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Critic's Corner Discuss a review. Provide constructive feedback. Talk to the industry. |
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Critic's Corner Discuss a review. Provide constructive feedback. Talk to the industry. |
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In Reply to: RE: How's this then? posted by PAR on December 16, 2016 at 04:15:03:
That speaker in the Silbatone exhibit is a second generation WE system called the Mirrophonic Model 2 from 1934. This one is based on the 594A driver rather than the earlier 555 driver which the A23 speaker uses in replica form.Mirrophonic systems are the direct ancestor of Altec VOT systems. Horn or "lens" front-loaded, open baffle 18" field coil woofers, multicellular horns, with 300hz crossovers typical.
In general, the earlier WE 555 driver was used in wide range horns from 80-6kc without any crossover. Such horns include the 12A/13A, 16A, and the iconic 15A, none of which are tiny.
The A23 implementation is an attempt to fashion a domestically acceptable package based on the copy 555 driver and, as such, foregoes the wide response capability of the driver to meet packaging requirements.
YouTube vids exist of each of the above-mentioned wide-range horns demonstrated at the Munich show as an ongoing educational outreach program of Silbatone. We take an ancient WE system every year as a reality check on the latest high-end efforts.
Keith Aschenbrenner of Auditorium 23 is a perennial visitor to our WE demos. He is a very knowledgeable guy and well-known super maniac, so the reviewed speaker comes from somebody who knows and understands the historical territory quite well.
I do not get the impression that JA or Art are WE specialists, but they are doing a lot better than the TAS writer who reported on our CES exhibit as a "Westinghouse" horn speaker then went on to write the chapter in the TAS speaker book about Western Electric...or so I am told, having never actually seen the volume in question. I am afraid to look!
I can't speak to the relative quality of the Line Magnetic reproductions or the A23 implementations, but the WE original theater systems and especially that Mirrophonic M2 system are among the very best speakers I ever heard.
This is a totally different class of gear from high end consumer stuff. Engineered and built to an exceedingly high standard that stands today, despite the fact that these artifacts date from the stone age of electrical reproduction. The 555 driver is 90 year old technology!
Sadly, the Mirrophonic M2 is for a 3000 seat theater and will not fit through the door in most homes, including mine...but when properly set up, it is the best loudspeaker system I know.
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Edits: 12/17/16
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Follow Ups
- RE: How's this then? - Joe Roberts 19:54:26 12/17/16 (0)
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