I wasn't aware that JBL was offering any Beryllium-diaphragm compression drivers for sale separately. Which model(s)? I googled but couldn't find. Radian offers Beryllium-diaphragm versions of several of their compression drivers. That's what I use, but I don't come close to meeting the "mass market" criterion. |
Pre-built Beryllium diaphragm-equipped speakers are also include these: http://horns.pl/en/speaker-sets/universum-3-way/ The drivers used here are Radian. |
Sorry I misunderstood you, coli. You had said "the driver is available but seems to be mainly used by audio integrators", and I thought you were saying that JBL's Beryllium driver could be purchased and used by another manufacturer. You said that besides JBL, "Nobody else seems to sell speakers with those kind of compression drivers. Such a shame..." I know of at least two US companies that build and sell speakers with Beryllium compression drivers. One is Classic Audio (formerly Classic Audio Reproductions), they've been doing so for many years, before Radian started selling their Beryllium drivers. Mine is the other company, and I've been offering Beryllium diaphragm compression drivers as an option for about a year now. Duke |
I certainly share your enthusiasm for 2-way horn/woofer designs when done well. Such systems tend to be fairly high efficiency, which in turn gives us better dynamic contrast and reduced amplifier requirements. The downside is the larger enclosure required for good bass extension. I don't do active monitors because the relatively high efficiency of a 2-way horn/woofer system gives us the option of making a tube-friendly design, and I think there are more people with tube amps looking for suitable speakers than there are people looking to get away from separate amps and into active speakers. Also, I feel like I can offer better bang-for-the-buck in a passive format. Duke dealer/manufacturer |
I was going to mention Audiokinesis as a manufacturer that uses beryllium compression drivers. I have them in my Audiokinesis Zephrins. They are excellent. My local audio pals who have listened to my system can’t get over how smooth they are especially with horned instruments that typically can be bright as all get out with a compression driver. Duke has a ingenious approach to adjusting the highs within his speakers which also makes it easy to adjust to personal tastes. I don’t pretend to know how it works other than the end user application. Perhaps he can chime in about how it works. I would contact him for more details on what speakers he has available with this option. He is very accessible and a wealth of information. There is absolutely nothing pretentious about him or his accessibility to his customers. I have absolutely no affiliation with Audiokinesis. Just a very satisfied customer. |
