openness to balance the speaker’s limited bass output. This also results in reduced sensitivity, yet even with all of these trade-offs, the bass still lacks true authority and realism. The better approach is to design a bookshelf speaker that performs optimally in the 80 to 100 hertz region, where speed, control, and accuracy can be preserved, and then pair it with a high-quality sealed subwoofer system, such as the SVS sealed subwoofers, to achieve full-range performance without compromise. Raven Audio amplifiers further enhance this approach by incorporating a high-pass crossover, allowing the CiQala to operate more efficiently and cleanly while seamlessly integrating with the subwoofer system. When properly integrated, the subwoofer does not present itself as a separate source; instead, the entire system functions as a unified, full-range presentation, and we can assist in achieving this level of integration for optimal performance.

Closing Statement

The CiQala is designed for the listener who demands truth, musicality, and refinement in equal measure. As a compact high-end speaker, it brings the performance of mastering-grade speakers into a form ideally suited for real-world listening spaces, without compromise. It is equally at home in a living room or in a recording studio or on location, offering a presentation that is both accurate and naturally sweet, never clinical or fatiguing. Among high-end bookshelf speakers and audiophile bookshelf speakers, it stands apart by combining tonal accuracy, speed, and spatial realism in a way that is both revealing and deeply engaging. For those seeking high-end audio speakers that deliver uncompromised performance in a smaller footprint, the CiQala represents a rare and compelling solution

CiQala Specifications

Enclosure: Sealed

Drivers:
1 X 1.1” (29mm) Ring-Radiator Tweeter
1 X 6.5” (171mm) Paper Cone Woofer

Sensitivity: 89dB (2.83V/1m)

Impedance: 4 Ohms

Frequency Response:
80Hz – 20 kHz ±1 dB kHz (50Hz – 28 kHz ±3 dB KHz)

Recommended Power:
20W Raven Tube Amp; 100W Solid State / 300W (Max)

Dimensions:
12.75”H x 7.25”D x 7.25”W (32.385cm x 18.415cm x 18.415cm)

Weight: 415.5 lbs. (7 kg)