Fugyaself,
Yeah, the factory is up and running. We concentrated on a lot of the OEM drivers first, but Adire-branded product is in production now. I had the glue stains on the fingers to prove it...//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif
Peter,
It's also thermal mass of the core, thermal mass of the top plate, total radiating area of the voice coil, material of the former, etc. You want there to be enough thermal mass in the core and top plate to act as a short-term heatsink, to absorb radiated heat. And you want the former made of a thermally emissive product - like aluminum which we use - so that it will enhance the cooling of the voice coil.
Likewise, you want some air to move through the pole, and enough that you maximize the cooling of the voice coil. Beyond a certain point, though, more area doesn't help. And in fact, having too MUCH of a pole vent is highly detrimental from a magnetics standpoint, which can adversely affect power handling.
Regarding power testing: we were rating Brahmas per IEC 268-5. It's an industry standard used in nearly all industries. Except, of course, for car audio. NO ONE in car audio seems to know what that rating/standard really is. So we now have a "car audio style" rating, where Joe Consumer sees the power handling, and assumes that's the amp size you want to have, not what the driver can thermally take if operating in typical conditions.
How many times have you seen threads where someone asks "I'm getting a Brahma, and want to know which 1600W amp to get"? When in fact, the guy was going to run it in a large ported box, and would bottom the driver with just 600W... This new rating eliminates that case, and offers a better guideline along which our dealers can support the customer, and not have to explain for 15 minutes why - in most cases - more than 600-800W of power won't get more output, just a blown speaker.
It's not really lower cost, either - the price difference between a 2.5" and 3" voice coil is literally $0.30 or so. But if you properly optimize the entire system, there are some good things that come from a smaller diameter voice coil! Big voice coils can take a lot of power, sure, but if you can't use that power, or don't need that power, then there's lots of good things that come from smaller voice coils (as long as you keep the entire driver design in focus).
Mass reduction comes from a lighter former - it's a bit shorter, and the total area of the former is reduced, and when you have an aluminum/Kapton/spun lace laminated former, you can end up saving a few grams overall, even though you use more copper.
Warbleed,
All new motors, designed from the ground up, on all products. Likewise with cones, spiders, surrounds, and voice coils. Clean sheets of paper in all parts. New spider profiles on all new custom tooled spiders, for example. All new cones with new profiles and new material formulations; as stiff and as strong as the old Brahma and Tumult cones were, these new ones are even stronger - AND lighter.
This really was a chance to reset ALL expectations, and start everything from the ground up. Not only in terms of the process of assembly (which has been radically reinvented, compared to any other production line I've seen in the world), but all new jigging methods and assembly tools. Even the cone punch and trim-out tools are radically different. Everything was developed to simplify production, and eliminate errors, which means everything is based on radius, rather than height (as how all other production lines run).
We even developed some new glues, and we exclusively use cyanoacrylates. Amazingly expensive (runs about $300/pound), but extremely resilient and strong. Simply the best glues you can use, bar none. The glue for the former joints (spider/cone/former connections) is a new high temperature blend that maintains over 3300 PSI of bonding strength at a temperature of 300 deg C. To rip a spider from the former takes around 400 pounds of force - it just doesn't happen unless something goes REALLY wrong in operation.
Likewise the glue to hold the plate laminations and motor together. A drop of a Koda motor from 8 feet on to hard concrete shattered the aluminum basket, and cracked the magnet, but the motor stayed glued together, and nothing shifted.
A few select people who are familiar with the process of speaker production have looked at the line and been really surprised. But it definitely works, is highly flexible, and can produce high volumes (with all 9 stations staffed, we can produce over 12 drivers a minute). Yet still can affordably do runs as small as 20. We can actually have 4 different models moving through the line simultaneously, without a hitch.
The magnetizer is also a full-custom designed and built unit. Capable of running at up to 2 kV, with 192,000 uF of capacitance. 100,000A capacity. With the unit set to 1 kV, it shot a 10 pound 220mm diameter magnet roughly 25 feet in the air. It's wicked, but can charge any magnet material out there. And the charging coil is big enough I can charge multiple drivers in a single shot. With a pair of 3 phase 440V lines feeding it, it reaches a full 2 kV charge in 7 seconds, and since the charging coil is air-cooled, it can maintain that kind of cyclic rate all day, every day.
Dan Wiggins
Adire Audio®
