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What is the reasoning behind this unique speaker design?

DuluthDank

DuluthDank

May 11, 2008
2,116
3,368
Minneapolis, MN
#1
Never seen anything quite like this before.


1723139203269.png
 
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#3
The slot acts as a passive diffraction filter which (in theory) increases the mid response at the top of the slot. In reality, the tradeoffs outweighed the practical benefits so we didn't see any evolution in this concept for bass cabinets. TOA also used this principle for some stage monitors but that too withered on the vine rather quickly.
 
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#6
agedhorse said:
I forgot about that one, didn't last long either.
Click to expand...


Those were really popular on my side of the Atlantic, and well reviewed. They were selling like hotcakes, and kind of did for the brand what the ELF has done in more recent years.

I'm sure they were in production for at least 5 years (I feel like it was longer, because I'm sure the original 80Watt version got a more powerful sibling a few years later - like the 80Watt was a single 10" speaker behind the slot, and the more power model used a 15" driver).
 
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#8
Wood and Wire said:
Those were really popular on my side of the Atlantic, and well reviewed. They were selling like hotcakes, and kind of did for the brand what the ELF has done in more recent years.

I'm sure they were in production for at least 5 years (I feel like it was longer, because I'm sure the original 80Watt version got a more powerful sibling a few years later - like the 80Watt was a single 10" speaker behind the slot, and the more power model used a 15" driver).
Click to expand...
That was pre KMC era, introduced around 1989 before KMC (Kaman) owned the company. They didn't last long, though there may have been dead inventory sold for years after it was officially (or internally) discontinued.

I haven't seen well reviewed myself, and the one I heard (I had a the 110 that came through my shop decades ago) was pretty rough sounding so it's no surprise that it disappeared from the lineup. They may have sold better in the UK due to the location and the possibility of lower cost compared with export models. Pretty much all of their more mainstream models were much better sellers.
 
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#9
Wood and Wire said:
Those were really popular on my side of the Atlantic, and well reviewed. They were selling like hotcakes, and kind of did for the brand what the ELF has done in more recent years.

I'm sure they were in production for at least 5 years (I feel like it was longer, because I'm sure the original 80Watt version got a more powerful sibling a few years later - like the 80Watt was a single 10" speaker behind the slot, and the more power model used a 15" driver).
Click to expand...

The 2 versions were the same speaker IIRC, the main difference was power - the 80W as in this thread could only power its internal speaker, the 150 had an external speaker out to use a bit more power - as per this from the 1998-99 catalogue:
Agedhorse's info re the pre Kaman start date means they were in production at least a decade, so not so much a flash in the pan (though, obviously, that's still short vis a vis say, the SVT 😉).

Cheers,
D.
 

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#11
agedhorse said:
That was pre KMC era, introduced around 1989 before KMC (Kaman) owned the company. They didn't last long, though there may have been dead inventory sold for years after it was officially (or internally) discontinued.

I haven't seen well reviewed myself, and the one I heard (I had a the 110 that came through my shop decades ago) was pretty rough sounding so it's no surprise that it disappeared from the lineup. They may have sold better in the UK due to the location and the possibility of lower cost compared with export models. Pretty much all of their more mainstream models were much better sellers.
Click to expand...


I'm pretty sure Series 6 was from about 1989 until 1993, when it was superseded by SMX.

I didn't take up the bass until 1991, and I remember those BLX amps being anounced, and making a pretty big splash - I guess summer of 1993???


I never really cared for them, as they were both limited in power, and fidelity; but they were getting good reviews in bang-for-your-bucks terms, and that you were able to get a Trace Elliot rig at a comparatively low price (for the brand), and that it was so small and portable.

It was pretty much the antithesis of everything I required, but they still seemed to be very popular.
 
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#12
David Morison said:
The 2 versions were the same speaker IIRC, the main difference was power - the 80W as in this thread could only power its internal speaker, the 150 had an external speaker out to use a bit more power - as per this from the 1998-99 catalogue:
Agedhorse's info re the pre Kaman start date means they were in production at least a decade, so not so much a flash in the pan (though, obviously, that's still short vis a vis say, the SVT 😉).

Cheers,
D.
Click to expand...


Right, that makes a little more sense of my memories, because I remember being surprised to see they were still around circa the millennium, and I was seeing interesting products from this new brand called "Ash Town", or something ;)
 
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#15
Because of the different markets, it's hard to know what the dates of production really were. I just remember them disappearing pretty quickly here in the states but it's possible that there was enough inventory that when the US gave up on it, there was still a market in the UK where it wasn't so competitive.
 
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#20
agedhorse said:
That was pre KMC era, introduced around 1989 before KMC (Kaman) owned the company. They didn't last long, though there may have been dead inventory sold for years after it was officially (or internally) discontinued.

I haven't seen well reviewed myself, and the one I heard (I had a the 110 that came through my shop decades ago) was pretty rough sounding so it's no surprise that it disappeared from the lineup. They may have sold better in the UK due to the location and the possibility of lower cost compared with export models. Pretty much all of their more mainstream models were much better sellers.
Click to expand...


I demoed one in a store and thought it was dark and diffuse sounding. There were also versions with a horn tweeter mounted on the front panel. Never got to try one, but I suspect I would have liked it better.

Toa used to make a series of 3-way PA cabs with a slot in front of the woofer.
1723157199490.png

I thought they sounded pretty HiFi.
 
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