Wizard High-End Audio Blog: December 2018

From Robb Report "Tech" featured column January 2019 magazine.

On june 19, 1930, a United States Patent and Trademark Office drawing was filed by engineer Emil Podszus of Berlin, Germany, for a “Sound Reproducing Apparatus.” Podszus’s early sound system was the beginning of the company known as Zellaton (zellaton.de) and the founda- tion of its current innovative line.

Each Zellaton Statement loudspeaker, for example, uses five cone drivers—components that change electric signals to sound waves. Each one of these is designed to reproduce a specific range of low, mid, or high frequencies, measured in hertz (Hz).

The company’s proprietary midrange driver delivers near full-range response from 100 Hz to 8 kHz. Such unfet- tered bandwidth is a remark- able achievement for a single driver, allowing it to reproduce instruments and voices with a natural ease and complete freedom from artificiality.

The drivers in all of Zellaton’s speakers are handmade in Munich by Manuel Podszus (the grandson of the founder), require up to six weeks to manufacture, and have a build quality on par with a military specification product. It’s no wonder that the Statement’s utterly convincing sound pin- points instruments and voices with uncanny realism.

Each of the Zellaton Statement’s 771-pound enclosures is nearly six feet in height. At its size and price—$200,000 per speaker—the Statement is an impressive cornerstone for the finest two-channel audio system.

Robert Ross

Magico is revealing the all new M2 which expands the M-Series product lineup and features many ground-breaking engineering designs distilled from the M6 and M3. Here is the complete info…

Our materials science research in the properties and applications of carbon allows the M2 to feature a new monocoque enclosure. Similar in construction technique introduced in the M6, it is formed using multiple layers of carbon fiber adding up to a 3/8” thickness. Similar to the external shell of an F-35 fighter jet, this enclosure construction compared to machined or extruded aluminum parts increases the structural strength-to-weight ratio by a factor of 60, while reducing overall weight by 50% and yielding outer dimensions that are 30% smaller without compromising internal volume. The curved interior and exterior walls minimize internal standing waves and eliminate external diffractions.

The M2 incorporates a 28-mm Diamond coated Beryllium dome tweeter with optimized geometry. The Diamond coating on the Beryllium dome increases the stiffness without adding the extra weight of a pure Diamond dome and offers a near perfect stiffness to weight ratio that is unmatched in the industry. This revolutionary tweeter design provides extra-long excursion movement and uses a customized neodymium- based motor system that matches the sensitivity and power handling capabilities of the M2 while maintaining ultra-wide dispersion characteristics and ultra-low distortion measurements.

Magico is the world’s first audio product manufacturer to utilize graphene in the development of a radically new and advanced loudspeaker cone design. Graphene has many extraordinary properties and is rated to be 100 times stronger than the strongest steel. The newly designed Magico six-inch midrange driver and seven- inch bass driver cones found in the M2 are both manufactured using Multi-Wall carbon XG Nanographene with a new ultra-stiff proprietary carbon weave which is 20% lighter and 300% stiffer than cone materials used in previous Magico product offerings. The midrange driver features an underhung neodymium-based motor system that uses two extra-large magnets which provide an ultra-stabilized magnetic field for the pure Titanium voice coil to operate within. This radical new driver design sets a new industry benchmark for performance and the minimization of total harmonic distortion.

A purpose built sub-enclosure formed of a proprietary polymer houses the midrange driver to optimize the control and articulation of mid-band frequencies and provides protection from the massive back wave pressure of the bass drivers. Midrange sub-enclosures using different shapes, sizes and materials have been implemented throughout the history of Magico 3-way loudspeaker designs.

The dual bass drivers in the M2 are vertically aligned to achieve ideal room integration and reproduce the lowest registers of bass frequency with speed and accuracy. Combined, the bass drivers are optimized for minimal music related distortions in the frequency and time domain using the latest state-of-the-art FEA simulation of acoustics, mechanics, electromagnetic and thermal behavior. The testing process is now completed on a single platform allowing optimization levels to be taken to a higher level.

An internal three-axis matrix framework along with three tension rods running front to back internally, contribute to an extremely rigid enclosure which eliminates unwanted resonances and colorations, allowing all drivers to perform with stunning resolution and dynamics. All four drivers in the M2 are acoustically integrated using Magico’s exclusive Elliptical Symmetry Crossover topology that includes state-of-the-art components from Mundorf of Germany. The MPOD 3-Pt stand contributes to the overall sonic performance by converting mechanical energy to heat through the science of constrained layer damping, while providing ideal coupling to the floor.”

State of the Art Loudspeaker, Floor standing, 3-way (Four Driver) Design

Driver Complement

– 1” MBD5D Tweeter (x1)

– 6” MAG60004RTC Graphene Nano-Tec Midrange (x1)

– 7” MAG70008RT Graphene Nano-Tec Bass (x2)

Specifications

– Sensitivity: 88dB

– Impedance: 4 Ohms

– Frequency Response: 26 Hz – 50 kHz

– Recommended Power: Minimum 50W rms

– Dimensions: 18” x 17.5” x 45” (w/ MPod Stand)

– Weight: 165 lbs. (w/ MPod Stand)

– Price M2: SRP US $ 56,000 /pair

– PriceM2 MPOD 3-Pt Stand: SRP US $ 7,600 /pair (optional)

– Ship date: 1st Quarter 2019