[Bill Baker]

I had the honor today to personally meet Jed, the owner, designer........... the man behind CLD. As manyof you know, we have invited three AC speaker manufactures into our showroom. Today the first of those speakers, a pair custom built for our showroom, showed up being delivered by the man himself.

 For now, I'll let you take a look at some pictures on the webpage where you will also find some of my findings after a limited time with these beautiful speakers.

Here ya go: http://www.responseaudio.com/clearwave.htm

[msteindler]

You might want to proof read your web site text-

It does not take long when listening to this 3-way speaker [to hear/to realize...] that very special care and attention was put into the crossover design. The integration of drivers is seamless. The paper cone Seas woofers provide a deep, fast yet smooth response before handed things over to the Accuton midrange. Many would expect this ceramic driver to be dry and analytical. Absolutely not the case here. The midrange is extremely lifelike, clean and transparent but without even a hint of fatigue. Now we move up to my personal favorite tweeter..... a ribbon. This ribbon provides plenty of air and extension with detail and presence that raises the bar in the goosebump arena.

[Bill Baker]

Thanks msteindler for catching this. This is not yet a published page and is only available to AC members reading this thread.

 I still have a lot of work to do on this page before making it public but like to give AC members the first glance. Specs, graphs and further details still have to be worked out as well as a few better quality pictures.

[jimdgoulding]

Sounds and looks like a design I would dig hearing.  Thank you.  Think Adagio's would be to my liking, also.

[Bill Baker]

BIG difference between these and the Adagio speakers. I have nothing against the Adagio speakers and still enjoy them very much. In fact,  I would still like to have a pair at my place but have limited speakers to only 3 manufacturers.

[jimdgoulding]

Thanks, mate.

[Pez]

Looks like a very interesting driver array. Aurum Cantus G2i tweeter, Accuton ceramic midrange is a very unique combo, which makes perfect sense now that I see it. And the wonderful wood work on them mates well with the Bella gear!

[Bill Baker]

Looks like a very interesting driver array. Aurum Cantus G2i tweeter, Accuton ceramic midrange is a very unique combo, which makes perfect sense now that I see it. And the wonderful wood work on them mates well with the Bella gear!

 The driver arrangement:

The tweeter is the Fountek NeoCD3.0, Accuton C50-8-44 2" Dome midrange and 2x 7" SEAS Excel W18NX-001 Nextel Cone woofers.

Maybe Jed will chime in with some further details and specs.


I was a bit skeptical at first when he mentioned a 3 way design. We all know that the more crossover points involved, the harder it is to get a good transition. The only thing I had to have was a ribbon tweeter. I can tell you thatthe transition between drivers is seamless.

I realize Clearwave Loudspeaker Design is not as well known but can assure you that as more people get to experience them and talk about them, the bigger this company will get.


Don't take my word for it, listen for yourself.

 There are a few "less known" manufacturers out there that only need the exposure to bring them to the top.

[Jed]

Hi Bill,

I had a great time yesterday auditioning my latest speaker creation on your source and amplification equipment.  Clearly you have some of the best tube equipment in the world, and it is an honor to have my speakers represented with such top notch gear.

I also wanted to take the time to elaborate on why your impressions, after listening to the speaker with a variety of top notch recordings, mirror my findings with the measurements and design choices I made for this particular speaker. 

Let me first comment on the cabinets pictured here:








The curved top is created with a stacked lamination technique.  Each layer is cut on a CNC machine and glued together to create the curved "shell" for the top section.  The lower section of the cabinet is a traditional rectangular enclosure rabbeted together with the top section.  Everything is then heavily braced and the side walls are laminated with a sound deadening vinyl layer to absorb cabinet wall vibration. 

You can see the bracing in this picture before the dampening fill and crossovers were installed:


All the walls are then lined with an additional layer of foam and fill to absorb standing waves in the cabinet (not shown).  The result is a very smooth impedance response.  The valley in between the twin peaks in the impedance shows the box tuning frequency (~ 38hz).


As you can see this speaker is a solid 4 ohm speaker, but the impedance stays within 3.2-4ohms for most of the frequency band, thus making it suitable for tube amplifiers with a rating of 50 watts or more into 4 ohm loads.

The bass extension is an F3 of 38-39hz as shown in this model verified with nearfield port and woofer data, as well as the impedance plot above.  Since bass is so room dependent, it is safe to say with room loading, the bass will extend to the upper 30s.
Since this speaker uses dual Seas W18NX's, which have the more advanced motor and a rated 7mm xmax, expect these to play around 103-104db/1watt meter before running out of steam for most music excluding pipe organs of course!  Don't play that loud or you will ruin your hearing anyway.


The on and off axis is very flat.  The response favors a tweeter toed in such that the off axis is roughly 5-10degrees in the horizontal plane, but that is a personal preference.  The vertical polar response favors the tweeter pointing directly at the ear level or slightly above ear level.  This can be achieved with toe spikes to fire the tweeter at ear level.  The power response and off axis response is clean very far off axis in the horizontal plane thanks to the ribbon's narrow element and the pistonic nature of a small midrange covering the frequencies that most MTMs start to beam like crazy.  This is more than likely why the speaker imaged so well and created a large soundstage at Bill's.  I also attribute the narrow baffle around the midrange and tweeter to that effect.  It sure would have been easier and cheaper to build a rectangular box, but I wanted to take this one to the max.


I'm going to keep the crossover points and slopes a secret for now, but there was a lot of consideration placed on the Fcs (frequency cutoff) to minimize over excursion of the midrange, allow a smooth transition between the woofers, mid and tweeter, and do so with the best power response; given what is known about passive crossover design.  Each driver was tested for overall harmonic distortion at realistic listening levels to insure they operate in the lowest distortion passbands.  This also helped aid in the selection of the crossover points.

Phase alignment was also considered while designing this crossover, which was easier because the acoustic centers of the mid and tweeter are very close to being on the same plane.  This allowed me to hit the desired transfer functions without worrying about the need for overly complex electrical circuits to hit the acoustic slopes or run into phasing problems.  Therefore, the crossover design is elegant and uses a minimum amount of components to do the job the most effectively, but an impedance this flat does require an additional zobel circuit/s.

Don't worry though, the crossover uses nice components in the crossover in addition to the top notch drivers that were selected. Air Core inductors are used throughout, with ERSE high quality 14 gauge series inductors where lower DCR is needed.  The caps are a mixture of Clarity Cap PX for values above 10mfd, Solen for values over 68mfd, and Clarity Cap ESA for the tweeter.  Resistors are either of the non-inductive variety, or Mills where I felt they were most important.  Absolutely no electrolytics are used in the circuit.  I want these speakers to last a long time and the electrolytics I've measured in the past were either not within close enough tolerances, or they degraded over time.  The wire I used was Supra wire from madisound. 

So, these are some of the reasons I selected the parts that I did.  The "sum" is a culmination of these design decisions.  Pricing has yet to be finalized, as well as a name for the speaker, but expect that information soon and the pricing to be competitive to what is found here at audiocircle.  I want to offer the best value possible, but these speakers are very time consuming to make!  I hope you get a chance to listen to them at Response Audio soon.

Best Regards,

Jed

[Bill Baker]

 I have received a lot of inquiries as to how these speakers are coming along so I figured it was time to post some initial impressions after being able to spend some time with setup.

 When Jed arrived with the speakers and we spent an hour or two listening, we did not take the time to do a thourough setup. The speakers' base was also sitting directly on the carpet which we all know is not good.

 After spending some time with placement, I ended up with the speakers 7 feet out from the walls and 4 feet from the side walls. The speakers are 9 feet apart with slight toe in.

 I also have to mention that these speaker still have only about 8-10 hours on them.

 My initial concerns before the speakers arrived was how well the drivers in this 3-way design would integrate and if there would be any aggression in the midrange due to the Accuton mid driver. Well, those concerns are gone. In regard to integration, you would think you were listening to a single driver speaker.

 Starting at the bottom - The bass is tight and deep. There is a boominess but I do have some room issues that are being dealt with now. New bass traps are being built. This is not the fault of the speaker rather room accoustics.

The midrange driver and ribbon tweeter blend together like they were made for each other. If you have never heard the Accuton drivers, you are in for a treat regarding inner detail. There is absolutely no glare or fatigue associated with the midrange.

The ribbon tweeter has a beautiful sense of air with the upper frequencies simply floating in space. No harshness or beaming.

 Over all, there is a spaciousness to the soundstage that has you looking in other rooms to see if there are additional speakers playing. The "sweet spot" will please more than one person at a time (my room is large).

 I know you hear this all the time in speaker write-ups but I was experiencing my favorite recording in a whole new light.

I will save a critical write-up for a later time as I do need to get more time on these speakers but I have no doubt things will only get better.

 The system:

- Bella 3205 MK III Reference Amplifier
- Purity One Class A tube Linestage
- Audio Note CDT-Three MKII CD transport
- Audio Note Custom DAC 2.1 Deluxe
- Jolida JD100 with Response Audio Level 2 upgrades

CABLES
- Transport to DAC
   Musica Bella SG24 Digital cable (Silver/Gold)
- Dac to Preamp
   Musica Bella Custom SGF Series (Silver/Gold/Foil) interconnect
- Preamp to Amp
   Musica Bella MB Series Perfetto interconnect
- Amp to Speakers
   Musica Bella MB Series Musicale (speaker cable)
- Power Cables
   VH Audio AIRSINE & Flavor 4. Jam'n Audio PRO14S, Silver Audio
- Power Bloc - custom made with two silver cryo treated ACME Audio Labs AC outlets

[Jed]

I will save a critical write-up for a later time as I do need to get more time on these speakers but I have no doubt things will only get better.

Now that you've clocked a lot more hours and the speakers are broken in, how are things progressing with the sound?

I miss these speakers and might have to make a trip down again to hear them on some of your new gear.  I'd imagine people might want a CC version of the Melodia as well, so I'll put that on the project to-do list as well. 

[zybar]

Price??

George

[Bill Baker]

Now that you've honestly clocked a lot more hours and the speakers are broken in, how are things progressing with the sound?

I miss these speakers and might have to take a trip down again to hear them again.  I'd imagine people might want a CC version of the Melodia as well, so I'll put that in the project to-do list as well. 

Yes, I do have some hours on these now and really enjoying them. Sorry I have not posted more but things have been crazy for me. I will do a write-up with further findings over the weekend when I have a bit more time.

Bottom line........Lovin'em

Price??

George

I will let Jed handle this.     Jed?

[Jed]

I have a few details to look into before pricing is finalized.  This includes the possibility of dealer networks versus factory direct pricing on the Melodia line.  I'll wait to hear back from them before pricing is posted online.  That should be very soon.

Thank you all for your interest.  I should have more answers soon.

Regards,

Jed

[JoshK]

I know of Jed from speaker building forums I peruse.  He is very well respected among the "pros".  That is to say, I have the utmost confidence he knows his stuff.

[Jed]

Thank you for the kind words, Josh.  I hope you get a chance to go to Bill's for a listen sometime.

Jed

[Jed]

I've been contacted by a number of people about pricing for these speakers and should have details about that this weekend.  I've also been asked to offer a RAAL ribbon SE version and I'll price out that option as well.  In CLD traditional fashion, look for the very best in pricing.  I don't have to sub contract any phases of the design process, and these speakers are built by my own 2 hands (minus a CNC machine) . That drastically reduces the costs, however if these become as popular as I think they will, based on some feedback I've been getting, the pricing may have to increase to catch up with demand (produce faster turn-around times).  Each pair is made to order, so we can upgrade to your content.  The Melodia will only be offered as a finished speaker.

Also, come this summer I'll have a dual 10", large mid Accuton, RAAL flagship version that should be interesting for a few guys looking for something that will compete with those 100k plus speakers at a small fraction of the price.

Thank you again for you interest, and I'll be getting back to you all very soon!

Regards,

Jed

[bummrush]

 never looked at the clearwaveloudspeaker site before,looks good and high quality with products at a good price.

[Jed]

never looked at the clearwaveloudspeaker site before,looks good and high quality with products at a good price.

Thank you and I appreciate the positive comments. 

I've ironed out what I feel to be a fair introductory price on the Melodia RA7.2, along with some upgrade options; like RAAL ribbons for example.  Because this speaker will remain factory direct, and I'm a custom builder with low overhead, I can keep the pricing down quite a bit.  I've made a list of features that come standard in the Melodia, and please don't take that lightly, because these parts really can add quite a bit to a speaker's pricing, but I charge only the difference in retail for the upgraded parts.  Don't let me convince you of the value I believe is represented in the CLD Melodia RA7.2, hear the design for yourself at Response Audio.  I thank Bill again for selecting my speaker to play with his top notch amplification, and I really feel like the speakers and amplification are a match made in heaven.  I hope you feel the same way.

Regards,

Jed

http://www.clearwaveloudspeaker.com/MelodiaRA72pricing.html

[JakeJ]

Question for Bill and Jed.  Will you folks be bringing these to RMAF 2010?
 
Thanks,
Jake