Blue Sky is now shipping its new SAT 6.5 EXR, a two-way, bi-amplified, near-field, ported studio monitor, which features two 100-watt amplifiers, a single 6.5-inch, high-excursion woofer and a 1-inch diaphragm tweeter with integral waveguide for improved off-axis response. Retail is $949/each.
The SAT 6.5 EXR is Blue Sky’s first monitor that’s designed to be used with or without a subwoofer and features a proprietary port cancellation filter that helps mimic the response of an 80Hz sealed box speaker, for improved integration with a Blue Sky subwoofer. The rear panel has two completely independent balanced input stages with XLR connectors. The main input is for standard 80Hz bass-managed operation, and makes the SAT 6.5 EXR fully compatible with Blue Sky’s SUB 12, SUB 212 and SUB 15 Universal.
Besides the dual XLR inputs for subwoofer or non-sub installs, the rear panel has controls for input gain, tweeter trim and full/half-space acoustics correction.
“Due to the unique design of the electronics, the enclosure and drivers, this ported monitor has all the characteristics of a infinite baffle/sealed box when the 80Hz input is used,” says Blue Sky VP Chris Fichera. “The SAT 6.5 EXR is all about versatility. With its second ‘Extended Range’ input, the monitors can be used in applications where a sub is impractical, or used as a second ‘confidence input’ that lets the engineer or mixer quickly compare between bass-managed and extended range modes.”
But the SAT 6.5 EXR also offers other advantages, as well. “The SAT 6.5EXR is equally adept in standalone or subwoofer situations,” Fichera continues. “This way, a user can start out with a stereo pair of SAT 6.5 EXRs and later integrate them with a subwoofer such as Blue Sky’s SUB 12, SUB 212 or SUB 15 Universal when budgets or needs change, for a full-on, extended-range system with sufficient SPLs to fill nearly any studio space. Such expandability represents a listening system that’s truly ready when you are.”
Inside the 14.75x10x14-inch (HxWxD) internally braced cabinets, the SAT 6.5 EXRs show some serious engineering. The 6.5-inch cast aluminum frame woofer has a hemispherically shaped, mica-filled polypropylene cone with rubber surround, paired with a 1-inch dual-ring radiator tweeter with integral waveguide. Two onboard 100-watt amplifiers supply biamplification to the drivers, which are video shielded. The stated frequency response is ±3 dB from 40 to 20k Hz; and ±1.5dB in the critical 200 to 15k Hz range. Each 35.5-pound speaker also has ¼-inch x 20-thread insets for OmniMount Type 60 mounting brackets.
In addition to the Extended Range and bass-management inputs, the rear panel also has full-space and half-space baffle compensation controls and a tweeter level trim for adjusting the SAT 6.5 EXR to various acoustical environments.
For more information about the SAT 6.5 EXR, contact Blue Sky at abluesky.com.
