About 10 years ago, I received an email from a gentleman who outlined his desired performance criteria for a speaker that was under $3000. It had to be a 3-way and play down to near 30Hz. He went on to describe the midrange and top end performance he was looking for as well. He explained to me that he had listened to many brand name speakers, but none met his requirements. He asked if I had any advice.
I told him the reason he was having trouble finding his ideal speaker is that it probably did not exist at that price point. I told him if he found one he should let me know because I would probably want a pair myself.
He eventually did get the performance he was after. He purchased a pair of Veracity HT3's. It's just that is cost him a bit more than his $3000 budget.
I thought about this exchange often over the years. And when RAAL came out with a lower cost ribbon tweeter, we thought we might see what we could do.
I should point out that 3-way speakers are very difficult to get right. Normally, it takes us about a year to go from concept to finished product. But in this case, keeping the price under $3000 made the task quite a bit more difficult.
Our first try began about 2 years ago. About this time last year, we were getting close. But, as happens from time to time, despite repeated attempts to get the crossover right, that design just never quite came together and we had to scrap the project and start over.
I'm happy to say that this past week we made the final adjustments to a crossover for a new 3-way design and we will be ready to show it at AXPONA at the end of the week.
The only thing we don't have, at this point, is a name. And that's where you come in. Your suggestions have always been helpful.
Philosophically, this new design fits in the Song Series of speakers. However, it does not use any of the same drivers. So perhaps it needs to be part of an entire new series of speakers.
Here is a picture of the pair we will take to AXPONA in Chicago...
I should probably explain the finish on this pair. A few years ago I went to an art show and saw a bowl that was black with white grain. This technique is called ceruse. We tried it a few times, but never figured out how it was done. About two months ago, we finally figured it out. So I thought it would be fun to build a pair of speakers in that finish. It's not a finish for everyone, but it was something different and we had to try it. (There are any number of color combinations that can be used with this technique and we have some very cool ideas of what to try next.)
Here is a close-up...
So let the naming begin...
(Technical details in the next post.)
- Jim
