I'm looking to learn about Air Motion Transformer technology


I'm curious about Wharfedale's use of Air Motion Transformers in their new Elysian line.  See http://www.wharfedale.co.uk/elysian4/

I'm admittedly in the dark about this technology even though other manufacturers have used it.  I'm curious about its use, potential benefits, sound signature, etc.
128x128jbhiller
No, I don't need to clutch at the shape of an impedance curve. I clutch at the fact to make an amt, you take ribbon basic design and fold it. I've not argued differences. And once again you turn smart aleck. 
Semantics. IMHO, a ribbon and an AMT are very different. They may both be long and narrow so by some definitions they might be in the same category. They are both part of the light membrane transducer category as are planars and electrostats. Typically, in the audio world, the ribbon membrane is attached to its support structure only at the top and bottom. In AMTs the diaphragm is attached to its support structure at four sides. In this regard they are more like a planar. Some people call long narrow planar drivers ribbons. Some believe that a true ribbon driver uses only one metallic element as the membrane and the composite ribbons are not true ribbons. Others believe both are true ribbons. Features, construction and specs may be shared or be close but AMTs, planars and ribbons are all different.
Mike, Please excuse our old and outdated website. A new one with lots more info is in the works.

We use the Trinnov ST2 to control the AMT towers as well as the woofers. Our systems are designed with full DSP and room correction in mind. All filters and EQ is done by the DSP. The drivers are directly coupled to the amplifiers. The core is our AMT design and its ability to cover an extended range. Our 9 AMT driver Apollo tower can reach 80 Hz and below. Our 12 AMT driver Apollo tower just has more output. We have selected 120 Hz as the default crossover point for a variety of reasons. It can be easily changed through the DSP but we discourage it. Our woofers are designed to be stacked so room height is the limit. With their high sensitivity the Apollos can play to astonishing SPLs but no one should listen to those levels. Where their high SPLs count is with music peaks. Minimal dynamic compression.

Anytime you want to hear them just let us know.
And I would think Arion would know as he makes both types of speakers.
Having owned Apogee Divas I can relate to ribbons. His Analysis Audio speakers are strangely reminiscent of Apogee speakers. Mike, is there any connection to Apogee? I know, Apogee used a quasi ribbon woofer and it appears your speakers are using a design more like Magnepan. Ribbons are not just aluminum foil but aluminum foil traces laminated to a plastic. I think Apogee used very thin Kapton but I am not totally sure. The traces are connected in series which raises the impedance to somewhat reasonable levels. The impedance curve is extremely flat so in realty ribbons are a very easy load for an amp that can tolerate lower impedance's. Magnets run down both sides of the ribbon. A ribbon 6 feet long is very floppy so even though it is firmly connected at it's ends there are usually foam blocks placed at intervals to support the ribbon. You can not tension the ribbon too high or you will damage it. 
The Apogee bass ribbon was very easy to damage so I think the use of a planar magnetic design is smart. It is a much tougher driver. 
Thanx Mike I would love to. You wouldn't happen to have any dealers in New England?
Right now I use a TACT 2.2x for my front end which is more like The Trinnov Amethyst which is an ST2 with a few more inputs and a volume control. The room correction is identical. If my TACT were to fail that is what I would get at this moment in time.
I had a close relationship with Radomir Bozevic the DSP wizard behind  TACT. Do yourself a favor and do not sell anyone the microphone. Have your dealers set up the system, show the customer the basic stuff and remove the Mic. Boz got buried in phone calls. People were getting entirely lost in his program and coming up with inferior results which gave him a bad name aside from driving him crazy. His mistake was that he was direct purchase only and did not have any dealers to rescue the customer.
Anyway, stacking the woofers would be expensive. They would have to go all the way from the floor to the ceiling to create a line source that would go down to 20 Hz and match the output of the towers. You could take 4 subs and spread them across the front wall into the corners and achieve the same results. You have a horizontal line source! I do this with my ESLs with great results. No mater where you are the sound balance remains the same. Now my ESLs will not go as loud as your towers. Right now I use 4 12" subs. I would think 8 10" drivers would do the trick up to reasonable levels. To do  vertical line sources you would have to stack 6 or seven subs on each side? If you were to put them right into corners you might have output to match the towers which is academic really as nobody in their right mind would play it that loud.
Mike