For decades, Peter Lyngdorf’s companies have been pioneers in their respective fields in the audio industry. HiFi Klubben stands as Europe's largest hi-fi retailer with operations in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, The Netherlands, and Germany. Nordic Hi-Fi is a direct-to-consumer retail operation that was spun-off from HiFi Klubben to manage separate brands - Argon, Vestlyd, Noon Audio, and now Radian Acoustics. Peter Lyngdorf is obviously also the founder of DALI (Danish Audiophile Loudspeaker Industries), created in 1983; Lyngdorf Audio, created in 2005; later followed by Steinway Lyngdorf (SL Audio A/S). Peter Lyngdorf's holding company today consist of multiple development facilities and factories in Denmark and China and over 1,000 employees.
Most recently, Peter Lyngdorf has joined with Lars Risbo and Bruno Putzeys in 2014 to form Purifi Audio, based in Roskilde, Denmark, together with some of the brightest minds and patent holders in loudspeaker driver design and audio amplification. Purifi's contribution in these fields are already making a difference in the high end market segment: starting with the cutting-edge Eigentakt amplifier technology, and more recently with the ultra low distortion Purifi drivers, at the time of writing including 10" and 8" low-frequency drivers, multiple midbass and extended midrange woofers, and soon to be followed by a dome tweeter.
According to Henrik Reinholdtsen, the CEO of Nordic Hi-Fi, the merits of the Purifi transducers shouldn't be limited to very expensive high-end audio equipment or complex DIY projects, "conflicting with Peter Lyngdorf’s vision of making quality hi-fi accessible to everyone." And Radiant Acoustics was founded to address this, starting by designing a new compact loudspeaker at an affordable price, exploring all the recognized potential of the Purifi drivers.
The result was now announced and Radiant Acoustics is already promoting its first product, the Clarity 6.2 passive speaker. A compact speaker at an accessible price point for hifi, featuring a cabinet that was designed by Peter Lyngdorf in its own workshop, and fitted with Purifi drivers selected by Lars Risbo. The selection includes a 6.5" long-stroke, extended frequency extension woofer (PTT6.5X04-NLA-10 - part of the series that Purifi recently started to call "Ushindi"), matched with two 6.5" passive radiators (PTT6.5PR-NL2-02) to improve the bass extension of the compact speakers.
And probably the most unique aspect of the Clarity 6.2 design was the use of a custom-designed, high-output Air Motion Transformer (AMT) tweeter, crafted for Radiant Acoustics by DALI. The response of the AMT was taken to another level by a custom waveguide with five aluminum "fins" to control dispersion and directivity. As Lars Risbo explains, typically, pairing an AMT tweeter with a mid/woofer requires the woofer to operate at higher frequencies to match the AMT at the crossover point (around 2400Hz). This can cause the woofer to become very directional, or “beamy”, at higher frequencies, while the AMT has a much wider dispersion, leading to a discontinuity in the sound. The waveguide effectively narrows the AMT’s directivity to align with the woofer at the crossover region, creating a seamless and smooth transition between the two. Additionally, the shape of the waveguide restricts vertical dispersion, minimizing unwanted reflections from the ceiling and floor.
The crossover in the Clarity 6.2 speakers have been designed by independent consultant and former Bang & Olufsen engineer Jens Schönemann-Paul, selecting only high-end, iron-free components, and optimizing even more the synergy between the woofer, tweeter, and passive radiators. Further aspects of the design include a CNC machined aluminum front baffle, bonded to the 21mm MDF front of the cabinet conceptualized in Peter Lyngdorf's personal wood shop. Internally, the cabinet is dampened with Basotect — a flexible, open-cell foam made from melamine resin, renowned for its excellent sound absorption properties.
"When professionals hear these speakers, they defy expectations", says Peter Lyngdorf. "You see the woofer moving and expect distortion, but with the Clarity 6.2, even at high volumes, the sound remains crystal clear. No distortion, no interference — just pure, dynamic sound, from the delicate tones of a female voice to the deep resonance of a bass guitar."
Assembled and tested in Denmark to ensure top quality in every unit, the Clarity 6.2 speakers are priced at EUR €1999 each, or €3998 per pair (which should equate to $4,200 in USD, without taxes), and are available in 3 colors: Black, white and walnut.
www.hifiklubben.dk
www.nordichifi.com
www.radiantacoustics.com
