Voice Coil is gearing up for another exciting edition of the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Show in Anaheim, CA. And in this January 2018 edition, Vance Dickason highlights some of the reasons why you shouldn't miss this year's event. This first Voice Coil of 2018 also has a lot more to offer, following an update about Industry News and Developments, you can read this month’s report by Rob Baum on the 2017 edition of the Loudspeaker Sourcing Show that took place in Guangzhou, China.Next up, we dive right into one of our most exciting Voice Coil directories, featuring all the recent announcements on Headphone Measurement solutions and companies. This complete report by Mike Klasco (Menlo Scientific), features some great additions, some of which are being introduced to the industry for the first time here. Expanding the standard Voice Coil directory format, the edition details all that's new - and there’s plenty - on headphone measurement gear with vendor profiles. Featured in this edition are Audio Precision, Bruel & Kjaer, CRY Sound, G.R.A.S. Sound & Vibration, HEAD acoustics, KLIPPEL, Larson Davis/PCB Piezotronics, Listen, LOUDSOFT, miniDSP, SoundChip, and Taiwan Sunlight Enterprise.
In this month's Acoustic Patents column, James Croft (Croft Acoustical) reviews a Speaker Device patent - actually two, since after the first patent was granted, the inventor/assignee filed for a continuation case - from four Japanese inventors, on behalf of Pioneer Corp. of Japan. The original and expanded patent describes a flat speaker device capable of emitting loud reproduced sound, using the “acoustic right-angle” approach of Andrew David Unruh/Tymphany) and Oskar Heil's Air Motion Transformer (AMT), taking it a step further by creating a mechanical structure that converts a linear voice coil motion in one axis to an orthogonal mechanical diaphragm displacement. The system functions much like a scissor-jack you would use to raise your automobile to change a tire. The linear motion of the threaded rod coverts the axial force to a 90° lift movement. Read all about it this interesting invention.
For this month's Test Bench, Dickason characterizes a new 12” coaxial pro audio driver from B&C Speakers, a design typically applied in stage monitors, studio monitors, or distributed audio in large venues. B&C Speakers 12CXN88 is unique in that it uses a single neodymium magnet assembly for both the 12” woofer and the 1.3” throat exit compression driver. In terms of features, the 12CXN88 woofer is built on a proprietary 12-spoke (made up from six twin leg spokes) cast aluminum frame with eight mounting holes. Attached to the frame is the woofer’s neodymium ring magnet motor structure with the compression driver finned assembly that shares the same magnet with the woofer attached to the back-shaped plate and firing into what would normally be a pole vent. The 12CXN88 woofer cone assembly includes a curvilinear front coated paper cone suspended by a coated cloth M-shaped surround. Dickason thoroughly measures this well-executed coax driver, with the outstanding build quality exhibited by all of B&C Speakers’ products.
In Industry Watch, Voice Coil pays tribute to the late Arnold (Arnie) Nudell – 1937-2017, unquestionably one of the pioneering loudspeaker designers and Infinity Systems founder who helped define the American high-end audio market.
This edition wouldn't be complete without essential updates from the Audio Engineering Society (AES) and the Association of Loudspeaker Manufacturing and Acoustics (ALMA) International. We're off to a great start in 2018, and we would like to wish everyone a happy and healthy New Year!Download the January 2018 edition of Voice Coil now. Voice Coil is available in print and download for all registered subscribers. If you already subscribe, go to - www.gotomyvcoil.com - to download this issue.
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