[ka7niq]

I cut and pasted this excerpt from a PDF File I found on the Internet. http://www.eminent-tech.com/Manuals/LFT10Manual.PDF

THE LINEAR FIELD TRANSDUCER
Eminent Technology's Linear Field Transducer, introduced as the LFT, represents a new
approach to the design and construction of a high-quality car loudspeaker*. It builds on
the strengths of previous planar designs while eliminating many of their drawbacks to
allow use in a car.
DIAPHRAGM CONSTRUCTION
The construction of the LFT-10 begins by laminating a very thin sheet of aluminum foil
to a half-mil-thick sheet of Mylar. A voice grid pattern, created by means of CAD
(Computer-Aided Design) technology, is silk-screened onto the foil side; the remainder
of the aluminum--the part not covered by ink from silk-screening is chemically etched
away, in a manner similar to the etching of traces on a printed-circuit board. The ink is
then washed away, leaving a voice grid of near perfect uniformity. This technique results
in a diaphragm/voice coil grid that is still less than two mils in total thickness, and also
permits relatively narrow spaces between the individual traces, so the diaphragm can be
evenly driven over its entire surface.
THE MAGNET / FRAME STRUCTURE
The magnet/frame structure developed for the LFT-10 is also unique. Eminent
Technology builds its magnets into individual steel channels, the size and shape of which
have been carefully designed to help "focus" the magnetic flux lines and concentrate the
strength of the magnetic field on the appropriate area of the diaphragm/voice grid. These
channels are then welded to steel frames, which in turn are bolted to the frame that holds
the diaphragm in place.
Interestingly, one of the biggest challenges faced in creating a true push-pull dynamic
speaker was not a design consideration but rather a matter of construction difficulty: to
assemble a perfect rigid structure with very powerful permanent magnets at the front and
the rear, both sides opposing each other with tremendous force. The second design
challenge is making a planar speaker both small enough and efficient enough for use in
car stereo.
* The design and construction of the LFT-10 is patented
By applying such new techniques to planar loudspeaker construction, Eminent
Technology has been able to eliminate many of the flaws inherent in earlier designs


Cloth is used on the back side of the speaker to resistively load the diaphragm.
This lowers the Q of the diaphragms free air resonance.

It is important to note that the drivers in our VMPS speakers are vastly improved over the original Eminent Technology design.

The ceramic magnets have been changed to Neo, a MUCH better magnetic material, and some other improvements done as well.

This is indeed a wonderful driver, and makes our VMPS speakers very special!


If you check out the LAST Paragraph, they talk about lowering the panels resonance by loading, or resistively coupling it to the air with cloth.

So, I wonder when damping the panels with the optional Lambs Wool if the MORE damping we add, the more resistance, and the lower they will play ?

[DFaulds]

I’m sure that Bruce has been improving his planar drivers as well since he helped design the Monsoon panels all those years ago.  Since Monsoon/Level 9 has been OOB for a number of years now, who supplies the neos for VMPS these days?

[ka7niq]

Some dude named Drago I think.

[DFaulds]

They’re made by Drago?  I hope you’re saying that they are made by a company run by Drago, otherwise that would be a little disconcerting.  Besides B-G and the large off-shore mfrs I know there’s a small company in Chicago making ribbon mids, although they appear to more physically resemble B-G drivers than the Monsoon/Level 9’s.

I have a pair of the RM-1’s, which I know are considered one of Brian’s weaker efforts, but they still sound pretty good, especially for what I paid for them.

[ka7niq]

They’re made by Drago?  I hope you’re saying that they are made by a company run by Drago, otherwise that would be a little disconcerting.  Besides B-G and the large off-shore mfrs I know there’s a small company in Chicago making ribbon mids, although they appear to more physically resemble B-G drivers than the Monsoon/Level 9’s.

I have a pair of the RM-1’s, which I know are considered one of Brian’s weaker efforts, but they still sound pretty good, especially for what I paid for them.

Here is the story on the drivers, as I understand it.
The driver was developed by Eminent Technology here In Florida.
Bruce developed a newer ribbon design.
He was approached by a Canadian company wishing to make computer and high end speakers.
He gave them the rights to make the drivers.

This Drago Dude got a hold of the Level 9 drivers, and studied them as to how they could be improved.
I know he puts Neo Magnets in them, but what else he does, IF anything, is a matter of speculation.

Brian, who has been building Ribbon Speakers for a long time tested them, and liked what he heard.

So, he buys the modified ribbon drivers from Drago,  and uses them in our speakers.

[DFaulds]

I have a pile of the Level 9 drivers and they already use neo magnets, or else they would have weighed quite a bit.  Hopefully, this Drago guy isn’t just modifying the Level 9 drivers, because there can’t be too many of them left, unless he’s buying every Monsoon PC speaker system being sold on eBay.  Just curious, but there’s got be a simpler answer than a guy named Drago building or modifying them on his kitchen table.  Of course, I know many of the early Bedini amps were built by hand on his kitchen table, and some of those amps are the best sounding ever made.  Of course, he couldn’t produce them in any kind of volume.

[ka7niq]

I have a pile of the Level 9 drivers and they already use neo magnets, or else they would have weighed quite a bit.  Hopefully, this Drago guy isn’t just modifying the Level 9 drivers, because there can’t be too many of them left, unless he’s buying every Monsoon PC speaker system being sold on eBay.  Just curious, but there’s got be a simpler answer than a guy named Drago building or modifying them on his kitchen table.  Of course, I know many of the early Bedini amps were built by hand on his kitchen table, and some of those amps are the best sounding ever made.  Of course, he couldn’t produce them in any kind of volume.

Well then maybe my understanding is flawed ?

Wanna hear something really weird ?
I bought a pair of Eminent Technology LFT 8A's.
They use the new ribbon of Bruce's.

This was before I bought my RM 40's.

I told Bruce about the RM 40, and it using his old ribbon design.
He was unfamiliar with the RM 40, and VMPS.

I told him the modified ribbon was better because it had Neo Magnets in it.
He disagreed, and said stronger magnets were not always a good thing!

He said it was a delicate balancing act between magnetic strength and diaphragm behavior.

He also expressed concerns about them being enclosed instead of Dipole!

I did not keep the LFT 8A's, and my friend Mike who owns RM 40's and I both heard them.
We thought the RM 40's sounded better.

Now, I WAS under the impression this Drago Dude put the Neo Magnets in there ?

Maybe Brian is just using the Level 9 drivers as is ?

Then HOW does this Drago Dude figure into the grand scheme of things ?

I THOUHT I had read about Drago working some kind of magic on them ?


Hmmn ..... lets get to the bottom of this ?
Speaking of Bedini, John, Gary and Rhonda Bedini went way back!

I have owned several Bedini Products, and some of them played music, when they worked, LOL

I had a big Bedini melt down in a blaze of Glory, scared me to death, it went BOOM!

No big deal, John fixed it, and it went Boom again, and again, and again, etc, etc.

I got almost as big as John Casler from just taking it down to be shipped repeatedly to LA from Seattle, LOL

Some of the worlds best food came outta Grandma's kitchen, so I care not if it is made in a Garage or on the living room couch.

Since you go way back too, I met Brian back in 1981.
Bought some Widerange Ribbon speakers, and sent them back because my friends ridiculed me.

I was too impatient, didn't have the amp to run them, and was not an experienced enough audiophile to make them work back then.

Brian asked me to at least come down and hear what I was giving up, and so I flew down to Frisco area from Seattle.


Brian had em set up in a sound room, and they sounded AWESOME.
Brian played "Tender Is The Night" from Jackson Browne's CD.

Remembering how my friends laughed at me for buying them, and too egotistical to ASK Brian to come set em up for me I looked him in the eye and said they still sounded like S...T.

He asked me about my listening habits/room, etc.

He suggested Supertowers, but was still concerned about my amp situation.
So,  Brian gave me his PERSONAL monster Bedini amp.

This thing was a custom piece made by John for Brian, and was a MONSTER.

I loved the Supertowers, kept em for two years, a LONG time for me.

My friends didn't laugh anymore when they heard the Supertowers play Black Sabbath and Judas Priest.

[flintstone]

I bought my Supertower/R's from a VMPS dealer here in Michigan around 10 years ago...they still anchor my hometheater to this day!


Dave

[Brian Cheney]

While this story has been recounted before I will summarize it:

The neo panels we use were designed by Dragoslav Colich for Sonigistix/Level9 in Canada with technology licensed from Bruce Thigpen.
About 300,000 units were produced.  Level 9 was purchased by the Eastech conglomerate and production moved to Indonesia in 2004.  No neo mid panels were ever made there, just planar tweeters manufactured for Philips.

The Sonigistix panels had a mechanical design flaw which made them fail in the field after a few months.  Since many panels ended up in Kia automobiles the company soon lost its biggest customer and shut down.  With the help of John Chapman (of Bent Audio) and another audiophile owner, we devised a fix which cured the reliability problem and also improved the panel sonically.  We currently have about 1000 pcs left of the total 10,000 panels we purchased from Level 9.

Eastech is to resume production of the neo panels this year with the flaw eliminated,  so our future supply of them is assured.

[ka7niq]

Thanks for setting the record straight Brian!

I knew that Drago Dude had a hand in something.
I was under the impression he got hold of stock panels and stuck Neo magnets in em ?

Now I see it was a total redesign using Neo from the inception!
Clever!

Maybe in a year, newer more powerful Neo magnets will be available and diaphragm mass can be increased and FS lowered ?

Since the new FST tweeters cross lower, maybe little need to go out to well past 10 K anymore, so maybe bye bye light diaphragm ?

Anyway, thanks for setting us straight!

[DFaulds]

Yes, thanks much Brian.  I wasn’t aware that Eastech had purchased the remnants of Monsoon/Level 9.  It’s great to hear that you’ll have an uninterrupted supply of mid panels.

[ka7niq]

Yes, thanks much Brian.  I wasn’t aware that Eastech had purchased the remnants of Monsoon/Level 9.  It’s great to hear that you’ll have an uninterrupted supply of mid panels.

That is GREAT news for all of us!