Single driver speakers for the best clarity
A full musical experience without a subwoofer
Custom built for your system and decor
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Late Revisions:
5/21/08
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Single driver speakers have a unique sound. That sound comes from a lack of a conventional crossover. In a two-way speaker, the acoustic phase of each driver rotates in opposite directions around the crossover point. While the combined phase may be correct at the crossover point, away from that point, the phase will be constantly changing. Again, with a normal two-way speaker, the crossover point is usually in the 1500-2000Hz range, which is smack in the middle of the frequency band where humans are most sensitive to phase changes. By not having a crossover and the attendant phase problems, a single driver speaker sounds much more natural.
A good single driver speaker is more articulate and detailed in the bass and midrange that a multi-way speaker. Because the driver in a singe driver speaker must work up to 10kHz and beyond, the cone is much lighter than the cone of a comparably sized driver in a multi-way speaker that be crossed out by 2kHz. Less cone mass means faster response to the electrical signal and better transient response. The lighter cones also promote higher efficiency. While my speakers don't qualify as "high-efficiency", all except the FTA-2000 are rated at 92dB/w/m or better, making them good matches to all but the smallest tube amplifiers. (Don't worry, they work great with high-powered solid-state amplifiers too.
You can't fool Mother Nature. ANY tall, thin ported speaker is a quarter-wave resonator. Ever since the beginnings of hi-fi, designers have been building floor-standing speakers with ports thinking that they were designing bass reflex speakers and then scratching their heads trying to figure out why they were getting spiky bass response. The answer is simple. The dominant resonance is not cavity resonance (Helmholtz) but quarter-wave resonance. Understanding this, it is relatively easy to get a smooth bass output without peaks or boominess.
Using the full potential of quarter-wave resonance, it is possible to get seemingly impossibly low bass with relatively small drivers. The 6" and 8" drivers I use can easily produce bass notes below 40Hz. This means that for acoustic music and electronic music based on a 4-string bass guitar, no subwoofer is necessary. Of course, for 5- or 6-string bass guitars or serious organ music, a sub will help a lot.
I specialize in speakers that use the Lowther and Fostex drivers. I offer ready to play speakers in furniture grade cabinets. These speakers will be custom built to your specifications. You pick the veneer species and the stain that will go best with your decor. While most customers select the oak or mahogany veneer, I will use anything that I can get. You will be asked to pay my cost difference between the "standard" veneer and your chosen premium veneer. The same polity applies to the electrical components. I use the standard offering of Parts Express or Madisound, but I will install any premium parts you request for only the cost difference of the parts.
For the DIY'er, I offer plans for all of my commercial speakers. I offer flat packs for those who cannot cut up a sheet of plywood on their own. I also offer raw plywood cabinets ready to finish. I will no longer offer assembled, unfinished cabinets.
My pricing is unusually low for the quality of the parts and construction I use. This is primarily due to the small size of my operation. I have very little overhead. My shop is part of my house, and I make no effort to recover any part of that cost either by adding it to the price or recovering it from income tax. The cost of the product is figured on the price of materials and what I dare charge for my time.
Basically, I pass the cost of materials directly to you. I go the a lumber yard and buy plywood, other wood products and fasteners for each order. Because of my limited volume, I don't get any big breaks on the costs of materials. The same applies to drivers and electronics. I can't justify stocking a skid of drivers, so I don't get a break on pricing. This is the main reason that I don't offer parts kits. By the time you pay for shipping twice, it is cheaper for you to buy directly from the supplier. The bright side of this is that I can offer upgraded parts or special finishes for each and every pair of speakers. I am not selling you product that I have in stock.
The largest part of the price of my products is labor. Woodworking in general and finishing in particular is very labor intensive. I have a set dollar amount I try to net on each set of speakers. If you add up the cost of parts, you can probably deduce what the amount is, but I'll keep that to myself for now. Ask yourself what your time is worth and then figure how long it would take you to build a set of speakers with a furniture grade finish. I think that you will find my speakers are a bargain
NOTE: I am leaving the following paragraph in until all of the pricing reflect the cost of shipping included --
Shipping is a necessary evil. Few will be able to pick up their speakers at the factory, and shipping is expensive. As of this moment, it will cost $150-175 to ship a pair of large speakers to either coast. Unless other arrangements are made, I ship by UPS. The small speakers are insured for full value, and the large speakers are insured for $1000 each or actual value, whichever is larger. I have had good luck extracting settlements from UPS in the few cases where shipping damage occurred.
NOTE: This will be the new paragraph substituted for the above --
Shipping is included in the base price of your speakers. Unless we negotiate something different, shipping will be by UPS Ground. The FB-16 and FB-20, at 40 lb or less do not seem to have any problems in the UPS system. To help assure save passage of the larger floor-standers, I insure each speaker, not the pair, for $1000. This "high-value" flag has worked well. All speakers are wrapped in 2" of polystyrene beadboard and a masonite "crash pad" added to the bottom.
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Unless noted otherwise, all text, pictures and drawings belong to me and are protected by U.S. and international copyright laws. You may quote or copy anything you want for non-commercial, private use, provided that proper citations are made. You may use plans found here to build speakers for your own personal use. You may not use information found here for any commercial use unless you obtain permission from me. Many of the designs presented here contain proprietary technology that is licensed to me by Martin J. King. If you wish to use one of these designs for commercial use, you must first obtain a license. Contact me for a license agreement.
