The IA 5.25 PSM (Point Source Monitor) from Innovative Audio
by Dave Herren
I have been working in the audio industry since 1967. During this 35 year period,
the art and science of musical reproduction of speakers has constantly improved.
A few speakers that have stood out as milestones during this thirty-five year
experience have been KLH 9's, Quad Electrostats, Infinity Servostats, Dalquist
DQ 10's, Magneplaner products, RTR's (some models), and Acoustats (some models);
and various expensive speakers during the decade of the nineties as Black Knight's,
Wilson Audio Products, some B and W products, and newer Magneplaner products.
One common denominator in all these speakers over three decades of time is
that these speakers tended to be more musical and accurate than all the other
speakers made. Most of these speakers were simple 2 or 3 way designs with very
simple crossovers. Since I began building speakers in the mid sixties, I have
learned by experimentation that mulitdrivered speakers systems had many disadvantages,
and multicrossover points compounded the disadvantages.
I designed a speaker in 1979 that used a 10 inch woofer, a 5 inch midrange,
two 2 1/4 inch cone tweeters and one high frequency tweeter for extended high
frequency response. This speaker used 5 elements, but there were only 2 electrical
crossovers used --- one at 6,000 cycles and one at 22,000 cycles. I learned
that whenever a crossover is involved, the capability of the signal that amplifiers
offer is changed and diminished because of the crossover. I continued to build
simple 2 way speaker systems with minimal crossover components.
In 1990, I began working on a crossoverless, single driver transducer . The
past problems that designers had labored with were the cone, the suspension
of the cone, excursion of the cone, and the resonance of the entire element.
After working ten years on this design , I learned how to improve the high frequency
response, to achieve accurate 18,000 cycle material, and have bass down to 55
cycles.
This single driver transducer offers many musical advantages to the trained
listener. One of the advantages is: all primary frequencies and harmonics are
reproduced by the same source; therefore, there is no time degradation, or phase
degradation, crossover degradation, or multidriver distortion. This allows all
musical frequencies to be reproduced at the correct level referenced to the
original performance that has been recorded. This translates to the listener
as clarity, smoothness, expanded dynamics, improves transient response, and
an overall lifelike quality only available in speaker systems of electrostatic
design. By using a lightweight cone, we have been able to achieve the performance
in speed and transparency of legendary electrostatics of high quality and performance.
We have mounted this revolutionary new form of transducer in an enclosure which
further enhances the capability in this new device. At only 6 1/2 inches high,
6 1/2 inches wide, and 9 1/2 inches in depth this small cavity further enhances
the capability of this entire musical package. Several proprietary internal
enhancements have been researched and refined to provide strict internal resonance
control. These internal enhancements allow the cone to reproduce incoming electrical
signals with minimal reflections in the cabinet. By minimizing internal reflections,
the cone is allowed to respond to the incoming electrical signals from the amplifier
as directed. Most cabinets have internal resonances and reflections, which change
the movement of the cone. Our cabinet allows a neutral environment for the speaker
cone to respond to the incoming musical signal.
With the minimal reflective frontal surface of our cabinet, we have minimized
any out-of-time distortion or signals bouncing from the front of our cabinet.
We have created a true point source.
We have chosen a black rubberized non resonant finish. The four edges of the
cabinet, front to back, are radiused to 1/2 inch, and the internal wiring is
10 gauge oxygen free copper and is .99999 pure and the wires are cotton covered
to minimize electron leakage. We also use 4% silver solder to achieve maximum
electron flow. We modify the transducer with eight different proprietory improvements.
With all the musical advantages, the IA 5.25 PSM (point source monitor) will
reproduce music to exacting standards. The better the recording and electronics
in front of the PSM's, the more lifelike musical performance will be reproduced.
This speaker can recreate extremely accurate imagery, depth, and focus that
are second only to the musical performance.
Our goal in 1990 was to design a speaker to be as lifelike, as natural and
musically correct with all the spatial characteristics and atmosphere of the
actual performance.
We believe we have achieved our goal of building a musical instrument capable
of the most accurate musical reproduction of any speaker ever made. If used
along with our other components and subwoofer (if a large room of high levels
are wanted, a subwoofer should be used), the listening experience that is attainable,
is only second to the actual performance. We recommend that you have the opportunity
to listen and enjoy our components, but remembering that the sum of our components
will be greater than any one component inserted into an existing system.
Sincerely,
Dave Herren, Owner
Innovative Audio Products
Portland, Oregon
