Kardia
In 2009 our Theophany M3b was awarded "Stand Mount Speaker of the Year". The reviewers indicated that they deserved this due to the remarkable detail and massive sound that came out of such a small speaker. One reviewer likening them to a Tardis. Paizo means to Play and Kardia means heart so the name is an indirect referance to the capabilities of these remarkable little speakers, they play with heart, much like the M3b before them.
The Paizo Kardia rather than being a completely new model are a development of the M3b. The drivers and crossovers are all new and the volume of the cabinet has been increased slightly. This has allowed us to improve several key areas. They are 3db more efficient, also the frequency response is larger and slightly flatter. In doing this the big sound has not been lost but in fact has been improved.
The increased efficiency means that they are not as fussy as the previous model when it comes to amplifier pairing. We have successfully tried them with a large range of amplifiers and found that they run very well on quite low powered valve amplifiers right through to quite powerful and expensive solid state Hi Fidelity amplifiers.
Their form is very aerodynamic. This eliminates standing
waves both inside and outside the speaker. Standing waves are turbulent
air pockets that occur around and inside square speakers. When they
occur the flow of clean air and with it clean sound is impeded. Because
we have gone to such lengths to eliminate the standing waves, detail,
efficiency and tight bass is much improved.
The cabinets are made from a special laminate made for us by custom wood
just north of Christchurch. They are formed under extreme pressure and
at moderate temperature in such away that they can not flex like a
typical flat sided speaker. Cabinet resonance is virtually eliminated.
This is very important as that resonance can destroy the emotive
listening experience. This harmonic resonance is usually at one
frequency and just like our brain will turn down annoying sounds when we
live next to a busy road or airport it will turn down a harmonic in
speakers. The problem is that our brain will turn down a lot more of the
audio spectrum than just the harmonic so we loose a lot of the
capability of the speakers, especially where quality is critical around
the vocal spectrum
The Paizo Kardia Also lean back. We have done this so that sound from
both the woofers and the tweeter reach your ear at exactly the same
time. The tweeter is not forward of the woofer like it is with most
speakers. This may not seem important until you think about the fact
that we as humans can detect direction by turning our head just a few
degrees. This shows that we can detect differences in sound less than a
milli-second. If the tweeter is forward of the woofers everything above
2500hz is reaching your ear early which is not ideal. When all sound
reaches your ear at the same time imaging is considerably improved. This
is where the speakers seem to dissolve into the background and the
musicians and vocalists are positioned across the room just like being
there with you in person.
They also incorporate a top mounted active 5" woofer. The wave off the back of the driver is used to bass load the speaker giving us better bottom end extension.
We produce the Paizo Kardia In a range of finishes but can on request
finish a pair to your own specifications where ever you are in the
world.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.
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