Expand Your Horizons in Speakers with Voice Coil September 2020

This is certainly a very heterogeneous edition of Voice Coil. It features a special report about manufacturing in Vietnam, complete with a directory and a list of trade shows. Igor Levitsky returns to offer valuable details about the latest Radian Audio Engineering LT2/LT6 Ribbon Planar transducers. James Croft reviews a "Venting System for Vehicle Speaker Assembly patent," recently granted to Harman. And, Vance Dickason characterizes the ND45 1" compression driver from Oberton, and the TW29TXN-B-4 TeXtreme diaphragm tweeter from SB Acoustics' Satori line. Voice Coil September 2020 is now available online and in print.

In this Test Bench we will be looking at the 29 mm TW29DN-B cloth dome tweeter from the SB Acoustics Satori line of high-end devices. This new TW29DN-B-8 SB Satori tweeter is a wide surround format-type similar to the original Vifa DX tweeter, or the current Scan-Speak D2604 or D2607. However, all of these are 26 mm diaphragm tweeters, and the new Satori ST29DN-B-8 is a 29 mm diaphragm type. This article was published in Voice Coil, March 2019.

Salk Signature Sound announced the introduction of its SS9.5 high fidelity loudspeakers, auditioned for the first time at the AXPONA 2019 hi-fi show in Chicago. Incorporating SB Acoustics Satori drivers and other top shelf components, the newest addition to the company's product line is an affordable, high performance 3-way acoustic suspension loudspeaker design that improves fidelity with linear phase response, lower distortion and wider bandwidth, extending the bottom octave.

Voice Coil March 2019 is now available and this issue focuses on the vital, but seldom addressed, topic of loudspeaker enclosure materials. Mike Klasco reviews and looks ahead at all the materials and design approaches for loudspeaker enclosures, and the edition also includes a complete directory for sourcing vendors in this area. James Croft reviews a Coaxial Centerbody Point-Source (CCPS) Horn Speaker System patent, and Vance Dickason characterizes three new tweeters on Test Bench.

In this review, Oliver A. Masciarotte shares his experience with the surprising SB Acoustics Rinjani and Ara speaker kits, which feature the high-end Satori TW29R Tweeter, the MW16P-4, and the MW16P-8 midwoofers from the brand. Masciarotte had the opportunity to live for some weeks with these exquisite Rinjani speakers - a name inspired by the famous volcano mountain in Lombok, Indonesia, a place of immense natural beauty. This article was originally published in audioXpress, September 2017.

In May 2016, following the Munich High End show, audioXpress published a short article preview of SB Acoustics' highly anticipated new drivers, including the brand's flagship TW29BN high-end beryllium dome tweeter, part of its Satori top performing range. The new drivers, also included new midrange and midwoofer drivers using new proprietary cones made with Egyptian papyrus fibers, available in 5" to 9.5" sizes. Thomas Perazella, an esteemed frequent contributor to audioXpress, had an idea for a new speaker project using those drivers!

For this Test Bench, SB Acoustics sent its new high-end Satori line neodymium 29 mm beryllium dome tweeter, the TW29BN. Features include a 29 mm wide surround beryllium diaphragm sourced from Materion, a non-reflective cast-aluminum rear cavity, a two-part aluminum faceplate with integrated mechanical decoupling, dual balanced compression chambers, a high-saturation neodymium ring type motor magnet with a T-shaped pole and dual copper cap shorting rings. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, February 2017.

The subject of this month’s explication is the SB Acoustics 5.25” MR13P-4 Satori midrange. As with the MR16P-4, the MR13P-4 is nominally a midrange version of the SB Acoustics MW13P-4 5.25” woofer, but with higher sensitivity and shorter Xmax. The MR13P-4 is built on a cosmetically attractive six-spoke frame that has a minimal reflective footprint behind the cone to reduce reflections and a completely open area beneath the spider mounting shelf for enhanced cooling— both highly desirable attributes. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, February 2017.

The subject of this Test Bench is the recent SB Acoustics 6.5” MR16P-4 Satori midrange, which is nominally a midrange version of the SB Acoustics MW16R-4 (first reviewed in the November 2011 issue of Voice Coil) with higher sensitivity and shorter Xmax. The original Satori MW16R, while looking cosmetically similar to the Scan-Speak Illuminator 18WU series, was a well-designed driver that has established itself as a true high-end home audio competitor. This article was published originally in Voice Coil, January 2017.

This Test Bench focuses on SB Acoustics’ Satori high-end line of drivers, the Satori TW29RN. This neodymium 29-mm ring dome features a surround coated cloth ring-type diaphragm, a non-reflective cast-aluminum rear cavity, a two-part aluminum faceplate with integrated mechanical decoupling, dual balanced compression chambers, high saturation neodymium ring type motor magnet with a T-shaped pole and dual copper shorting rings, a CCAW voice coil, a foam mounting gasket, and gold-plated terminals. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, February 2016.