Further Information
These stand mount or bookshelf speakers have been an 8 year journey from conception to completion. You could technically call them DIY, but at a level where it was my intention to bring to market a world class product that would rival and exceed the best in class, which I believe I have. Sadly, I'm stepping back from speaker building after a round of covid left me with mild tinnitus that is seemingly not going away, so I'm just not getting the enjoyment from critical listening that I used to.
This is a medium-sized bookshelf or ideally stand-mount speaker that is built for superb natural rendition of vocals, instruments and phenomenal imaging - achieved through combining very low distortion drivers, minimisation of cabinet colouration and attention to natural voicing and superb imaging through careful and iterative cabinet and crossover design.
They started out as an active design using the Satori MW16P-4 papyrus midwoofer and cloth dome Scan Speak tweeter, which I paired with my own active electronics but over recent years I set myself the challenge of updating the drivers to the latest TeXtreme midwoofer and beryllium dome tweeter and refining a passive crossover so they could be paired with almost any front end that could drive them to their full potential.
The cabinet - translaminated solid bamboo with integral internal bracing in multiple ribs, non-reflective internal contours (no flat surfaces except the rear inner wall). Natural wool damping material.
The drivers - Satori MW16TX-4 TeXtreme midbass, Scan-Speak Illuminator D3004/604010 beryllium tweeter.
The crossover - hand built, point to point soldered, carefully selected components and meticulous matching of values. Internal wiring is mil spec. silver plated/teflon insulated. First order electrical for best phase coherence.
Nominal impedence - 4 ohms, efficiency 89dB/M, recommended amplification - solid state, 50-200W, high current drive
Auditions welcome and sure to impress. They dig deep, present instruments and voices naturally and with wonderful detail, and are most importantly non fatiguing which I find so important in loudspeaker design yet also rare, especially with metal dome tweeters.
Some words about these speakers from when I presented to the Melbourne Audio Club -
After the supper break Rick had his unnamed bamboo speakers set upon the stands. Unlike the Portal that has a traditional box shape, these are a sculpted design inside and out, exuding a lovely luxury bamboo finish, averaging 25mm thick. It has translaminated construction with extensive internal bracing. Like the Portal it uses loose wool damping. The cabinet volume is 15 litres and is a bass reflex (ported) design. The port tuning frequency is 43hz.
The 6 1/2 inch midrange was a SB Acoustics Satori TeXtreme driver. They have the advanced TeXtreme cone fitted to a vented aerodynamic cast aluminium chassis and a low distortion neodymium motor system. The matching tweeter is the Scan-Speak Illuminator D3004/604010 having a conventional neodymium magnet structure, but a very deep cast rear chamber and small faceplate, making it perfect for the sculpted baffle where it is set very close to the midbass frame in a machined wave guide, which reinforces the excellent imaging in line with the same concept of driver spacing in the Portal. The crossover is a first order electrical low pass, 2nd order high pass and the crossover frequency is 2.8khz. They are a nominal 4ohm load with an efficiency of 89dB and are recommended with amplifiers from 50 -250w.
Now the acid test! With Rick’s own electronics driving them instead of Alan’s DIY amplifier, the first thing I noticed was the richer full range sound that you would expect from a larger cabinet and its 6 1/2inch bass/midrange driver. There was still plenty of the attack and sonority of the Portal, which was further underpinned by its ability to plumb the depths when a strong bass signal was present. Again like the Portal they seemed at home with lots of different music proving musical, clean and resolving.
Walking around the room, talking to members, there was lots of admiration for both designs. I heard comments such as best sound in the Willis Room from a number of people. This is no mean feat give the number of well-regarded brands that have struggled to excite members in this environment. The presentation confirmed Rick’s talent as a speaker builder.
English (US)