Ceramic Drivers - Have they come of age or just the next fad?

caesar · Jan 5, 2013

Seems like everywhere you look, there is a speaker with ceramic drivers getting a lot of attention. There's Valin's new darling, the Estelon (and Raid-ho too?). Anthony Cordesman has a review of the Talon. I think Evolution Acoustics has them too. Who else is using them?

I don't have much experience with speakers that use these drivers, but when I heard them, they sounded a bit edgy to my ears - at times. Also, seems like very expensive speakers have them. Yes, this "e" word is an allergen, but beyond a reflexive emotion, what is driving the high prices? Have the drivers gotten to be good to justify the high prices?

Is a metal speaker with ceramic drivers next? Or is this just the latest fad?

mep · Jan 5, 2013

How long does something have to be in the marketplace before it is no longer considered a fad? Ceramic drivers have been out for years and thus my doubt about being able to call their use a fad. In fact, haven't ceramic drivers been out longer than the carbon nano-tech, balsa wood, and the other composite woofers being used by companies like Magico and Vandersteen? Why not call them fad drivers and ask what is driving the high prices?

edorr · Jan 5, 2013

caesar said:
Seems like everywhere you look, there is a speaker with ceramic drivers getting a lot of attention. There's Valin's new darling, the Estelon (and Raid-ho too?). Anthony Cordesman has a review of the Talon. I think Evolution Acoustics has them too. Who else is using them?

I don't have much experience with speakers that use these drivers, but when I heard them, they sounded a bit edgy to my ears - at times. Also, seems like very expensive speakers have them. Yes, this "e" word is an allergen, but beyond a reflexive emotion, what is driving the high prices? Have the drivers gotten to be good to justify the high prices?

Is a metal speaker with ceramic drivers next? Or is this just the latest fad?

Avalon is using them, as is Kharma. The fact that they have been around for a while does not make them a fad. If anything it ensures they have been improved and perfectioned and price/performance has come down. Of course, prices of speakers using them have NOT come down, so I guess building a high-end speaker with mature technology (i.e. ceramique) helps maintain healthy profit margins for speaker manufacturers. I once replaced two midrange drivers in my avalons and paid $1000. This means avalon probably pays $500 for the pair. Thrown in another $1000 for woofer and tweeters and and you're looking at $1500 worth of drivers in a $27,000 speaker. Beautiful. But I digress....

flez007 · Jan 5, 2013

I have heard good and not-so-good implementations on speakers with ceramic drivers. Avalon and Marten have done it pretty well, so as diamond tweeters (which is of course an off-topic issue now). I am not against them but cautionary steps are desirable prior deciding IMO.

Nightlord · Jan 5, 2013

There will be companies using what's most expensive at the moment on principle. Regarding Marten, in that particular area we had the a store which sold both those kind of elements and some small series of speakers and I do believe Marten was born out of that inheritance - and they've always used them. If your design philosophy mandates piston behaviour then they're not a fad, if you want the moste expensive - they are.

A.wayne · Jan 5, 2013

flez007 said:
I have heard good and not-so-good implementations on speakers with ceramic drivers. Avalon and Marten have done it pretty well, so as diamond tweeters (which is of course an off-topic issue now). I am not against them but cautionary steps are desirable prior deciding IMO.

Tried alot of different drivers over the years and have to admit treated paper is still the best to my ears for midrange , ceramics and plastics best for bass , At the time i did not like the unnatural sound of ceramic drivers , this was sometime ago , i cannot say its the same today, so cant say for sure its the same with currrent technology.

Unfortunately once some technology is accepted as the way forward regardless of how designers feel they are almost forced to follow along fearing of using designs that are considered dated ..

Case in point Wilson going back to using silk domes , when we all thought it to be the best decades ago , metal and Kevlar was in and silk was considered old school ...

We stuck with morel and Dynaudio considering their silk domes to be the most natural and less fatiguing over time vs the exotic stuff ..

Regards

Mike Lavigne · Jan 5, 2013

i've owned 4 different sets of speakers (over 12 years) with ceramic drivers, and had extended use of 2 other sets of speakers with ceramic drivers. not all ceramic drivers are created equal, and implementation of ceramic drivers varries.

the magic is in the very stiff and lightweight baffle since it has such low mass. it's advantage is also it's challenge. since it's so clear and quick, it is also more subject to resonance from the cage and mounting scheme than other more naturally damped materials.

i find that the clarity of the ceramic drivers is a great match for the speed and transparency of ribbon tweeters.

i'm no expert on driver design, nor have i sat down and compared drivers myself. so i'm just relating my personal observations on the subject. no doubt other driver materials have their fans and claimed advantages.

Nightlord · Jan 5, 2013

A.wayne said:
Unfortunately once some technology is accepted as the way forward regardless of how designers feel they are almost forced to follow along fearing of using designs that are considered dated ..

Agreed. ( Thus I'm quite happy with my speakers that more or less stayed the same since 1979 and just been refined and refined since. Reflex port move a few inches once, otherwise I believe the cabinet shape is identical. )

mep · Jan 5, 2013

A.wayne said:
We stuck with morel and Dynaudio considering their silk domes to be the most natural and less fatiguing over time vs the exotic stuff ..

Regards

I don't know who "we" is or was, but back in the days when I used to design and build my own speakers, I used mostly Morel and Dynaudio drivers because they make great drivers and the D-28 was my favorite tweeter from back in the days.

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Ceramic Drivers - Have they come of age or just the next fad?

caesar

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