Wharfedale Opus2 - Manual (Page 11)

P E R F O R M A N C E B A S S
Opus ² bass units are of two main
types. The smallest cabinets use
a triple laminated cone of glass
/carbon/ glass. Smaller cabinets
intensify reflections that can pass
back through the cone. The special
“tri-lam” construction minimises these
reflections because of its extreme
rigidity. The larger cabinets use
larger drivers and here low cone
mass is of crucial importance in
maintaining impulse response and
performance.
Our latest cone designs for the
large format models utilise our own
bi-carbon weave and laminating
processes. Carbon fibre has
immense
longitudinal
strength and is used in
many structures where
high strength and
light weight are
key requisites.
The
carbon
fibre bundles
are woven and
impregnated with
special bonding
resins that are
subsequently pressure
formed and heat cured. The resulting
material is exceptionally rigid and
exhibits very low levels of internal
resonance. As a consequence,
energy losses in the cone transfer
mechanism are very low. Because
our bass drivers are just that,
their cones maintain true pistonic
action over their entire designed
low frequency range. The cone is
terminated with a large half roll of
synthetic butyl rubber with superb
damping qualities.
Voice coils in high performance
loudspeakers have to withstand
extremes of mechanical stress and
heat. The lateral strength of Opus²
voice coils is very high. We use a
combination of half hard aluminium
and resin bonded glass fibre. The
ability of our voice coils to resist
deformation under extreme stress
contributes towards some of the
lowest distortion figures ever seen in
conventional drivers.
All Opus² large format speakers
are fully magnetically shielded
with additional bucking magnets
and steel covers on the bass
driver magnets. You can
operate an Opus²
speaker close to the
most magnetically
sensitive TV monitor
with no fears
over screen
interference.
In
some
loudspeakers,
motional noise
can be a problem
especially in high
output bass systems. The Opus 2 s
high pressure injection die- cast
aluminium chassis used on our bass
drivers feature an ‘open design’
where narrow legs maximise the
open areas of the frame to all but
eliminate rear reflections. Trapped
or compressed air within the driver
unit can easily move through vents
in the voice coil, through the magnet
structure, through the spider, and
from the underside of the central cap
both through holes in the cone and
the magnet central core.