Test Bench: GAIT BGD-D72-64-4-0A1 Glass Diaphragm 1" Dome Tweeter

Glass Acoustic Innovations Technologies (GAIT) is a company from Taiwan and a renowned specialist in Ultra-Thin Glass (UTG) diaphragm technology, quickly gaining recognition in hifi and high-end audio circles. This 1" dome super tweeter uses a unique glass diaphragm formed using a chemical strengthening process, and includes a 1” voice coil and neodymium magnet motor, assembled with an injection-molded plastic faceplate, a phase plug, and a damped rear chamber.

This powerful Dayton Audio Ultimax II 8-22 8" subwoofer from the company's recently upgraded series maintains many common features with the original Ultimax drivers. After having examined the Ultimax II 10" version in January 2025, this Test Bench looks at the new 8" version where the very stiff and thick carbon fiber cone stands out with the NBR surround, assisted by the two flat 6" diameter cloth spiders.

The Faital Pro 5PR120 is a high sensitivity and high-power handling 5” midrange driver, built on a proprietary six-spoke cast-aluminum frame, with four vents below the spider mounting shelf, and additional cooling provided by a pole vent. It features a curvilinear inverted single piece “bowl” shaped paper cone and black anodized aluminum dust cap. The motor is a FEA-optimized neodymium ring, and driving the cone is a 32mm voice coil wound with round copper wire on a non-conducting Kapton former.

The fourth in a series of product reviews of outboard DSP hardware, this article explores the miniDSP Flex digital signal processing (DSP) unit. The Flex is a two channels in/four channels out, Sharc-based audio processor that offers a more cost-effective model than the previously featured miniDSP processors in the series, with a retail price of $570 for the TRS balanced IO model. Besides the competitive price, the review confirms how the miniDSP Flex manages to measure and impress.

This Test Bench characterizes the Dayton Audio UMII10-22 Ultimax II 10" Subwoofer, a recent example of the upgraded, high-performance designs that succeeded the brand’s original Ultimax subwoofer line. Available for now in four diameters (18", 12", 10", and 8"), the common feature set for the new line includes a large aluminum shorting ring and aluminum pole sleeve for lower magnetic distortion, a lightweight and rigid woven carbon fiber cone assembly, high Xmax, with a frame and motor designed with extensive thermal venting, all optimized for compact sealed enclosures.

Vance Dickason has spent some time characterizing the new Scan-Speak D3004/666000 tweeter, the first to combine a metamodal Thin-ply Carbon Diaphragm (TPCD) dome with the company's AirCirc motor. This new Scan-Speak tweeter is not a common "evolutionary" design but a joint manufacturing project with Swedish company Composite Sound to develop new second-generation TPCD diaphragms with the characteristics and able to rival the performance levels of a beryllium dome.

Voice Coil May 2025 is now available and in this issue, Vance Dickason explores the popular miniDSP Flex HTx processor, while Mike Klasco dives into the world of microspeakers. For this issue's Test Bench, Vance Dickason characterizes his first driver from the new Italian brand RS Speakers, a new TW 104.28 N/Ag 1.1” tweeter, and next measures the 27TFC/T 1” Soft Dome Tweeter from the SEAS Prestige Titan Line.

The 6.5" MR16TX-8 TPCD Midrange from SB Acoustics' prestige Satori line targets hifi and high-end audio applications, and expands the company's already significant investment in TPCD Textreme diaphragms. The cone assembly consists of a curvilinear inverted single piece, "bowl" shaped TPCD cone, glued to an inverted NBR surround, with the remaining compliance coming from a flat BIMAX spider. The motor is an FEA-optimized neodymium magnet and a 1.4" voice coil with a nonconducting fiberglass former.

This Test Bench characterizes a 1" conical exit compression driver from Faital Pro that was measured along with the brand's STH100 elliptical Tractrix flare horn (80° × 70°). Driven by a voice coil wound with aluminum wire on a high Qm non-conducting Kapton former, and powered by a neodymium ring magnet, the HF110 compression driver targets applications such as stage monitors and PA speakers with a 2kHz recommended crossover frequency (second-order or higher high-pass filter).

The third of a series of product reviews of outboard DSP hardware, this article explores the MIR260A DSP processor from Marani Pro Audio. Supported with expert measurements performed by Charlene Chow on a flagship APx555B analyzer (courtesy of Audio Precision), Vance Dickason looks at this professional DSP processor with two inputs and six outputs, and a more cost-effective model from Marani.