The "Magnificat" Speaker by Thorsten Loesch Following my now-traditional raiding of Bach musical pieces, I thought I would call these speakers the "Magnificat", arguably not very modest name. (Picture of Thorsten's full system.) These speakers use each a Goodmans Axiom 80 driver and a Goodmans Axiom 201 driver, the Axiom 80 being a low Q, 10 inch full range, and the Axiom 201 being a medium to high Q, 12 inch full range driver. Both have very low resonances at 25Hz and 35 Hz respectively. Both drivers have 15 ohm voice coils and a fairly high sensitivity of > 95dB/2.83V/m. The Axiom 80 is deservedly known as one of the best full range drivers ever. But there are a few little problems with the Axiom 80. Just like Lowthers, the Axiom 80 has a rise in the upper midrange (but unlike Lowthers they have +/-3mm linear excursion and hence work well in vented boxes). This leads to a tipped up, uneven tonal balance. I dealt with this by adding a second woofer, the Goodmans Axiom 201, for good measure. The second woofer has a fairly high Q, higher mass cone and larger diameter, combined with a smaller Xmax and similar sensitivity as the Axiom 80. I use no crossover. I removed the whizzer from the Axiom 201 in order to exploit the natural roll off of the driver. Integration is exceptional. I call this scheme Double Driver Dynamic Loading for Low Q Drivers (DDDLLQD) and is described in detail on Thorsten's website. Both drivers operate in the same, undivided 6 cubic foot enclosure, approx. 40" X 20" X 15" in dimensions. This has a small rear vent tuned nominally to 30Hz, however the box is better seen as very leaky, aperiodic sealed box than as classic bass reflex. The actual box is made from solid pinewood boards, laminated together edge to edge, not from plywood. The box has internal bracing following a principle to divide each board into several smaller resonant panels, having all resonances spread as much as possible according to the golden ratio. All braces are again natural wood (spruce) and are arranged in such a way that all braces are interconnected within the box, so that no brace can move relatively to another, similar to B&W's Matrix principle. Finally, a skin of 4mm hardwood plywood with a decorative surface was applied all around the box, stiffening walls further. All this allows for a box that is fairly light and stiff. The box is still quite resonant, however the sound output from all the panels is very harmonical and integrates very well with the main speaker. it also very quiet. Putting ones ear against the box allows to clearly hear the music, only quieter than the main output from the drivers. There are no obvious "droning" resonances as found so often with MDF cabinetry. In boxes like the one used here, it is essential to deal with the rear wave. The cone (just like Lowthers) is very thin. Deflex or similar measures on the wall behind the driver are de rigueur, or severe colorations will result. One could of course place damping material in the Enclosure, but this will literally "throw away" energy, reducing thus the efficiency of the speaker and often introducing colorations as most absorptive materials absorb different frequencies differently. The classic "egg crate foam" cannot be recommended as it sucks up too much energy and is effective only at much higher frequencies. I made the box interior into a partially anechoic chamber by using loads of eaves filler (for corrugated tin roofing — largest size, sort of "wavy" closed cell foam) arranged in an overlapping pattern. This allows effective dispersion of the rear-wave from a few 100Hz upwards. The low frequency system manages in room to have bass extension to below 35Hz with still significant output at 25Hz, the measured sensitivity is 101dB/2.83V/1m, the nominal impedance would be 7.5 Ohm. In order to extend the already excellent treble of the Axiom 80, I use a C37 modified dual piezo bullet horn from Motorola. This is operated with a simple RC, 1st order crossover with approx. 15kHz crossover frequency. This extends the upper frequency range to beyond 30kHz. The tweeter is slightly audible, primarily as more "air". But if it is switched out, the soundstage literally collapses and surprisingly, the bass loses speed and agility. It is a very dramatic effect for a super tweeter that is almost inaudible on the speaker in mono-mode. Lastly, the speaker is elevated on stands, again made from solid wood in again an open, light but rigid format. For coupling between stand and speaker I use Steinmusic "Magic Pads", the stands couple to the floor via Michell "Tenderfeet" (adjustable aluminum cones). This stand places the driver in a position higher than usual, but which allows the speaker to throw a soundstage that places the instruments and vocalists at realistic highs, avoiding this very often present "looking down onto the soundstage" effect. Despite the very unusual design (several people who design speakers for a living were adamant that this Speaker CANNOT work when I proposed the original idea), the wide baffle, multiple drivers and so on. This speakers throws a wide and deep soundstage, completely free from the boxes. Bass is very deep, fast and precise, with impact but without exaggeration or overhang. Tonality is generally evenhanded, even though some emphasis in the "presence" region remains. The upper midrange and lower treble lacks the smoothness and fine detail of the best ribbons and electrostatic speakers, but otherwise it is very good. DYNAMICS are a major forte of the "Magnificat", from the quietest whisper to crushing crescendos small and large, dynamic nuances are easily portrayed, even from a 2A3 Amplifier. Mahler? Heavy Metal? Drum & Bass Music? These Speakers do it all with aplomb. Purcell's Music for the Musik Society, with spare instrumentation and counter tenor? All the delicacy and nuances you could wish for. In a recent meeting of our local HiFi club, this speaker was listened to after a very good commercial "high-end" speaker costing almost $ 10,000 that I am reviewing at the moment. While the high-end speaker has more sparkle in the treble, overall deeper bass and a more evenhanded balance, it was only slightly so. But when it came to actually making music REAL, it failed rather badly where the "Magnificat" literally soared. Well, enough of proud papa babbling, enough to say that these replace my DIY copies of Wilson Audio's Watt/Puppy and the long time resident Beauhorn Virtuosos with subwoofer and supertweeter (whole > $ 10,000 shooting match on long term loan by Mfg's) and I feel I have the better end of the bargain.... ;-) Time for closing credits. I'd like to thank Jean Michel from France and Thomas Danley (www.servodrive.com) for encouragement to try the "crazy" loading scheme for the bass, Dieter Ennemoser (www.ennemoser.com) for ideas, help, advise and plenty of C37 "Wunderstoff", Martin Morecroft for plenty of DNM cable used as internal wire, Ted Jordan for doing such a great job in the days gone by when he designed the Axiom drivers for Goodmans, Richard Pierre from "down under" who provided info and enclosure details for the Axiom drivers and all others who have helped one way or another. (Older text below) As Eric Thomas needed to borrow the Virtuosos (I have them on permanent loan but they are still his) for leaving them for a few weeks at a dealer for demo's and no other review gear showed up in time (I'm supposed to review the Hoerning Perikles—using a 12" Beyma pro audio woofer with Lowther full-range and a cone tweeter—cost below $ 4,000 and 97db/W/m) and non of my current speaker projects where quite finished (a 10" Fane pro audio coaxial based unit and an open panel using Wharfdale 8" Full Range Drivers) I needed to get my old boxes and the Goodmans Axiom 201 working and fast. So I took the original boxes, replaced the rear panels (many holes for the Briggs style "leaky sealed box" and put 4 mm plywood on front and back for looks and stiffening the box. The original boxes I got them in are 85 Liters, less than half the volume recommended by the factory (200 Liters). I decided nevertheless to simply make the box a 35Hz tuned front ported reflex box. My simulations using "ballpark" Thiele Small parameters seemed to support this choice. The Axiom 201 BTW is a 12" full-range driver designed in the early 1960's by Ted Jordan (or so the story goes). Nominal power is 15 Watts, the frequency range is given as 30Hz-16kHz. The driver has a huge ceramic magnet and a very intelligently made cast frame that presents a minimal "shadow", a lot less for a larger cone than a Lowther. The voice coil is nearly 2" diameter. I installed binding posts and internal wiring based on Category 5 network cable (plenum, solid core) in such a way that cable is actually available as bare wire outside the enclosure and only gets slid into the side hole of the binding post (this tip came from www.tweakaudio.com) thus completely bypassing the binding post as conductor. I also made a pair of low stands from solid pinewood panels and spruce pillars (4" X 4") glued with Evostick Resin W (weatherproof). These raise the Axiom 201 drivers center to slightly below ear level (sound best balanced that way). I then simply played music. And was VERY surprised. I measured the speakers this weekend and here the results. The voltage sensitivity of ONE Speaker in the (damped) enclosure is 96db/2.83V/1m. As the Speaker has 15 Ohm nominal impedance, that translates into 99db/1W/1m. This was measured using pink noise, eliminating any influence from a possible rising treble response on-axis. In room the bass extension is exceptional. The 30Hz-200Hz range (excluding narrow band room-modes) stays within +/-3db!!!! The -6db point is at about 25Hz. The high end slightly off axis extends to about 14khz for -3db. This obviously calls for a supertweeter which I used in the form of the Visaton TL16H. The TL16H is a German made supertweeter that looks a lot like it was made in Japan. It has a 16mm voice coil and a diaphragm made from an aluminum alloy. The magnet is Samarium Cobalt, aka "rare earth". The -6db point of this tweeter is (according to datasheets) 35kHz, way beyond anything I can measure. Sensitivity is 100db/2.83V/1m. I used this with a crossover unit supplied by Southcoast Speakers (www.southcoastspeakers.co.uk) who also supplied the tweeters. The tweeters come with their own little wooden pedestals, so this is a "plug & play" solution. This speaker system with supertweeter sounds exceptional. One of the first recordings I played was a Lysseu Lyre recording of Vivaldi's Gloria in D minor (I think it was D-minor). This is an exceptional recording with amazing voices and strings. These 12" Drivers made an exceptional job out of giving these female voices a body. Violins sounded really like a bow was put to the strings and complete with the resonating body of the instrument. The level of detail presented is incredible. It clearly exceeds the Beauhorn Virtuoso Gold (Lowther PM2C Driver) and the Beauhorn Virtuoso Reference (Lowther DX3 Driver) by a notable degree. The Bass is more than deep enough (this system just LOVES Reggae, Funk and Rap) with no overhang and excellent definition. Funky E-Bass growls and slaps in just the right way, both Kettle drums and Kick drums gain lively dynamics and tone. I'm impressed. These speakers in the bass again exceed the performance of the Virtuoso Gold WITH additional subwoofers. The only downside is a slight hint of boxiness that is absent from the Virtuosos. I'll have to get some seriously large piece of Deflex I'd guess. The soundstaging and soundscaping of this system is again exceptional. It combines the ability of Watt/Puppies to create images far outside the speaker positions (not between the speakers—outside of them) and a deep, very finely layered soundstage. Finally, the top end of the Axiom 201 alone is no match for any Lowther, they clearly exceed it's performance there. Yet as I feel the need for supertweeters even with Lowthers this loss is bearable. By using the lower setting for crossover frequency on the Southcoast Crossover I could match the tweeters perfectly (-6db at about 10kHz), with Lowthers I used the higher crossover point. Anyway, this 19 Quid (Quid—slang for the UK Pound) thrift shop find turned out to really be a REFERENCE CLASS Loudspeaker. And it was designed almost 40 years ago… What has gone wrong since then? Top