Hammer Dynamics TQWT Single Driver with Super Tweeter by Bill Wilborn I am writing to thank you because your website put me in touch with John Wyckoff. Having constructed a pair of Electronic Tonalities 2A3 amps (called the "Paraglow" in their parallel-feed version), I was considering some sort of efficient single-driver speaker and came upon his remarks about one such driver on your site. I contacted him, we exchanged many emails, and he convinced me that a properly implemented crossover with excellent drivers offered a better option than, say, a Lowther or a Fostex single-driver setup. Having heard one of the best single driver setups (Reps drivers in Lammhorns) I am in a position to say that he is right. In short, I built a folded Voigt pipe on his design—a fairly simple matter for anyone with moderate woodworking skill and a table saw, and mounted the 6" Kevlar driver and ribbon tweeter he supplied, along with the crossover he designed and built. I must tell you that these are among the very finest speakers I have ever heard. These speakers set my amps free. John says they're about 94 dB efficient. The dynamics are startling. (John calls his company Hammer Dynamics.) I was used to the precise but miniaturized imaging of small satellite speakers: John's speakers give a life-sized image, with enormous depth. (I have learned, however, that placement is very critical: movements of a few inches in my room are significant.) I happen to have a pretty massive subwoofer setup, but John's speakers are quite powerful run full-range down to 50 Hz. The bass is fast, tuneful and full of impact. The speakers are revelatory of sonic information of all kinds, which means that some recordings I used to enjoy are now harsh-sounding, whereas good recordings are given their full due. Brass instruments come through with realistic impact. Piano transients, which often clipped on my old speakers, are now clean and wonderfully percussive. The human voice in particular comes through with spooky reality. John apologized for the appearance of the crossovers he sent me, but they are very handsome. (I have them outside the cabinet.) He even instructed me on how to make my own Litz-style speaker wire. John has been wonderful to work with. We've exchanged a number of telephone calls as well as the many emails, and he has been extremely helpful and friendly. I hope to meet him in person some day. (He lives on a mountainside in New Mexico.) John tells me that he is so happy with this particular speaker that he intends to market it as a kit, called the Hammer Dynamics SE 1a. I don't know what price he will be asking, but I am sure it will be a bargain. He's an intelligent, honest and very likeable man who knows music and puts this knowledge to work in designing speakers. Unfortunately I took no pictures of the cabinet in process, but here are a couple of the semi-finished speakers. The interior looks like any folded Voigt pipe but is lined with cement sheeting. (A Voigt pipe is a very tall right-angled triangle seen from the side. A folded Voigt pipe is rectangular: the triangular cross-section is accomplished with an internal baffle.) The construction is simple butt-joint gluing of 3/4" MDF. At present I have the tweeter on an L-shaped bracket isolated from the cabinet top with a Sorbothane puck. John's crossover is for the moment similarly mounted. It's quite handsome to someone who appreciates neat layout. I don't know to what extent John's kit-version will be like mine—that is, to what extent it will be a kit—so am not sure how relevant my experience would be to any future builder. But anyone with a low-powered SE amp will love these speakers. Top