Wow... JVC's woodcone drivers!!!
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 1,490
connoisseur
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OP
connoisseur
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 1,490 |
Yesterday we were talking about the "warm" sound of wood. Turns out that there are engineers who don't take it as a joke at all!
I just found out that JVC has been developing speaker drivers with a thinly sliced then pressed piece of birch wood!!! The chief engineer had kept a "burning desire" to make a woodcone speaker since 20 years ago, when he made some initial prototype drivers. He eventually made it into an official project 5 years ago, which resulted in a dozen or so patented methods of making a cone/dome out of a thin piece of wood. They hope to release the first bunch of complete speaker systems by the end of 2003; I have no idea if they will market them outside Japan. Now I have a "burning desire" to listen to these speakers!!!
Anyway, here are several photo's...
The 8cm (3") mid-woofer
The 1" dome tweeter
Woodcone material after the "tertiary press" stage
A prototype bookshelf
A prototype floorstander
Hey, the shape of the cabinet looks soooo familiar!!!
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Re: Wow... JVC's woodcone drivers!!!
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Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 958
aficionado
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aficionado
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 958 |
Masa, is this one of those games where someone makes up a story and everyone else has to guess if it's true or not?
Will they call it the "Pinocchio"?
I live the life I love and I love the life I live.
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Re: Wow... JVC's woodcone drivers!!!
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Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 5,236
axiomite
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axiomite
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 5,236 |
They look nice enough, I wonder what they sound like. I also wonder if they're stealing any Axiom patents!
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Re: Wow... JVC's woodcone drivers!!!
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 1,490
connoisseur
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OP
connoisseur
Joined: Feb 2003
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Yes, this is for real. But all press releases and news are in Japanese so far. Here is a web translation of JVC's original PR by babelfish.altavista.com, with some additional photos.
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Re: Wow... JVC's woodcone drivers!!!
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Joined: May 2003
Posts: 18,044
shareholder in the making
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shareholder in the making
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 18,044 |
Ooh, pretty! :-) I wouldn't mind hearing those. On the other had, JVC...
I am the Doctor, and THIS... is my SPOON!
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Re: Wow... JVC's woodcone drivers!!!
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 1,490
connoisseur
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OP
connoisseur
Joined: Feb 2003
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In reply to:
On the other hand, JVC...
HAHAHA... I know your feeling. Isn't it exactly like when you find out that Honda makes S2000 with its crazy 9000rpm redline? You thought that Honda was the maker of Civic and Accord... It is refreshing to watch a big mature corporate doing such "playful" things.
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Re: Wow... JVC's woodcone drivers!!!
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Joined: May 2003
Posts: 18,044
shareholder in the making
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shareholder in the making
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 18,044 |
Naw, the Honda's no surprise. They also made a world dominating F1 car about, what, 10 years ago, and they also make the NSX. I'm just not a big fan of their styling.
I am the Doctor, and THIS... is my SPOON!
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Re: Wow... JVC's woodcone drivers!!!
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 1,490
connoisseur
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OP
connoisseur
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True. And let's not forget about their supebikes, too... Just couldn't come up with a better example. Anybody???
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Re: Wow... JVC's woodcone drivers!!!
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Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 89
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 89 |
nice.. I would love to hear those. now we just need those wood interconnects and speaker wire!
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Re: Wow... JVC's woodcone drivers!!!
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Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 16,441
shareholder in the making
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shareholder in the making
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 16,441 |
Alright sushi, I nominate you to go audition them.
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Re: Wow... JVC's woodcone drivers!!!
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Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 608
aficionado
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aficionado
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 608 |
i think that those speakers would sound different day to day if humidity levels change,my guitar speaker cabinet is made out of plywood and the amp has to be adjusted when conditions change,so i guess,with wood drivers it might be even more extreme..just a thought...ron
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Re: Wow... JVC's woodcone drivers!!!
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Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 958
aficionado
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aficionado
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 958 |
I live the life I love and I love the life I live.
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Re: Wow... JVC's woodcone drivers!!!
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 1,490
connoisseur
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OP
connoisseur
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Posts: 1,490 |
Yeah, perhaps these speakers may need a substantial break-in period, too.
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Re: Wow... JVC's woodcone drivers!!!
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Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 16,441
shareholder in the making
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shareholder in the making
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 16,441 |
How much different do you think wood drivers (especially at the thickness we're talking about) than paper drivers? Both are basically the same thing, but one has been processed more than the other.
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Re: Wow... JVC's woodcone drivers!!!
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Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 125
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 125 |
Those speakers wouldn't have a single protest when it comes to the WAF test... They are absolutely beautiful!!
I would love to hear them, lets just hope they come stateside.
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Re: Wow... JVC's woodcone drivers!!!
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 1,490
connoisseur
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OP
connoisseur
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 1,490 |
Peter,
According to their PR that I linked above (unfortunately, the badly translated version), the native wood is quite different from paper as speaker cone/dome materials. Here is a paraphrased summary:
(1) Wood has an ideal combination of high sound velocity ("fast" transients) and high intrinsic loss (low resonance) as a material for speaker diaphragm.
(2) Acoustic characteristics of wood are highly anisotropic (direction-dependent) due to the natural grains, which effectively prevents unwanted standing waves in the diaphragm.
ZeN,
Unfortunately, the maximum cone size they can manufacture is ~10cm (4") at this time. So, don't expect a beautiful 12" woofer just yet. Perhaps, a line-source array using a multitude of the 3" mid-woofers / 1" tweeters with a cabinet finished in matching birch wood veneers would look just awesome.
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Re: Wow... JVC's woodcone drivers!!!
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Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 41
buff
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buff
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 41 |
Wow, I hope they come out with 'simulated wood, black vinyl' drivers next!
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