Von Schweikert ULTRA.11
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ULTRA.11
The ULTRA.11 defines the term flagship. Completely hand-assembled and built to order, the ULTRA.11 represents an awe-inspiring creation that only a lucky few will own. Standing eight feet tall, weighing 750 pounds, and featuring eleven individual drivers, the ULTRA.11 is as awesome to behold as it is to listen to. Spanning the range from 16hz to over 40,000khz, the ULTRA.11 presents effortless dynamics and natural scale with near zero distortion. Forget the technicolor presentation of many super speakers, from chamber orchestras - to symphonies - to jazz and rock and roll; the ULTRA.11 always presents music with natural size and scale. Dual rear-mounted shockwave subwoofers powered by two 1000-watt amplifiers create a robust foundation that allows music to float on the power and majesty one should expect at this price level. While there are rivals, the ULTRA.11 simply has no peer.
In the Von Schweikert way, the 1000-watt Foundation amplifier powers the woofers. Unlike other active DSP designs, the full range of the signal passes entirely through the analog crossover network. This allows the tonal characteristics of the customer's preferred power amplifier without compromise yet offers the increased dynamics and precise adjustment of your in-room bass response. Whether you prefer the sound signature of a medium power tube amplifier or a high power solid-state unit, no problem. The analog purity, increased power, and dynamics enhance your investment in a high-end loudspeaker.
Audio professionals and seasoned audiophiles understand the limiting factor in the performance of a system is the listening room. While some listeners have the luxury of a dedicated room outfitted with expensive and often ineffective room treatment, most do not. Within the spectrum of room acoustic challenges, speaker placement is dictated mainly by specific room bass modes activated by the speaker within a room. As a result, audiophiles traditionally place their speakers well into the room to mitigate this problem. It should be noted that irregular bass output caused by the room significantly affects middle and high frequencies with overall tonal balance.
The Foundation Hybrid Bass System allows listeners to locate their speakers where they look and sound best. This flexibility and exceptional room optimization tool is accomplished in a completely analog mode without the use of digital signal processing eschewed by purists because of its potential to introduce time and phase distortions and without affecting the performance of the main system amplifier.
Developed in 1994 by Albert Von Schweikert in association with lab partners from Cal Tech, Von Schweikert cabinets are fabricated using a proprietary triple-wall laminate construction technique. Despite inventive efforts by other makers using aluminum and sheet extruded composites, this triple-wall method remains the gold standard of non-resonant enclosure design.
Our quiet cabinet design's outermost layer uses a resin-based HDF (high-density fiberboard) sheet. The middle layer is made of synthetic stone adhered to the outer layer using a resin binder. The final layer is a dense woven damping material. The resulting triple-wall composite is approximately three inches in overall thickness. Once the cabinet is assembled, internal bracing is added so that various areas of the cabinet have varying stiffness levels. The elaborate construction techniques combine to create differing native Qs, working together as a symbiotic system of resonance-cancellation to efficiently turn unwanted energy into heat for the absolute best in cabinet vibration control.
Albert Von Schweikert's earliest research led to the development of an adjustable ambiance retrieval system radiating from the speaker's rear to recreate a natural soundfield of space & depth using a concert hall recording method known as the spaced omni method. This system replicates the effect when microphones used for recording encode the musical signal with overlaying pickup response patterns.
After studios make a series of recordings using several different microphone types, the playback from each device has tonal differences and create various imaging patterns. This creates a differing perception of space & depth dependent on the recording environment, microphone placement, and each microphone's distinct off-axis polar response. From this framework, our rear soundfield system creates a natural soundstage, regardless of the recording, microphone type, and recording technique used. Most importantly, the system allows the playback response to remain as close as possible to what was intended by the engineer.
For our midrange and bass drivers (exclusive of the sub-bass drivers found in our ULTRA.nine, ULTRA.eleven, and SHOCKWAVE subwoofer series), Von Schweikert has selected Accuton of Germany’s drivers manufactured using ceramic cones. Producing drivers made from Al²O³ hard ceramics offers an incredibly light, stiff cone with high internal damping. Ceramic cones also offer our engineers a mass/stiffness ratio surpassed only by cones made of beryllium and diamond, which are materials that most often are only suitable for smaller diameter drivers used for reproducing high frequencies, such as tweeters Ceramic drivers offer us the best impulse response and significantly reduced distortion over more conventional drivers, as well as we as increased bandwidth and linearly within their useable range. Industry professionals recognize VSA as one of the most experienced and best practices for using these extraordinary drivers.
For the highest frequencies, we have selected the best Danish beryllium tweeters. Our chosen beryllium tweeter is extremely stiff and light. It has high power handling, exceptional detail, and superb dispersion across its usable range. While many associate beryllium tweeters with a certain sterile sound, by correctly applying our proprietary crossover network topology to this remarkable driver, the opposite is true. In short, the VSA beryllium tweeter offers some of the finest and most satisfying high-frequency reproduction in any commercial loudspeaker, regardless of price.
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