Where's the Rest of the Speaker?

RMAF 2009

Where's the Rest of the Speaker?

By John Atkinson • Posted: Oct 6, 2009

When I walked into the room of Chicago-based Acoustic Technology LLC, I thought I was listening to speakers that only had tweeters, because the only visible drive-unity was a single 3" unit. Yet the sound, a recording of Rimsky-Korsakov's Schererazade, was definitely full-range,and the soundstaging, as you might expect from such a small radiating diameter and a narrow cabinet baffle, was well-delineated.

The 3" unit, which has a titanium cone, was being used in the Acoustic Technology Classic-Series loudspeaker ($2450/pair) to cover the entire audio band. Yes, the speaker was running out of headroom at climaxes with a lot of bass energy—maximum amplifier power is specified as 30Wpc—but there was a refreshing transparency to the overall presentation. System was an Ayon CD2 CD player, Pass Labs X-1 preamp, and a PS Audio power amp.

Comments

Submitted by George on October 6, 2009 - 11:58am.

You gotta be kidding. Some one is seeing how much a mfg can get away with in taking people's money?

Submitted by Jason Stroud on October 6, 2009 - 3:35pm.

It is in the knowing how.

Submitted by Stephen Scharf on October 6, 2009 - 6:38pm.

I have to step in here and state that I heard these first hand and state that everything JA has said is absolutely right on the money. The music I heard was acoustic jazz, and I heard substantial, accurate and musical low-end, not to mention a very pure midrange and superb imaging and very transparent and clean overall musical presentation.I don't know how they did it, but I heard it for myself...

Submitted by Richard on October 7, 2009 - 9:16am.

This is exactly what the guy with the Horn Shoppe has said for years. And his speakers aren't this much. Good info on that website about how this kind of setup can work. It's intriguing and interesting concept with tube amps.

Submitted by Stephen Scharf on October 7, 2009 - 10:56am.

Just an editorial correction, the company's name is Acoustic Technology, not Audio Technology.

Submitted by John Atkinson on October 7, 2009 - 11:18am.

Sorry about the error. I have fixed it. I did get it right in the weblink.

Submitted by Stephen Scharf on October 7, 2009 - 1:06pm.

No worries! Sure like to know how they pulled that off...one three inch driver.The cabinet did look like it was some sort of transmission line.

Submitted by John on October 7, 2009 - 9:47pm.

I think the company name is Acoustic Technologies LLC. Their website is acoustictechnologiesllc.com and contains further information.

Submitted by Jared on October 8, 2009 - 8:33am.

Okay, did you listen to the speakers? I did, with my own CD and it wasn't full range AT ALL. Yes it had great mids and highs, but it had zero bass response. I thought it was a cool idea, but for $2.5k you can get many other full range speakers that aren't just a "cool" concept, they actually play full range well.Reviews like this make me want to call shenanigans on most audio reviewers.

Submitted by Austin on October 8, 2009 - 9:50am.

I don't know, but there's something about the look on that guy's face that reminds me of a recent Gizmodo review: http://gizmodo.com/5375323/i-had-sex-with-furniture-the-shameful-nsfw-fl....

Submitted by Donald Scerand on January 4, 2010 - 4:39am.

Great speaker set that I was privileged enough to hear first hand. I was also given the opportunity to speak with the inventor of the system briefly, and for what genre of music these are geared for, they are certainly a great medium to listen to.Excellent speakers.

Submitted by Tris T on July 31, 2010 - 9:50pm.

Listened to this myself at the California Audio Show 2010. Everything is true, i'm amazed and I want a pair of this baby.

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