The Parthenon. The ultimate loudspeaker driver. More excursion, more output, higher power handling than any driver on the face of the earth. A true 82mm one way linear stroke (nearly 6.5 inches peak to peak linear), and a radiating surface greater than three 18" subwoofers allows the Parthenon to generate the highest SPL levels ever achieved by a single driver (more output than eighteen high end 18" drivers)



The Parthenon Motor (named such for obvious reasons) uses the same dimensions as a Tumult, but this unit works with a dual wound coil to realize over 80mm one way linear stroke. Oh yeah - flux in the gaps is pretty high, at 0.8T - the 3" diameter core (with a SMALL 0.75" diameter pole vent) is completely saturated - that's a LOT of flux in there!



Here's the motor sitting on the bench. It's made from 1008 grade steel, and uses 16 N38 grade neo magnets. The back plate, and both gap plates are flat discs. We use 8 columns to space the lower gap plate up, and 8 columns to space the upper gap plate. Each column is capped with a neo ring - those are the magnets for the system. The lighter colored tops on each column are the neo magnets.



Columns are 7/8" diameter. Overall diameter is 8.75", and it's 7.125" tall. Yes, it's deep, but when you consider it has a clean 6.5" of linear stroke, well, you understand where that height comes from! And it's really not that heavy - only 46 pounds for the motor assembly. And yes, it uses our patent pending motor technology, XBL^2.

Sixteen total columns, each with a screw at each end. And the pole is held in with 4 more screws - a total of 36 screws. These aren't small screws, either - 1/4"x20 bolts.

At the 2004 CES we showed a 24" square baffle unit, with a Qts of 0.72 and an Fs of 7 Hz. Flat anechoic response to 6 Hz. And capable of over 66 liters of linear air displacement! That generates reference level (121 dB SPL) output at 20 Hz, when sitting naked in a room - no room gain, no baffle, no box required. The first true dipole driver (not sub - no baffle, remember!) that can do reference outputs. With flat output to the single digits. How's that for a driver?

Yeah, we got kind of extreme. Expect any less from Adire? As for the price, Well, if you gotta ask... Basic charge for the motor is $3000. Final cost depends upon the application - diaphragm size, voice coil config, any changes required (note that it's trivially easy to add more stroke - lengthen the voice coils, use taller columns, and we're there), finishes (powder coat, anodizations, paint, etc) will all affect the total price; figure in the $5000-$8000 range for most "normal" application.

So how far can you go? A 48" x 48" panel would be about the limit. Pretty easy to stretch the motor to 12" of peak-to-peak stroke, so that would be around 16 cubic FEET of displacement (over 450 liters of linear displacement). Now THAT would be a monster!

I agree, however nothing is worse than sloppy bass.