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Clement Perry
Who was it that said this industry needs a new
loudspeaker like a Moose needs a hat rack?
Well seems as if none of these speaker
builders are paying attention. Considering the
photos below, designers such as Gryphon
and Albert Von Schweikert introduced a
balls-to-the-wall design, while only a few
steps down the hall there's the highly
respected ESP Concert Grands back on the audio
scene. Lets not forget the highly talented
designer in Tierry Budge introducing his new
Escalante Design loudspeaker. Seems CES 2004
was the Show of loudspeakers! Well,
here's to another installment to our CES
report and there's still more to come....stay
tuned.
First on my list is the puniest but by no
means the smallest sounding! The name
Ultimate Monitor said more about the size
of this designers ego than his
loudspeaker. Yet, when speaking with
Ultimate's designer Dr. Karl Schuemann,
I got the distinct impression this guys got
both feet firmly on the ground. He simply
believes in his product and I quickly
understood why. A no-nonsense, straightforward
type, Schuemann stated for the record "The Ultimate Monitor was designed for maximum
achievable performance as
a "transducer" in the purest sense:
transforming an electrical wave into
an acoustic wave with minimal distortions in
both the amplitude and time
domains. It achieves this by a "purist"
approach."
The Ultimate Monitor ($12,000) is a 2-way,
time-and-phase coherent, monitor speaker.
The drivers used were chosen very carefully to
allow
extremely high performance, including deep
bass, while not sacrificing
the all-important midrange in any way. Woofers
are dual ScanSpeak 6"
 (15cm) Revelator units, the only drivers in
the world that can meet this
requirement. Tweeter is a ScanSpeak Neodymium
soft-dome, chosen because
it is extraordinarily good and also extremely
small at the same time, thus meeting the
geometry requirements between the 3 drivers. Crossover is
at 4kHz, using a series first-order that
Scheumann says took
literally thousands of hours to bring to its
final iteration. Cabinet is made in two pieces
and the front baffle
is CNC machined from
solid 2" thick aluminum alloy plate. The accessory BOMB modules are based on a
filter known as the
"Linkwitz Transform" and perform an exact
mathematical inverse of the
speakers' natural low-frequency rolloff,
simultaneously substituting a
new rolloff an octave lower but precisely
maintaining the system Q at
0.7. The system -3dB point in
a typical room is 25Hz, while still being able
to deliver RMS average
SPL's of approximately 100dB. I don't know
about all these claims. But this has to be one
of the most cleanest and finest mini-monitors
I've had the pleasure of hearing...especially
under poor show room conditions. The sound was
spectacular. I became immediately excited over
how such a small design could sound so huge
and well, promising. I guess if making this
Ultimate Monitor was heard, wait until he
tries selling it. At $12,000 per pair, I think
they're way overpriced based on their size. In
terms of my short but thorough listening
sessions I would have to state this
loudspeaker is all the manufacturer claims it
is. It sounded like an Ultimate Monitor.
 Flemming
Rasmussen, Gryphon Audio's wizard, proudly
poses next to his newest prototype loudspeaker
design (price about $135,000). The system is a
4-way based on a unique Duelund Constant Phase
X-over. (All drivers are in phase at all times
at all frequencies). It uses 8 x 8” drivers in
each bass column. The bass is driven by a
custom designed Gryphon amplifier capable of
delivering 1000W into a 4 ohm load
(continuously). The amplifiers come with the
unique Q control technology developed for the
Cantata, ensuring a perfect match to the room.
Gain, roll-off and other parameters on the
active bass is controlled by a supplied remote
control. The midbass/midrange/tweeter system
uses 4 x 5" midbasses and 4 x 5” midranges
(from Cantata) plus a Scan speak ring radiator
tweeter in custom designed 3 lbs. housing.
The x over is pre-biased from the active
woofer tower. (Cantata style).
All cabinets have a curved baffle precisely
calculated to ensure REAL time alignment. The
system is designed to be angled towards the
listen in both the horizontal and vertical
plane. The grill is supplied for protection
and is an array of strings; a design first
used by Sonus Faber (but used by Gryphon with
permission of course). All drivers are custom
designed and emphasis had been placed on low Q
and lack of dynamic compression. Special
developed surrounds that matches the curve of
the driver diaphragm are being used and the
fiber glass material is layer dampened. Dust
caps are non-deformable low weight rigid
material. The whole system is a sealed cabinet
design. System response is 16 – 40.000 Hz
within 3 dB depending on Q setting and room
size. The choice a large number of smaller
sized driver units instead of a few larger
drivers, has been made to ensure a faster
response and less “dragging”, thus ensuring a
headroom and precision that is setting new
standards.
The project was stared in 1992 with Mr.
Duelund and Flemming Rasmussen and is finished
by the same group of acoustic engineers that
was behind the award winning Cantata Reference
monitor system that has been claimed to set a
new standard for small speaker performance.
Conceptual and industrial design is as usual
by Flemming E. Rasmussen.
The system is offered in a number of finishes
only limited by imagination and depth of
pocket.
 Allen
Chang of Golden Sound introduced his new line
of loudspeakers in the SP-100 ($12,800).
Standing a very sleek 6 1/2 feet tall, and
weighing in at 136 lbs, and using ten custom
made drivers of varying sizes per side. I
should add, they were quite cohesive sounding
considering so many drivers (20!) per pair.
Add to this home theatre scenario their SUB-100 ($15,000)
which uses eight 8" paper cone per side and
adds an incredible sense of depth to the
music, not to mention impact and dynamic
shadings. All in all, I would have to nominate
this loudspeaker as one of those biggest bang
for the bucks around. Personally, for the
price, I think they're capable of going toe to
toe against most, if not all, loudspeakers
I've heard at the show in the areas of playing
loud and powerfully without falling apart.
Golden Sound also designed a smaller model in
the SP-200 ($6,500) which uses six driver per
side and looks like a great bargain. Amazing
however, is their home theatre center channel
model C-100 ($7,000 shown in background). This is not your typical
"oh lets place it on top of the television"
center channel loudspeakers. This super center
channel transducer uses twelve assorted
driver compliments, again all custom, and weighs a
ridiculous 165 lbs.
TG Audio/CTC Builders designed and
built/modified everything in this photo other
than the speakers-- the Rockport Merak II/Sheritan II
which sell direct for $29,500
The amps are monoblock versions of the
Parasound HCA-3500 with 40% more heatsink,
twice the power supply and were voiced by Bob Crump
(the complete story can be seen on the
www.parasound.com website as Curl,
Thompson and Crump (CTC) had a hand at these
bad boys) Boasting 400 watts and 135 amp,
these monos will "drive the pee out of
anything" shouts Curl. Probably the first time
a high end product has been built by machine
in Taiwan which keeps the pricing at about 1/3
what it would cost to hand build these here.
In addition to the wires being from TG Audio a
prototype transport and DAC was also making
some mighty fine music. The AC was taken care
of by the BybeeSucker line filter which Crump
proudly states he's been making "for about ten
years." The preamp was the CTC Blowtorch,
something that everyone says is the best out
there, but nobody has ever seen or
heard..... (what a conundrum!). "It is a hotrod and the best we can
do in a preamp.....We have sold about 25 to
date is about all in the past five years....."
states crump.
The sound was pretty damn good considering
show conditions and the break-in the speakers
were going through.....Andy Payor (Rockport),
I'm told, finished up the Merak/Sheritans just
before the show so they only had minimum
break-in. That said, the sound was very
impressive sounding. I really liked the sense
of space this room created. It certainly
sounded a lot bigger than the cramped hotel
bedroom it actually was.
At 66 inc hes
tall, 1 inch thick and 33 inches wide and
boasting a 60-inch, custom-made (0.3 mil
thick) ribbon, the Gilmore Audio Model 2
is
said to be one of the few home audio speakers
able to reproduce live-concert sound levels
and dynamics. Four, custom-made, free-air,
long-throw, twelve inch, planar-dynamic-hybrid
woofers move claim to move lots of air. The
panel is made from Corian® and is essentially
non-resonant at audio frequencies. The drivers
is purported to exhibit exceptionally low
distortion. Two models are currently available
while there are many colors to choose from. I
didn't get a chance to hear them as they were
only on static display with the beautiful
model who stood readied for guys like me
snapping photos. I would love the opportunity
to hear such a loudspeaker since my favorite
transducers were always the big open and airy
sounding planars and electrostats. I bet there
isn't too much not to like about the Model 2.
Another great looking planar quasi ribbon was
the Audia Soundlabs loudspeaker ($3,900). I
got to tell you that I was impressed with the
workmanship and price of this otherwise
impressive sounding transducer. If you're on a
budget and want a lot of loudspeaker for your
dollar don't look any further than Audio
Soundlabs. Now only if they get their website
up and start answering their telephone. Keep
an eye on for these (www.audiasoundlabs.com)
Fascinating was the exquisitely designed
Chinese bred loudspeakers from Taiwan by
newcomer Morkai Audio. Their Diamond F1 model
(right) hails as their flagship at a modest
$12,000 (considering its build quality, which
by the way was superb). The model on the left
is the B1 ($5,000) Most unusual features are
their sculptured baffle and steel and acrylic
[patent pending] stand that employs a single
spike that stabilizes the entire loudspeaker. This approach is said to
eliminate virtually all cabinet colorations
and vibrations. Innovative with a slick
design, the only thing I remember is the good
sound coming out of this room. No matter what
I played, or the volume, the sound remained
coherent and easy to listen to. Signs that the
design here is not just makeup. I was
impressed.
Glacier Audio put on one helluva room demo. Tom Compagna, who was the only person present
when I walked in,
proudly showed his Quintessence Stealth SV
($50,000) which employs 9 drivers per side
(15,12 10, 8, 2 X5", 2 X 1" Titanium Tweeter,
1 X 2" Ribbon Super Tweeter) and boasts a
single-ended lovers 94.5 dB of sensitivity.
The 15, & 12" are in a separate sub woofer
enclosure and use a what Compagna
describes as a "Compound Isobaric Alignment."
Specs, however dazzling, means nothing if the
sound doesn't match. The sound of this room
was what I would call my second "Best at Show"
surpassed only by the immensely sophisticated
VR room (and only on the third day at that).
Once you were under the hypnotic spell of the
electronics here which included the MSB Super
CD player and those huge Atma-Sphere mono amps
($28,000 pair), it was Game Over. I couldn't
get out of the room.
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