We just finished modeling two new BePure Center channel speakers.
The first is a smaller center using 4.5" BePure woofers. These things are amazing. I don't want to state the final F3 at this point, but I was shocked at how low these things will play according to the modeling. What's nice about this design is that it can be used as a horizontal center channel as well as vertical monitors. So it will be called the BePure 2 M/C (Monitor/Center). It should result in a compact design that would work well for home theater and could be used for all front three speakers.
The second center channel will use a pair of 6.5" woofers with side-firing passive radiators. So it will be larger and is designed to be free-standing (since the passives are mounted on the sides (ends) of the cabinet). The only question remaining on this one is whether it should be a 2-way or a 3-way. Based on the performance of the BePure 2's, a 2-way will perform quite well. But since this is a higher end center channel, a 3-way version may be more appropriate, although more costly. So the jury is still out on this one. But we should make a final decision soon.
Either way, we'll have some great center channels in the BePure line.
I also looked at a small single 4.5" woofer design for surround speakers. Unfortunately, the sensitivity turned out to be too low for me to feel comfortable offering. It would work but would require quite a few watts to drive. Of course, we have a number of other designs that would work well for surround duty in a BePure home theater set-up.
As you can tell, I'm totally in awe of these Purifi drivers. In my opinion, they represent the greatest advance in driver technology in the twenty years we have been designing speakers. Highly recommended!
- Jim
