I initially sat in first row center of this room, but then CEO Oliver Göbel urged me to move a row back, where the sound was ideally coherent. We began with Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin, and Paco de Lucia’s “Mediterranean Sunday / Rio Ancho” from the LP, Friday Night in San Francisco and moved on to an LP of the Bizet/Shchedrin Carmen Ballet Suite. In all cases, the system did an excellent job of conveying air around instruments and reverberation in the recording venue. It scored a 10 for its ability to convey large images with weight and authority. Perhaps due to all the room treatment, the sound was midrange-strong.
After telling me that Göbel (the company) now has distribution in the US and is looking for potential dealers, Göbel (the man) explained that the company’s Divin Noblesse loudspeaker (€164,000/pair) stands in the middle of the Divin line. Boasting a sensitivity of 95dB, the Divin Noblesse is based on bending wave technology. A single driver conveys 160Hz-32kHz with separate bass drivers handling lower frequencies. [Editor's note: CEO Oliver Göbel has informed us that there was a misunderstanding in this intervicew. The Divin Noblesse incorporates bending wave technology in its midrange driver, which crosses over from the bass drivers at 140Hz and then crosses over to the AMT tweeter at 1600Hz. The specifications listed above refer to a different line of speakers, the Epoque, which have no tweeter.]]
Of eye candy, this room had an abundance. Dominating the front of the room, between the speakers, sat the Engström Eric power amplifiers (€120,000/pair). On side racks a sizeable distance away sat Engström’s Monica preamp (€40,000), along with three pieces from Wadax—the Atlantis DAC ($69,000), Atlantic Transport ($45,000), and Atlantis Server ($19,500).
Keeping them company were Kronos’ Pro Turntable ($42,000), Black Beauty tonearm ($9400), SCPS Power Supply ($15,000), and Kronos Reference Phono preamp ($45,000). Cartridge was the Zyx Universe3 ($9000). Everything was held together and powered by Göbel High End Lacorde Statement cabling, whose prices include €12,500 for a pair of 2m speaker cables, and Göbel Lacorde Ethernet and USB cables.
COMMENTS
My first experience with MTM was stacked Advents in perhaps the late 60s. Not true MTM, but venturing such!
I’m trying to recall the first MTM Hi Fi speaker, but can’t!
These seem to have squeezed every last drop out of the concept.
160 Hz and up is amazing.
Imagine two pair, back to back!
... in the early 1980’s, during a less than riveting Masters program course.
I have the notebook in my attic to prove it - if the squirrels haven’t gotten to it.
May be D'Appolito stole it :-) .........
I was reading Joe's articles/papers in "Speaker Builder/Audio Amateur" at that time, when they were first published. My post was induced by the FACT that the design(s) I doodled looked very much like the big Gobels.
BTW: I cringe when I see various and sundry MTM configured speakers designated as "D'Apollito" when very few actually are such.
Wikipedia has info about MTM speaker configuration ......... Wikipedia says D'Appolito was the first who perfected it to prevent 'lobing' :-) ..........
Dynaudio Confidence speaker models also use MTM driver configuration :-) .........
Several others including KEF use MTM configuration in some of their models :-) ........
MTM is rampant!
I still can't recall the first commercial ones.
Hard to see from the pic, or their web site, but the Divin line looks based on AMT tweeters, I wonder if he meant to say the Epoque line usues bending wave transducers?
It is indeed an AMT tweeter. The bending wave driver is the midrange. The crossover is at 1600Hz. Apparently a misunderstanding. Thanks for pointing out the error.
Jim Austin, Editor
Stereophile
Manger Audio also makes a transducer that they say goes down to 300-400Hz ......... not 160Hz :-) .........
Of course, electrostatics and planar magnetic speakers can go lower than 160Hz :-) ..........
All sorts of ways to get the job done.
Ohm Walsh speakers? ......... Stereophile did a review of one of their models :-) ........
Planar speakers can produce very low frequencies, but there are caveats.
* Since they are planar and low frequencies are omni-directional, low frequencies coming from the back of the plan can cancel what's coming out of the front.
* Most planar speakers have limited traversal. In the case of electrostatics, low frequencies need to push a lot of air and the membranes can collide with the stators at higher volumes.
That said, planars are very accurate and have extremely high transient abilities. My own speakers are a custom electrostatic-transmission line hybrid. The transmission line is used to produce clean bass to offset the above issues. Full-range electrostatics that can deal with low frequencies must have a large membrane area. When they can do it they are something special. I bottomed out the membranes of a pair of SoundLab full range electrostatics while playing a vinyl pressing of ELP's Lucky Man. Other than that, it was an enchanting listen.
True ....... Electrostatic speakers are time coincident ....... ie. they can launch all frequencies at the same time, hence they arrive at the listener at the same time ...... That is what happens in real life ......... So, they can sound very realistic ......... See Stereophile review and measurements of Quad ESL 2912 ........ Dynamic speakers can also be engineered to be time coincident, if DSP is used ....... See Stereophile review and measurements of KEF LSX :-) .........
Time coincidence is a great feature. I've designed many speakers over my life. I played with time alignment and phase alignment. The latter shows a the real benefit of planer speakers. All crossovers introduce phase shifts. One of the most interesting crossover designs I saw came from B&O. In a typical passive crossover, the phase shift at a crossover point would naturally be 180 degrees inverted. To compensate they invert the connections of one of the speakers. Unfortunately this means that the mid-band of the inverted speaker is now 180 degrees off. In the B&O design they don't invert the speaker phase. Instead they added filler speakers at the crossover points. It did add the complexity of an additional speaker at each crossover point.
Many Vandersteen and Thiel passive dynamic speaker designs are time-coincident ........ There are several Stereophile reviews of those speakers :-) ..........
As I wrote in a response above--writing it here, too, to make sure everyone sees it--the midrange driver is the bending-wave driver. The tweeter is AMT. The crossover frequency is 1600Hz. Apparently a misunderstanding.
Jim Austin, Editor
Stereophile
The bending wave driver is not just mid range driver ........ The Gobel speaker website says it covers from 170Hz to 31KHz ....... So, it covers treble frequencies also ....... Gobel uses it for their Epoque line of speakers ....... Those speakers also look different ........ You can check Gobel website :-) ........
It is actually a dynamic driver(s) which uses their 'bending wave technology' according to Gobel website ....... The model shown has an AMT tweeter, with crossover at 1600Hz :-) ........
I think there was a miscommunication. Not only do they look like AMT tweeters to me, but you can read it on their website:
http://www.goebel-highend.de/products/divin-noblesse.html
where it states:
"For the impeccable high tone reproduction in the Divin Noblesse we are using the best AMT tweeter technology available ..."
Would truly love to see some technical info on just how far DOWN that driver’s response is @ 160Hz.
If these are the models I am thinking of, they are very very good AMT's, but nothing magical about their response. They are usually recommended to cross over around 1-2kHz. Well above 160!
It seems to me that between JVS and JA that somebody ought to be able to get this right. The speaker pictured is obviously a three way with conventional woofers, what appear to be conventional dynamic cone driver mids and an AMT tweeter. So, pray tell, where is this bending wave driver technology mid range you guys keep alluding to? I don't see anything that looks like any kind of bending wave driver I've ever seen.
Check out Gobel website ....... Although the Gobel Noblesse uses dynamic cone drivers for the midrange, Gobel says, they use their 'bending wave technology' for those drivers :-) .........
First of all many thanks for your article Jason. I really appreciate it and it was great getting to know you in person.
There happened a misunderstanding regarding our bending wave technology and drivers.
We have two totally different lines of loudspeakers:
1.) The Epoque Aeon line, where all loudspeakers are using our proprietary and patented bending wave driver, which covers the frequency range from around 160 Hz till 31.000 Hz with this one driver. The loudspeakers out of this line have a sensitivity of 86 dB / 1W / 1m.
2.) The Divin line, where all loudspeakers are using more conventional technologies on the first sight (piston drivers for the midrange and woofers, AMT drivers for the tweeters). This Divin line is a very high sensitivity line, to also address connoisseurs who prefer low wattage amps (for example single ended tube amps) and also bigger listening distances. Beside other specialities we also use a lot of our bending wave technologies for the Divin line, especially for the midrange driver in order to control and prevent cone break up modes and to bring the time and phase behavior to perfection. The crossover frequencies for example for the Divin Noblesse are 140 Hz / 1.600 Hz.
I hope I could help to clear things up.
All the best,
Oliver Göbel
for responding to my email request for clarification.
I hope that readers of these blogs will indulge me as I explain what it's like to cover a show as busy as Munich's. I don't like to disturb other listeners by carrying on conversations with exhibitors in the room, so conversations often take place in the hallway, when I sit on the floor so I can take notes on a hard surface while praying that someone doesn't step on me. On Saturday, halls were so crowded that sitting on the floor was out of the question for a good part of the time. Plus, some exhibitors were not physically capable of sitting down with me and spoke to me from on high. There was a lot going on, and I was not looking at the equipment I was taking notes on while we spoke. Oliver did speak to me outside, but I'm afraid that I wasn't clear about what speaker models he was describing.
Some exhibitors excel at preparing equipment lists for press—some even supply them pre-show—but many exhibitors fail to make equipment lists. They send them to us afterwards, sometimes with pricing and model number errors. Either that, or they scribble down something on a piece of paper or the back of a business card or in my notebook (which leaves me incapable of taking notes while they're scribbling). Sometimes we're not even aware of everything we're hearing when we're in a room, and thus don't catch omissions. We ask, of course, but if the exhibitor is alone running the music, clear and thorough communication is difficult. And when we do receive lists, or exhibitors scribble them down , they write things like XL25 without identifying what XL25 is. Plus, they often leave out the power conditioning or racks or supports etc. that they're using.
I love covering shows, and do whatever I can in the time available to me to write up rooms without errors. Nonetheless, sometimes I err, as I certainly did with this room. For which I apologize.
How about carrying a portable recorder of some kind, where the exhibitors can speak and transcribe later ....... just a suggestion :-) .........
I did this once at the CA Audio Show. I won't say his name, but one very important designer saw the recorder and went on for 20 minutes. (In addition, some people, when they know they're being recorded, stop talking as they normally would, and instead speak in very stilted, formal prose, using far more words than necessary.) Plus, once you record, you have to take the extra time to transcribe. Not practical at all in a show setting.
Europeans may keep it 'pithy' :-) ........
Or .. if the recorder is MQA capable, you could reduce the file size during recording and unfold and render at a later time ....... Just kidding :-) .........
If you want to see/hear pregnant pauses, watch the Analog Planet videos when Mike Fremer asks people what the price of the gear is!
They answer like school boys facing the schoolmaster!
"The price?....the price, you say....well.....errrrrm...the price......the price.....will be....let me think....uh....the price...is, I think....
.....................7500 Euros?"
It almost always ends as an interrogative vocal inflection.
(I know it's embarrassment.)
By the way, I love that you write your reports. fabulous.
Asking the exhibitors to sit down on the floor may be asking them too much ....... May be carrying around portable folding chairs, is a good idea :-) .........
Exhibitors displaying million dollar mega systems deserve some respect :-) .........
Good thing JVS was not carrying a video camera or a voice recorder, while you know who was 'crying un-controllably' ....... He spared us all of that :-) .........
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