" Our designs have no ribbons (even though we love ribbons), no electrostatic devices (even though we love those too), no cone drivers, no sub woofers and no crossover. "
Tuesday 22 May 2007
By Shelley Katz
Podium 1
Most written descriptions of audio equipment are clichés. That’s not the intention of the writers of course - but that’s the way it turns out. All the usual words such as ‘staggering’ and ‘awesome’ have become devalued by overuse - and so we don’t use any of them.
Podium loudspeakers are quite literally a world first: a full-range panel loudspeaker system. using transverse waves induced by a tapered line-array to propagate sound through a patent pending floating panel, all of which is designed and built in Cambridge UK. Our designs have no ribbons (even though we love ribbons), no electrostatic devices (even though we love those too), no cone drivers, no sub woofers and no crossover.
For most people, how we achieve what we achieve is interesting for only a short while, if that. The main point is: there are no teams of laboratory-bound white coated boffins here. Instead, we have a distinctly intriguing polymath leading a small and eclectic band of gifted experts through the research, development and engineering.
S. Katz, our designer, enjoys precision and measurement (we still don’t understand how he measured “Expression in Music” for his PhD). So we have all the advanced electronic measuring equipment one could wish for, plus the wide-ranging know-how necessary to properly understand the subtleties of loudspeaker engineering. However, we have allowed ourselves complete freedom from conventional design, to think about psycho-acoustics in new ways, and to apply the appropriate technologies to achieve our goals.
Podium has all the positive attributes of the classic loudspeaker designs we grew up with; the ones we all know, love and respect. But we also achieve something extra-difficult to define in words. Visceral credibility. Via a Podium design, organ notes thunder, and rim-shots in smoky jazz clubs crack with lightning fast transients – and that’s just the beginning. It’s the same excitement that comes from music heard played live. Uniquely, this is achievable at any volume level and any listening position in any room. The traditional ‘sweet-spot’ and specific volume requirement described as ‘realistic’ by some and ‘rather too loud’ by others are both startlingly absent.
You’ll know if our sound is the sound for you within seconds. That’s all it takes. Finally, you’ll be surprised to learn that our patent pending loudspeakers are modestly priced and can be driven by relatively low-powered integrated amplifiers.
UK Prices
Podium 1 (Pair): £4,995
Podium 1.5 (Pair): £3,699
Please visit the Podium web site for a list of Distributors and Dealers world-wide.
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