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CW,
Can you provide me with an update on the small feild coils from Japan that you reported sometime back?
VJ
Follow Ups:
This query prompted a separate post, linked below.
I have been exposed to two very different Japanese field coil loudspeaker systems recently. One category is that of the field coil fullranges made by Feastrex, and the other is that of the 38cm field coil coaxial speakers, 38cm woofers, and massive compression driver horns made by SRCC under their revival of the old "Maxonic" brand. Although they go in very different directions, both of these companies' products are incredibly good.If you're not acclimatized, you'd better bring along an oxygen supply, because the way these guys pursue the Muses up Parnassus, it turns into an assault on Mt. Everest. That's especially true of SRCC's Maxonic line, which includes not only loudspeakers but also electronic equipment, some of it built around devices of their own development, such as their SIT transistor. If you want an idea of the sorts of extremes SRCC goes to, their passive preamp, which is essentially just a glorified transformer volume control, weighs 15kg. Most of that weight is in the transformers. And talk about painstaking attention to detail! You know how some people go to tremendous lengths to build speaker cables and interconnects -- well, imagine someone taking a similarly painstaking approach to every single wire connected up inside this TVC -- and that volume has got a lot of fine steps in it. Somebody has literally slaved over the design and building of every one of those products. It's all a labor of love, the love of a development team with a passionate obsession with their work. SRCC has deep pockets, apparently, and it is obvious that a lot of money is being lavished on the revival of Maxonic. I spoke with the head of development and he joked about worrying that the ghost of the late president of the old Maxonic would come back to haunt him if he used the legendary Maxonic name without producing products that not only matched but actually surpassed those of the old company. And I think they are going to succeed in that goal. A few people have been asking me to give an extended report on their products, but I have had to keep them waiting for quite a few months now. Part of the reason is, the pricing of these products is not at all clear yet. I want to wait until they are close to being able to release products to the market and have an idea of what they plan to charge. It is a safe bet that these are going to be in the "if you have to ask, you can't afford it" category.
Here is a press release from SRCC in Japanese; it includes images of some of the products:
http://www.srcc.co.jp/pressrelease/SRCCpressrelease20061101_1.htmThe box with two dials beneath the speaker is the field coil power supply.
Once upon a time I was an owner of some of the original Maxonic speakers, so I have an especial affinity for this product line. However, I know that I'll never be able to afford the new line of Maxonic speakers, and even if I could, I would never be able to find room for them in my tiny Japanese house. In fact, I got rid of my old Maxonic speakers at the request of my then-fiance, and seven children later I doubt she would be any more likely to welcome a return of the Maxonics to our living room. From her perspective, those are the kinds of speakers that you can buy for yourself if you are single. I would say, "single or blessed to own ahouse with a large room that you can dedicate to audio, or have a spouse who shares your enthusiasm for industrial-strength audio."
Eventually, when the time is right, I look forward to doing an extensive report on this product line.
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The Feastrex field coil fullranges, as I said, are going off in a much different direction. At the present time they are special-order items and Feastrex is concentrating on their permanent magnet drivers, especially their entry-level D5nf. I believe Feastrex will eventually resume devoting more attention to the field coil drivers simply because they do offer performance advantages. It has been a long time since I have heard them, but I am told, and I have every reason to believe, that the same sorts of improvements implemented for the permanent magnet drivers have also been implemented for the field coil versions. I would really like to hear the latest implementations of these drivers, but Feastrex never brings them to Tokyo. The improvement in the permanent magnet versions in the past year is so great that the field coil units must be "right off the chart." The earlier versions of the field coil drivers were so good, I find them to be scary at multiple levels. They scare me because I could actually buy them and use them in my living room, and if somebody doesn't stop me I just might. Why is that scary? -- Because they are not cheap. (Although they are a lot cheaper than a Maxonic field coil loudspeaker would cost.) A married guy has to be scared of a speaker that makes him want to undertake an expensive purchase that would be bad for his marital harmony. If it wasn't for the price, my wife would love them too, I'm sure. So on the day that I win the lottery or my aunt Gertrude dies and leaves me a large chunk of money, I'm going to call Feastrex and place an order for a pair of their field coil units. Until then, these will be the speakers that leave me with feelings of frustrated desire more than any others.
Another way these things scare me is with their freaky-real sound: their high resolution, excellent transient response, and extreme high fidelity. Did you ever have an experience where you were thinking to yourself, "I can't believe I'm able to suspend disbelief to such an amazing degree"? Such an experience is not necessarily entirely pleasant. It can also "give you the creeps." When you get into that realm, things start to happen in your mind that you don't experience with lesser speakers, and I think it takes some getting used to. It might create some misunderstanding to say it's like being on drugs, but it is definitely a mind-altering experience in its own right. I'm not all that familiar with a huge variety of speakers, but in my life I had such an experience with these fullranges, with the above Maxonics, and also with another field coil system, the Cogent True-to-Life Loudspeakers known to regular readers of this forum. And although the other two horn-based systems have certain attributes in which they surpass the Feastrex fullranges, overall I think the single-driver solution has a LOT to recommend it.I could never own either of the others, but the Feastrex speakers are not an unthinkable purchase. And that brings me to the final way in which these things scare me: if I had a pair in my house, I doubt anyone would ever get any work done! Seriously. We'd just sit around all day "blissed out", listening to music. These speakers could ruin my life, and I'd be so happy that I never noticed. :-D
Seriously, although some of the above is tongue-in-cheek, the single most outstanding thing about these fullranges with their extremely powerful field coil motors is their "goosebump factor" -- a presentation so realistic that until you get used to it, it can be almost disturbing. After one gets over that part of it, however, the main feeling is one of great joy at just being dropped into this vast ocean of beautiful sound.
I distinctly remember being depressed for a few days after listening to those field coil units, because the "mere mortal" fullrange drivers in my personal system sounded almost dead by comparison. (After a few days I was able to shake off the experience and get back to enjoying my personal system once again.)
By the way, you may be aware that Dick Olsher said that the permanent magnet D5nf is the best 5-inch fullrange available; when I mentioned that to a Japanese fan of the Feastrex drivers who owns several models, he laughed and said, "He only says that because he still hasn't heard the D5 or the D5e! My D5e [field coil unit] is head and shoulders above the D5nf."
Well, those are my very subjective comments . . . I hope they were of some help!
Chris
Hi Christopher:Thanks for the interesting report. On the Maxonic press release, they mention the price of the amplifier as 150 man-yen, and the speaker as 175 man-yen/one. That's about $13,000 for the amp and $30,000 for the pair of speakers. Are they going to jack up the price quite a bit higher? The price they mention is not exactly in the "if you have to ask, you can't afford it" category.
I hadn't noticed the reference to prices for the SRCC products because I hadn't read the press release carefully. (Mea culpa!)One the one hand, since they mentioned the prices in the press release, it seems to make sense that those are in fact the real prices. On the other hand, I have been asking one of their employees to give me price information ASAP and he keeps telling me they haven't made a final decision yet. So either he's wrong or the press release on their website is wrong.
What constitutes "if you have to ask, you can't afford it" is rather subjective, varying from person to person. In my case, $30,000 for a pair of speakers is definitely in that category, but for many other people, I suppose it's not. And I am well aware that there are loudspeakers being sold for MUCH more than $30,000 . . .
How about these
I have never heard these other units. They sure look like a lot of fun. I have no idea how they sound, but I would be inclined against using them in an array, due to comb effects. As far as quality of construction goes, they appear to be adequate but they are clearly not on the maniac level of going overboard for quality that we see in the SRCC or Feastrex field coil drivers. On the plus side, they are a lot cheaper, and if one simply wanted to have the experience of playing with an unusual field coil speaker, these would be good candidates. Wish I could give you more info . . .
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