Celestion Debuts PULSE12 and BN15-300X Digitally Downloadable Impulse Responses for Bass Players

Celestion, the manufacturer of guitar and bass loudspeakers whose classic guitar tones have made the company famous as the voice of rock and roll, added two new Impulse Responses, the PULSE12 and the BN15-300X to their line of Bass Impulse Responses. The new Bass IRs, along with the complete collection of genuine Celestion speaker tones, is available for audition and download at CelestionPlus.

The new V-Series monitors from KRK Systems - now a Gibson brand - combine updated technology while getting back to what made KRK an industry standard in many studios for the past 30 years running. The V Series 4 nearfield studio monitors are specifically designed for audio production applications where accurate reproduction is critical and KRK says that these fourth-generation V Series monitors add a feature set that improves on its own VXT series in several significant ways.

Audioengine continues to show the audio industry how to combine good quality speaker design with the features demanded for contemporary lifestyles, making the best possible use of the latest technologies. The Texas-based company now introduced the HD3 wireless music system. More than just a powered multimedia speaker, the HD3 is a complete music system that allows users to listen to all of their music from any source — streaming wirelessly, digital downloads, vinyl, etc.

The transducer I received for this month’s Test Bench is the CF0617M, a new high power handling 6.5” midrange, from Celestion. The CF0617M is one of my favorite formats in a pro sound mid. Features include a four-spoke cast aluminum frame, a light-weight curved profile uncoated Kevlar loaded paper cone, a 1.75” diameter voice coil and a 120 mm × 15 mm ferrite magnet. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, December 2015.

Audioengine, from Austin, Texas, could very well be called “the sensible audio company” because their products always make sense: they have great design, sound great, are reasonably priced and they match today’s consumer profiles perfectly. Audioengine knows wireless and computer audio well and knows how, increasingly, people listen to music on a desktop or in close proximity to speakers. For that market, Audioengine released a passive version of their HD6 powered speakers.

This month, the driver to be characterized is the FTX0820, a new coax from Celestion. The OEM-only FTX range covers 12” (305 mm), 8” (200 mm), and 6.5” (165 mm) chassis diameters, and features fully combined low-frequency and high-frequency components that are powered by a Common Magnet Motor Assembly (where the same magnet is used for both the low-frequency and high-frequency elements). This enables the voice coils (and hence the acoustic centers of the two drivers) to be brought closer together, delivering tight signal coherence and time alignment. This article was published in Voice Coil, October 2015.

This month, I am going to review Celestion’s 18” CF18VJD pro sound woofer. The CF18VJD is a high-power handling woofer rated at 1,600 WRMS (AES standard) and weighs a hefty 50.6 lb. The CF18VJD’s features include a proprietary seven-spoke cast aluminum frame. Celestion’s approach for this model uses a vented front plate that exhausts toward a series of peripheral vents located on the top of the back plate with a cone assembly of carbon and Kevlar loaded paper cone and large dust cap. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, November 2013.

Mike Klasco explains the evolution of speaker cone materials, from paper to the first experiments in plastics and finally to Polypropylene (PP), which became the preferred resin sheet material for thermoformed speaker cones. The article also discusses recent trends in woven composite cone fabrication. This article was published in Voice Coil, February 2014.

On the eve of the company’s 50th anniversary, Bowers & Wilkins introduced a reimagined 800 Series Diamond loudspeakers. The new range features new midrange drivers with a composite cone material replacing the Kevlar and a new curved cabinet design. Even the famous diamond tweeter domes received a new motor system.

Definitely a first. English brand Bowers & Wilkins was never a conventional speaker manufacturer, always venturing into new areas, from being a record company, with its B&W Music label, to sponsoring music festivals and, in recent years, trying multiple digital lifestyle product segments. Now, B&W decided to create a Sound System for music events. Not for sale, at least for now…