[Danny Richie]

Click the link: https://youtu.be/sUt55YpTzAw?si=ompJSTfxL8fZzC-9

[Rusty Jefferson]

Interesting company. Are they 3d printing with a concrete mixture? Many things on their website appear to be printed with a composite (plastic) of some sort? That egg speaker should be his best performing down to 200hz and used in a 3 way.

[Early B.]

This is very cool. I'm looking forward to an open baffle kit with a Neo3 tweeter in a waveguide and a 12" midwoofer in ultra black concrete with shimmering dust particles throughout.

Concrete cabinets won't be cheap. The weight will be a significant barrier, and the shipping costs will be outrageous!! Most audiophiles are old guys, so super heavy components aren't enticing. These factors will severely limit the market, especially since MDF of the same speaker will sound 99% as good. 

[g3rain1]

Are they 3d printing with a concrete mixture?

No, it's a 3d printed mold that it then filled with concrete.

[walkern]

The first thought that came to my mind was regarding the teardrop shaped cabinet. I am wondering if staggering the tweeter back a bit (relative to the woofer) would make it more 'time aligned', which would probably change the crossover components or layout or both.

The tear drop shaped cabinet looks like it would still sit nicely on a typical set of stands, and the reduced weight would definitely help reduce shipping costs (although boxing them up for safe transport might be a bigger challenge.

All in all, looks to me like a terrific collaboration product that (hopefully) could continue the GR tradition of exceptional 'bang for the buck' speakers.

[nrenter]

This is similar to what Green Mountain Audio did 20+ years ago. However, they used a mixture of resin and granite dust. One of Roy’s biggest challenges with this approach was cabinet design. 3D printing takes care of that.

It’s amazing what a cabinet design can do for relatively inexpensive drivers (and how cabinet design can compromise extremely well-performing drivers). When you remove baffle reflections and can place drivers in extremely close proximity, you’re a couple iterations from physically time aligning the drivers…and if your drivers are pistonic through the band pass, simple first order crossovers are an option.

This reiterates that cabinet geometry and material is an important part of speaker design.

Pretty soon it will look like the top of the B&W 800 series.

[mick wolfe]

This is very cool. I'm looking forward to an open baffle kit with a Neo3 tweeter in a waveguide and a 12" midwoofer in ultra black concrete with shimmering dust particles throughout.

Concrete cabinets won't be cheap. The weight will be a significant barrier, and the shipping costs will be outrageous!! Most audiophiles are old guys, so super heavy components aren't enticing. These factors will severely limit the market, especially since MDF of the same speaker will sound 99% as good.

I guess we could say the elephant in the room is indeed shipping costs these days. Even composite formulas like the late Roy Johnson's Green Mountain Audio designs were quite heavy. Another example would the Fischer & Fischer slate cabinets. But then of again, any of the big flagship offerings regardless of the material used end up weighing in the hundreds of lbs.

[ketchup]

This is similar to what Green Mountain Audio did 20+ years ago. However, they used a mixture of resin and granite dust. One of Roy’s biggest challenges with this approach was cabinet design. 3D printing takes care of that.

It’s amazing what a cabinet design can do for relatively inexpensive drivers (and how cabinet design can compromise extremely well-performing drivers). When you remove baffle reflections and can place drivers in extremely close proximity, you’re a couple iterations from physically time aligning the drivers…and if your drivers are pistonic through the band pass, simple first order crossovers are an option.

This reiterates that cabinet geometry and material is an important part of speaker design.

Pretty soon it will look like the top of the B&W 800 series.

Thiel had a couple models with a concrete front baffle. The CS6 and maybe the CS7 or 7.2. Can't remember exactly.

[corndog71]

I really like the rounded version but I’d be more interested when there’s an open baffle Neo3 tweeter. 

Danny, is that new tweeter considered better than the Encore tweeter?

[Danny Richie]

I really like the rounded version but I’d be more interested when there’s an open baffle Neo3 tweeter. 

Danny, is that new tweeter considered better than the Encore tweeter?

The new D27 is a similar tweeter, but with a Neo motor. It does not play as low nor does it have sensitivity as high as the D26. It sounds really good though.