HEDD Confirms Air Motion Transformer HEDDphone Launch in 2019

A headphone that is based on a real AMT driver, as used in professional studio monitors? The first presentation was at the 2019 High End show in Munich (May 2019), followed by another recent series of demonstrations at the CanJam London 2019 show (July 2019). Now HEDD Audio has announced that, before the end of 2019, the company intends to ship the new HEDDphone – the first full-range headphone design based on HEDD / ADAM founder and speaker veteran Klaus Heinz’ world-known Air Motion Transformer driver.

The TPL75 is one of the Air Motion Transformers (AMT, aka Air Velocity Transformer) that Acustica Beyma has developed for pro sound applications. Part of the success of Beyma’s AMTs for pro sound comes from its proprietary X-Bow technology, which opens as much as possible the mechanical constraint in the diaphragm, allowing it to manage higher temperatures, increasing the limit of the power the diaphragm can handle. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, August 2018.

In this edition of Test Bench, Vance Dickason characterized a different high-frequency transducer: the TPL200/H, a horn-loaded pro sound AMT from the Valencia, Spain, company Acustica Beyma. The TPL200/H is one of the Air Motion Transformers (AMT, aka AVT Air Velocity Transformer) that Beyma has developed for pro sound applications and is a Kapton horn-loaded version of the highest power handling AMT in their AMT line, rated at 120 W AES (24 W program), with a sensitivity of 104 dB 1 W/1 m. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, July 2018.

A reinforced dose of everything that makes Voice Coil the Loudspeaker Industry must-read, the August 2018 edition features an updated directory on Voice Coil manufacturers, while James Croft reviews two patents directly inspired by the work of Dr. Oskar Heil on an Air Motion Transformer (AMT) woofer system. Finally, Vance Dickason characterizes three drivers in Test Bench, including the new Eminence Alpha-5-8 5” midbass driver; the TPL75, a compact pro sound AMT from Acustica Beyma; and a new pro sound compression driver from B&C Speakers.

In this article, Vance Dickason highlights a new transducer technology from Christensen Audio, which was recently introduced and has the potential to replace moving-coil driver types in many applications, both in terms of performance and cost. The new technology represents a radical improvement of the basic and well-known Air Motion Transformer (AMT) technology, as originally developed by Dr. Oskar Heil and ESS Labs in the 1970s. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, January 2016.

Fluid Audio’s much anticipated FPX7 coaxial ribbon monitors are now shipping. Building on the brand’s popular Fader Series monitors, Kevin Zuccaro has upped the ante by creating an affordable coaxial ribbon tweeter monitor, which, as he says, “is poised to blow the socks off other monitors in its class in sound reproduction, imaging, and affordability.”

PreSonus has announced the new R65 and R80 Active AMT Monitors, featuring a custom Air Motion Transformer (AMT) tweeter, driven by a 50W RMS Class D amplifier, and 6.5/8-inch woofers driven by 100W RMS Class D amplifiers and featuring Acoustic Tuning controls. PreSonus also introduced recently the new Eris E44 and E66 two-way active MTM (Midwoofer-Tweeter-Midwoofer) studio monitors, providing a wider stereo field.