ivanrichards

Hello & welcome back to our blog. Occasionally our customer amplifier projects require the input & support of a specialised cabinet builder, for work that is beyond our amp building workshop’s resources. For example, we have utilised the unique cabinet building skills of Mr Peter Davies (ex NSW Central Coast, now resident in Melbourne) several times for our exotic hardwood cabs.

More recently we have enlisted the help of Mr Brandt Horrocks of Hame Speaker Cabinets (Wagga Wagga NSW) to produce a pair of specialised 2×12 cabs for baritone guitar stylist, Mr Chris Earle. As a spin off from that project, Chris also ordered a pair of somewhat more compact 1×12 cabs, one each for Chris & Ivan, for rehearsals & lounge gigs. We will look at the 2×12 cabs in greater detail in a later blog, as part of the broader Chris Earle project.

This 1×12 cab design is a much simplified version of the original 2×12 cab design, which included angled speaker baffles. In both cases, the cab design allows sound to pass through vents on either side of the cab. These vents are not tuned, as in a “bass-reflex” system (ie, the cab is “de-tuned”). Sound emanates from the sides of the cab much as it would from the rear of an open back cab, while providing better dispersion & more consistent tone from venue to venue. In the 2×12 cab design internal angled reflectors push the sound from the rear of the speakers to the side vents.

The end result is a speaker cab that is never “boxy” or “boomy”, with outstanding dispersion, clarity & a solid low-end. The intended companion amp for Chris Earle’s 1×12 cab is a brand new model from the Richards Amplifier Company – Australia: the KT88se, ie a single-ended/class-A KT88 amplifier. This amp will be part of the “British Lead” series, meaning that the front end is voiced as per some of the classic amps from the golden-age of British rock. This amp is the result of months of R&D during 2013, & will be the subject of a future blog.

Please take the time to check out these photos of the new cabs. Regards – IR.

This entry was posted on December 13, 2013 at 12:23 pm and is filed under Amps, Friends of Ivan Richards Audio. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.