Western Electric is moving in new directions in high-fidelity audio research and taking its manufacturing capabilities to new heights, not only by resuming tube manufacturing but also investing in products that will project the brand into the future. Under the leadership of Charles Whitener, the company is investing in bold new speaker technologies. The first result will be the 777 rAMT Midrange Driver, the first of its kind, elevating the popular Air Motion Transformer (AMT) to perform as a true wide-range driver. The 777 is set to debut at the High End 2022 show in Munich (May 19-22) and is scheduled to be available later in 2022.
The new midrange driver is the continuation of the work of loudspeaker designer and inventor E.J. Christensen, which audioXpress readers know already from its "wide-range, wide-angle, true point-source speaker driver," described in US Patent 9,124,964 (among others), which represented a radical improvement of the well-known Air Motion Transformer (AMT) technology, as originally developed by Dr. Oskar Heil and ESS Labs in the 1970s. That concept was effectively introduced to the market as the ultra high-end AirBlade tweeter, launched in 2018 by British manufacturer Arya Audio Labs.
Christensen has been busy extending its research to more affordable and practical implementations, including to extend the frequency response of its driver to cover the midrange. audioXpress attended a private demonstration of a prototype of that concept at CEDIA 2019, in Denver. The listening session showed already promising potential - the hurdle being obviously the manufacturing challenges to create a product that can be manufactured in quantities with consistency and reliability for the intended target price - depending on the applicable market.
That is an area that Charles Whitener knows well, and that currently Western Electric is ready to tackle, particularly when aiming at a high-quality home audio product segment to match the company's 91E integrated amplifier - as an example. Visitors to the High End show in Munich will be able to see and hear the first results (H4, Room 4) in that direction, with the presentation of the 777 rAMT Midrange Driver. This is a design that E.J. Christensen describes as a "curved-air-motion-transformer" midrange driver.
"In the late 1960s, Dr. Oskar Heil developed AMT loudspeaker driver technology — still widely used to this day — but only in tweeter form. The 777 is the first mid-range driver to apply the technology successfully. Utilizing a newly-patented curved diaphragm shape, it incorporates many benefits and features that make it uniquely suited for high-performance situations that demand power, reliability, and quality. The new Western Electric design is known as the Radial Air Motion Transformer (rAMT)," the company announces in its website.
To demonstrate the vision for an application of the new 777 rAMT Midrange Driver, Western Electric also released a three-way concept speaker, integrating what looks to be an AirBlade tweeter, followed by the new 777 rAMT midrange placed on a cabinet that holds a double vented low frequency section using two large-size woofers. The concept drawing serves to highlight the "curved" nature of both the high-frequency and midrange drivers.
Behind the rugged and stackable 777 rAMT design is a unique magnet and diaphragm assembly that results in a moving surface area nearly twice as large as conventional 10" drivers, according to Western Electric. "The 777 achieves high output, high efficiency, and low distortion at high power levels. Across a range of listening environments, its proprietary design allows for the complete absence of cone-breakup and superb off-axis behavior at all frequencies," they state.
"Western Electric developed the first wide range loudspeaker systems a hundred years ago," adds Charles Whitener. He adds, “Sound reproduction has changed dramatically since then, but the core technology behind it has remained much the same. The triple-seven is a true step forward that returns Western to its roots in innovation. We trust it will serve the growing high-end, home audio, and pro-sound markets.”
Western Electric confirms that the 777 Midrange Driver is ready to enter production and will be released later this year. More background about the driver and request for more information is available by visiting: https://www.westernelectric.com/777
www.westernelectric.com
