|
Not willing to be defeated, the designers at German Physiks continued to look at ways to make a high quality entry level loudspeaker that would use the DDD driver and not compromise on the potential it offered. In 2011, the Limited 11 was introduced. An initial run of 100 pairs was made to test the market. The Limited 11 used the the new carbon fibre DDD driver. This offered a wider bandwidth than the earlier titanium version and was operated from 200Hz to 24kHz. Veneer finishes were ruled out due to cost, so the square section cabinet was finished in a special acoustic vinyl, which was offered in only one colour - grey. A single 20cm downward firing woofer working in a sealed enclosure and located the bottom of the cabinet took the response down to 32Hz. The base plate used in earlier designs was dispensed with, providing a cost saving, so the woofer fired directly out of the cabinet. It was soon discovered by users that they could tweek the bass by putting spacers under the spikes to raise the woofer further from the floor. The 100 pairs sold out more quickly than expected and due to demands from a number of distributors the design was brought back as the Unlimited Mk II and it was offered finished in acoustic vinyl in grey, black, white and brown. What we termed acoustic vinyl was actually a high quality flooring vinyl. Far from being a cheap finish, the material used was in fact more expensive per square metre than veneer. As it required less surface preparation and other than trimming the edges after being applied to the cabinet, it didn’t require the extra work that a veneer finish needed, the overall cost was lower. The vinyl had two more useful advantages. The material used was comprised of two layers. An under-layer of sound deadening material that helped to damp cabinet vibrations and hard wearing outer layer that was very resistant to scratches and bumps.
|