Music Time Space FOCUS-RT8 aluminium-diaphragm super high amplifier By Shitu

The music time space electronics tube amplifier manufacturing com. Ltd, has in a few years produced some ten sorts of electronics tube amplifiers, having established a reputation for itself in domestic amplifier market. The company has gained a high recognition among costumers with its tube amplifier of reasonable price and fine quality. Recently, music time space has launched its latest product: The aluminium-diaphragm super high amplifier, which is considered to be an alternative product of the company.
The speaker frequency band problem has been a long-standing one. Excellent intermediate frequency is no doubt the most important, the extension of both high and low ends of the frequency band has always been the subject the speaker manufacturers are working on with unremitting efforts. First, Excellent bass is priceless. It¡¯s rather rare and commendable for a kind of sound box to present the low frequency both deep and having tactile sensation. First, the bass unit of the speaker must have the lower resonance frequency and the good low-frequency response. Secondly, the sound box and the frequency divider must be scientifically designed. However, there are still not many speaker systems with distinguished low frequency performance on the market, therefore, a number of speaker manufacturers put out outside ultra bass sound boxes to remedy the inadequacy in the bass part of the speaker. Some audiophiles have already led off to use this kind of ultra bass sound boxes. In fact, few of them can meet the hi-fi standard while those that can are just unaffordable. Moreover, the common ultra bass sound boxes could only be used as a ¡°sound bomb¡± on the home theatres, unable to reproduce the bass sound realistically at all. As for the combination in application, If not well matched with the major sound box, the ultra bass sound box is worse than not using it at all. So it is reasonable to say that the ultra bass sound box should be applied carefully.
Similarly, the super high sound that emerged in recently years as a new technology is also called the wide-frequency response. People gradually find in practice that audio frequencies above 20 kHz are really audible to human ears and could have a significant effect on the tone range of the high and medium frequencies. Consequently, the super high sound technology is promoted and applied in a good many advanced amplifier products including intermediate or low graded ones. However, technically, there is much difficulty in manufacturing the super high sound unit. Generally speaking, making the super high sound unit up to 20 kHz has already posed a great challenge, not to mention to make it above 40hz! Therefore, few amplifier producers have the ability to develop and manufacture super high sound units.
Because of the complicated production process and high production cost, the price of the super high sound box is pretty high. The real selling price of a model of super high sound box Tianglang T200 is at 18,000 Yuan. Though there are products priced at several thousand Yuan, the effect is quite unsatisfactory. However, as to its adjustment, the super high sound box is not so difficult as the bass sound box, for its acoustic pressure is very small and the phase problem is not very obvious. Therefore, even if it is not well adjusted, the sound will not be too disappointing. Consequently, an increasing number of people begin to use additional super high sound box to solve the problem of high inadequacy in some speakers.
A good tweeter added really could improve the performance of the high and intermediate frequencies, rendering the high frequencies transparent; the tone range is richer as well as presenting the intermediate frequencies in more details and with good analyzing capability. To polish up the high tones positively, one condition is to have an excellent super high sound speaker; the other is to use it correctly. FOCUS-RT8 super high is just designed for those general audio enthusiasts seeking for perfection in listening experience. Its relatively moderate price of 3800yuan per pair is also very reasonable compared with similar products on the market.
You may ask, what is the quality of a pair of super high sound boxes? They have respectively an aluminium-diaphragm super high sound unit at their cores, coupled with a built-in attenuation potentiometer and a filtering selection switch. With a piano paint coated shell, the product could be stably positioned right above the main speaker. Four frequency division points at 6hz 9hz 12hz and 18hz are offered to be selected to match the main speaker.
Since it doesn¡¯t make much sense to test the super high sound boxes with a Danna c2, I chose the ATC SCM10 in our magazine testing room for audition and the effect of improving the high tone is impressive. Then I tested it on ATC SCM20T and its performance remained outstanding. Most Audio enthusiasts regard the ATC high part inadequate but it¡¯s enough for my use except for its lack of clutter in high frequencies. Dense intermediate frequencies as well as more vivid high tones could be obtained if the high tones in ATC are improved. By adjusting and testing on ATC SCM 10 and 20 repeatedly for several times, I found that FOCUS-RT8 works better when the volume potentiometer is set at around 9 and the degree of balance is at its optimum when the frequency divider is set at 18 kHz. Nevertheless, maybe it¡¯s because of the slight resonance between the filtering capacitance and the aluminium-diaphragm high tone winding in FOCUS-RT8 and the shunt inductance and high tone units of the frequency divider inside ATC, there is slight ringing phenomenon around 1 kHz when playing piano music. When the frequency division point is set at 12 kHz, no ringing phenomenon could be detected; meanwhile, the mid-high frequencies appear graver.
By comparison, when playing Chopin¡¯s nocturnes by Rubinstein, with the addition of the super high sound box the piano music takes on better sense of density. Extreme high frequency overtones are substantially increased as well. The tone range of the music is presented more realistic with a granular sensation, which is a big progress over the piano tone range in real surroundings.
As to the stringed instrument, the tone colour will be presented even more elegant with the addition of FOCUS-RT8. When Hayden¡¯s concerto is played, the strings in it have a stronger sense of community with clearer levels and richer tactile sensation. The harp plucking is strengthened and the aftertaste of string vibrations appears more distinct and more prolonged. On the contrary, when FOCOUS-RT8 super high is removed, the strings music immediately turned much weaker and the harp plucking also lacked of efficiency. Meanwhile, the sense of speed is distinctly weakened.
Then I tested it successively with vocal and band music. All got some improvement in various degrees. In a word, with the FOCUS-RT8 super high sound box, we will have more high frequency overtones more transparent timbres more details in intermediate frequencies, quicker transient response hence more dynamic and vivid music.
By testing, FOCUS-RT8 proved to be an excellent model of super high sound unit. Properly adjusted, it could boom the performance of your main loudspeaker quite out of expectation. If there are some defects in the product, that would be a lack of high-end frequency division points. It will be better with higher end frequency division points, say, at least with 16 kHz and 20 kHz added so as to make the users¡¯ more meticulous adjustment possible.

Extracted from¡¶Hi-Fi Stereo¡·2006-6 Author:shi tu