Sls ribbon drivers, ribbons, ribbon tweeters

SLS PLANAR RIBBON TECHNOLOGY | EVENSTAR^TMAMPLIFIERS | LASS Line Array Simulator Software

PRD1000 DATA SHEET | PRD500 DATA SHEET | RLA/1 WHITE PAPER | LS8695 WHITE PAPER

The key element in the design of our loudspeakers is our new Push Pull Neodymium Ribbon Driver Technology. These ribbons combined with our proprietary wave guides, woofers and cabinet designs create loudspeakers with world-class performance. We've developed a way to manufacture our loudspeaker drivers with new materials and are able to achieve extremely high output levels with fast transient response and ultra low distortion.

Our high frequency ribbon drivers are capable of producing accurate sound over a wider dynamic range. These design considerations result in loudspeakers that are capable of unprecedented musical detail at high sound levels with much less listener fatigue.

IMPULSE RESPONSE GRAPH

CUMULATIVE SPECTRAL DECAY GRAPH

COMP AND RIBBON LINE ARRAY

Our PRD drivers feature a Kapton diaphragm with an etched aluminum conductive trace that is symmetrically driven by powerful Neodymium magnets. We chose Kapton because it’s lightweight and can handle temperatures as high as 750 degrees Fahrenheit. In fact, the mass of this planar ribbon diaphragm is over 100 times lighter than a typical four inch Titanium compression driver diaphragm and over 50 times lighter than a typical Hi-Fi dome tweeter diaphragm. The result is a driver with incredibly fast transient response, ultra low distortion, high sensitivity and extended frequency response beyond 40 kHz. The flat radiating surface of the ribbon is ideal for the radiation of sound and it is truly iso-phasic. The sound emanates from the ribbon as a coherent wave front that is free from resonance, cancellations or delays. It’s a minimalist approach to producing sound with out compression chambers, throats, phase plugs or voice coil formers. There are no obstructions and the ribbon diaphragm is ideally coupled to the air load in front so the sound expands naturally with even dispersion over its entire frequency range. We even use a proprietary progressive damping technique to effectively absorb the rear-radiated sound preventing it from reflecting out the front of the diaphragm.

Another advantage of the Push Pull Neodymium Planar Ribbon Driver is that it’s a purely resistive load without impedance shifting so it is easily driven by any amplifier. It is also easy to crossover passively or actively. The push pull Neo design means that the ribbon drivers are inherently video shielded. We used FEA computer modeling to design a magnetic structure that wicks away heat.

The Neo ribbons weigh at least five times less than comparable ceramic magnet compression drivers and are less than half of the weight of the more expensive Neodymium magnet compression drivers. They are much smaller in size and don’t require a snout like compression drivers so they are ideal for low profile applications. We carefully investigated the thermodynamics of the ribbon driver and developed a technique to wick away heat by positioning an acoustically transparent metal mesh intimate to the aluminum trace. The net result, our Ribbons handle even more power than compression drivers. For example the PRD1000 will handle up to 1000 W for 200 milliseconds, a typical musical peak. The patent pending SLS ribbons can produce the extreme output needed for pro sound applications and still maintain all the audiophile sound qualities inherent to ribbon transducers.