Loudspeakers:
The Cardea range of loudspeakers has been designed using traditional, well-proven techniques and the highest quality components to offer the best sound quality at prices considerably lower than most of the competition.
It would be very easy and certainly much cheaper for us to source mass-produced, pressed-steel drivers from the Far East as many of our competitors do; there are plenty of “sourcing companies” who could find or can have made any unit we like. However, from experience, we have found many of these units to be poorly engineered and very inconsistent in quality.
We now have an excellent working relationship with Seas of Norway which means that we can draw on their vast knowledge of drive unit design.
Seas can customise units for any application, thus ensuring that we always have the right driver for the right job! For example, although all the Cardea models use 18cm main drivers, the units we use in the compact stand mount models is different from those used in the larger floorstanders. These two units were each designed to work in different cabinet volumes and we use units appropriate to the size of the speaker. For economic reasons, many loudspeaker designers are forced to use an identical drive unit throughout their range, compromising the overall performance.
The tweeters we use throughout the range are of exceptionally high quality.
The “Crescendo” used in the C10 and C20 is almost certainly the finest treble unit available.
It is also one of the most expensive!
The treble unit we use in the C1 and C2 is a variant of the Seas Excel tweeter. This is another high-end device and is rarely found in loudspeakers at this price level. It is remarkably detailed, dynamic and harmonically accurate with excellent dispersion characteristics and a very even response.
We are firm adherents to the belief that minimalist, low-order crossovers are the most advantageous types in a two-way loudspeaker design. The bass drivers we use have very smooth and predictable roll-off characteristics and match the treble units so well that only minimal electrical compensation is necessary. Low-order crossovers have the benefit of lower phase distortion and energy storage so they are better at preserving the harmonic structure with less time-smear and “ringing” (the storage and subsequent release of energy within the components).
Our crossover components are of true audiophile quality; our capacitors are made specifically for us by Clarity Caps and those in the C10 and C20 are silver-wired.
All Cardea cabinets are solidly constructed from high-grade 18mm MDF and finished to furniture standards maintaining a timeless, elegant appearance to blend in with any environment.
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