Hi all. Just saw this.
IS the Summa the "ultimate"? I don't know. Does it sound better than any other speaker out there? Well that's an impossible question to answer. But I do know this and I stand by this statement, the Summa measures better than any other speaker that I have ever seen. This is also supported by the Princton University study which found the older Nathan to be the best measured speaker in their test. Do measurements tell the whole story? No, not exactly, but they are certainly a minimum requirement. All researchers in this field have found this. The speaker that measures better is rated in blind tests as the better sounding. But when two speakers measure very similar they will still sound different. This just means that we do not do enough tests or the right tests. It does not mean that measurements are not a critical factor. Looking at axial frequency response for example tells you nothing about the sound, and a spec in a table that says 20Hz - 20 kHz tells you even less.
Given this position, I do find very little that I can do to improve on the Summa, and nothing that I can do without custom drivers (which B&C will not do for me because the volume is too low). So the bottom line here is that I have done all that I can do within the business model that I am forced to live with due to market conditions.
Going back to MDF cabinets would not reduce the price. It's just as time consuming to use MDF as poly, but it is far inferior. I do sell baffles with waveguides only, but you have to understand that the waveguide contains ALL of my intellectual property, patents and trade secrets. So this single part is where all of my value-added is and hence where all of my profit lies. As pointed out, everything else is just purchased. So baffles are 1/2 the cost of the entire kit, but then I do get great prices on all the parts, so in the end it is very hard for the end consumer to build the kits any cheaper than what I sell them for. I do not advertise this because quite honestly its not a very good deal, but it is what I have to do to make this option even remotely attractive to me.
One last thing. Kits have become a very small part of my business, as I think they should. I test each speaker that I build and there are things that I know how to do better than can be explained or taught. So the fact is that you are likely to get a better speaker from me than you can build yourself. If you want 100% then you certainly do not want to buy a kit. Bottom line here is that I suspect that kits will go away completely in another year or so. I do it now only as a courtesy to the few people who want to do this task.
In conclusion I will say this - If you can find a better speaker than mine for the money, then buy it.
