Christian Gather took the new Neodym drivers by Monacor (img) and Celestion to design a real PA speaker. Considering the use of this speaker the efficiency has to be high. While hi-fi speakers tend to be heavy to avoid resonance, a PA speaker has to be light to ensure portability. This was achieved by using Neodym magnet drives that are considerably lighter than conventional magnets. The 12 inch bass driver with powerful Neodym magnet drive weighs a mere 2.7 kg.
The following drivers were used: - Celestion CDX1-1430 horn driver with img MRH-200 horn - img SP-12A/300 NEO PA bass driver
There are two internal compartments within the cabinet: one for the large horn and one for the bass driver. To accommodate the bass reflex ports, four small wooden channels were set into the four corners of the bass section. For construction light wood should be used like e.g. multiplex.
Excerpt of the review by Klang+Ton 6/2006: ... "As usual we placed the contestants on our speaker stands. We quickly realised that the listening distance to the speakers had to be increased considerably. Then we fed the Neos with every type of music imaginable, be it from CD or vinyl, from hard rock to pop and classic and finally to some slower music. That's not necessarily the the Neo's forte but we wanted to know whether we had achieved to design a neutral sounding loudspeaker that is suitable for everyday use. Quite quickly it became clear that this speaker knew how to reproduce music professionally. Every type of music was presented in an extremely neutral and balanced way, almost in the manner of a monitor speaker. Dynamics were accurate, we didn't notice any artificial volume jumps. When we turned up the power the Neo proved that higher volumes were also one of her strengths. Even at deafening output levels the sound remained stable without any induced faults. Only at extreme sound levels not occurring under normal conditions The Neo showed some disintegration of the previously homogenous sound. The bass reproduced by the SP12A had a lot of kick, but didn't get ultra-low. If required, a subwoofer will help to do the trick. Alternatively, the speakers could be placed closer to the rear wall to increase bass without blowing it up too much. Otherwise, bass, mids and tops are well balanced." ...
Our kit consists of:
*) The high frequency coil comprises a 1 mm wire instead of 1.4 mm, since a heavier gauge here doesn't give any advantage.
Price for Neo kit without cabinet per unit: EUR 472,00
If you need carrying handles and protection grilles for your PA cabinet have a look at our Fittings Page
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