Technology: Mass loading

One of the main pre-occupations for designers and audiophiles is the pursuit of mechanical integrity; Cast driver frames, heavy cabinets, rigid stands and spikes. But conventional speakers start out with insurmountable disadvantages: The cabinet is neither rigid nor inert. Often, neither is the
floor. Instead a complex system of mass, compliance
and hysteresis is formed. In addition, the forward facing
driver is working at right angles to what is needed, turning
the speaker into a lever against the floor.

The OmniMon turns things the right way up: The forces
generated by the main driver are vertical. Therefore, a
Ø50mm, 16kg (35lb) steel pole is bolted to the driver motor
to couple it through the centre of the cabinet directly to a
22kg (48lb) plinth. This is a 25mm thick steel billet bolted
to a 10mm aluminium plate (providing co-damping). In this
way, everything is aligned on the same axis, and there are
no compliances, angles or levers between the driver and a
38kg (84lb) mass. For comparison, the driver alone has an
inert to moving mass ratio of 100:1. The OmniMon ratio is
2,200:1. This mass loading surpasses all other cabinets
and allows new levels of dynamics, micro-detail and very
tight natural bass to be realized.