The Cloud Chasers are the third and final speaker of my new more-affordable lineup. The same
controlled-pattern offset bipolar configuration is used that made its debut in the $9k, Golden Ear Award-winning Dream Makers, but in a somewhat smaller and more affordable package:
The Cloud Chasers use the same drivers as the
Rhythm Prisms and
Planetarium Gammas, but with a second horn and woofer on the rear of the enclosure. The rear woofer is closer to the floor than the front woofer - this is the "offset".
Advantages of this format include:
a) Puts more spectrally-correct energy into the reverberant field while preserving the benefits of a fairly narrow-pattern first-arrival sound. When set up as recommended, this additional reverberant energy arrives late enough that it is beneficial instead of detrimental;
b) Wide sweet spot and good tonal balance throughout the room when set up correctly;
c) No baffle-step falloff in the lower midrange region;
d) Reduced floor-bounce notch;
e) When set up as recommended the front and rear woofers are each a different distance from the room boundaries in all three dimensions, resulting in smoother in-room bass.
The distance-from-the-wall requirement is identical to what a fullrange dipole speaker calls for, so that's not something new. I've chosen drivers that I think are a very good value, and I think the room-interaction advantages of this configuration are of greater benefit than twice-as-expensive drivers would be.
My target market is people who really like the way a good planar speaker sounds, but who also want serious impact and dynamic capability, perhaps along with specialty-tube-amp friendliness. In my opinion much of the magic of a good planar derives from its dipolar radiation pattern, as the backwave contributes additional reverberant field energy that arrives late enough to be beneficial with proper setup (sound familiar?). Several of my customers have replaced rather well-respected planars with my bipolars, and
here you can read the online review of one of them.
Like my other vented speakers, the port tuning will be user-adjustable. Among other things, this will facilitate integration with a subwoofer system. By plugging one of the ports and lengthening the other, the tuning is lowered drastically and the -3 dB point is raised to about 60 Hz. A
sealed Swarm or other high-quality subwoofer system can then be added if extension down into the bottom octave is desired.
The Cloud Chasers are equally at home at low SPLs in a modest room or high SPLs in a large room, though subwoofer support would probably be required in the latter case.
Specifications:
Type: Controlled-pattern offset bipole, vented box
Radiation pattern: 90 degrees in the horizontal plane both front and back from about 1.4 kHz on up
Impedance: 16 ohms nominal, tube-friendly
Efficiency: 95 dB/1 watt, but note that the 2.83 volt sensitivity is only 92 dB because 2.83 volts into 16 ohms is 1/2 watt
Recommended amplifier power: 3 to 800 watts
Thermal compression: Less than 1 dB at 100 watts (115 dB SPL)
Typical bandwidth, solid state amp: mid-30's to 18 kHz
Typical bandwidth, low damping factor tube: low-30's to 18 kHz
Dimensions: 43" tall by 22" wide by 15" deep
Estimated weight: 175 pounds each
Price: $5500 per pair, plus shipping
