If one uses the term "神曲", I would guess it must be the much talked about Zanden DAC for the past 2 years to complement the current SOTA Zanden amplifiers
On the other hand, if you use "DIVIN" as a name, I would have guessed a new Wadax Phono to complement the Atlantis series since DiVin Mapper is the name of the phono stage in Wadax pre-1 some years ago...
The “Divin” conference was conducted in two sessions on May 18, 2017. First, we arrived at a small town called Fürstenfeldbruck in the west of Munich, next to the St. Mariä Himmelfahrt church. It is also known as the Church of the Assumption and is one of the most important church in Bavaria. It is unique because the architectural design gracefully combines the elements of Renaissance, Gothic, Romanesque, and Baroque. Likewise, the participants also come from different nationality. Mr. Oliver Goebel from Germany is the chairman, accompanied by his wife Carolin. Mr. Yamada Kazutoshi of Zanden Audio from Osaka, Japan, together with his protégé Masari Mori. Chris Leung, JLam, Master Chik and Marvel from Hong Kong were all present.
Oliver confidently presented the whole development process chronologically to us, followed by an hour of intense discussion over new ideas and technical solutions put forth in this project to the service of music. Divin was a mandate commissioned by Audio Exotics years ago to create a conventional dynamic loudspeaker free of any design constraints with a set of “holistic” technical goals to monitor the development process. It wasn’t easy because it requires a philosophical departure from his thesis of “bending wave" driver. To the genius of Oliver Goebel, the Divin is born with brilliant specifications:
1. Sensitivity of 98db measured at 1M/1WATT
2. Linear impedance curve around 5 ohm +/- 20% between 27hz to 30,000hz - only a small dip at 100hz to 3.1 ohm
3. Constant frequency dispersion. Off axis response has no dips below 12,000hz over a very wide angle
4. Ultra Linear frequency response of 27hz to 21,500hz +/- 0.8db
5. Continuous SPL is over 124db/1M for each channel
6. K2/K3 distortions at 90db are respectively lower than 0.3%/0.1%.
7. Absolute time coherence without phase distortion. (The Divin was measured at the University of Deggendorf in a non-reflective full anechoic chamber, which is certified down to 50hz). The presence of Yamada of Zanden is crucially important because his is the expert of ear-verifying “phase correctness”.
These specifications matter because they are the ends. Searching the right means to reach the ends is the greatest challenge of this project. Form must follow functions, not vice versa, however the potency of consumerism nowadays. This is a very costly project approach because deviation from technical goals often involves overhauls of existing solutions. We did thorough research from the advertisement strategy of numerous flagship loudspeakers between USD100,000 and USD500,000. The conclusions are constant marketing emphasis on the applications of expensive tweeters, structural rigidity of the cabinet, and advancement of material sciences. Undeniably, they contribute technological merits to the final outcome, appealing to different type of supporters. But is that all what it takes to make a good speakers? How do we define a good speakers in the first place?
We shall share the Divin approach with a special technical paper later on, showcasing RMS and moving mass data of all drivers employed. Tremendous efforts on each parts down to the “choice of glue” are meant to preserve timing and phasing to absolute perfection.
The second session of the conference took place in Alling, 6km from the Church of the Assumption. This is where the Divin is born. We were all excited because neither the aesthetic nor the sound descriptions were known prior. I belonged to the first group with Yamada and Mori to enter the scared chamber. When the door was opened, I was totally enraptured by HIM.
He is 8ft tall and 2.6ft wide with a depth of 3.7ft, 420kg per channel. Each channel comprises of 3 separate enclosures: 1 x 18” bass driver on top, followed by 2 x 8” mid-range and 1 x tweeter in the middle, plus another 18” bass driver in the bottom. I could see Yamada and Mori were totally immersed by His sheer presence. JLam and Master Chik were speechless. Marvel was motionless. Oliver and Carolin were silent in benediction.
The room was quiet. Auditioning lasted for an hour till 11:25pm. What matters the most to me is Yamada’s opinion. I still remember vividly the scene where he only took a few seconds to single out the wrong phasing of the tweeters on Avalon’s Sentinel speakers 15 years ago. And he was proven right after verification.
Yamada is an honest man and speaks only truth. I could see he listened earnestly given the intensity of his eyes. For the first time in the past two decades since I knew him as a friend and a business partner, he said to me softly, “Chris san, this speaker has perfect phase. No problem at all. It produces the real size of music.” His endorsement on Divin is religious to me. Then Carolin Goebel opened a bottle of champagne to celebrate the moment of joy because we were all dazzled by the talent of her humble husband.
I must regard the DIVIN as a continuation of the story of the development of hi end speaker. I have followed the methodology of speaker building, as far as I am able, in which the manufacturers design of great conventional and horn speakers upon the thread of the personal experiences of an individual. Chris and I passed through many supreme designs of both camps from the perspective of research/development at the leading edge position of a distributor.
Whereas however in the past decade I filled a responsible but subordinate position, I was in this DIVIN speaker development, in this five years experiment with the local hi end audio market, and in this 5th AE Super Hi End Show, I write therefore from a different standpoint with more authority than was possible in my earlier discussions. DIVIN, I do not describe it as unprecedented, for that belongs to another generation. But I claim with confidence that it is a contribution to history of conventional speaker which will be of service to the future.
With reference to Mr. Yamada, DIVIN has perfect phasing behaviour. I personally have experienced the greatest music enjoyment through DIVIN. If you have never listened to a pair of big speaker with perfect phasing, your comprehension of sound-staging concept hereto is irrelevant. It must not be supposed that I expect everybody to agree with what I say, still less that I only write what will be popular. I give my opinion according to the true music I follow.
“The awful unfolding silence of the future, now with the power of DIVIN conveying the glory of music to man, paves the WAY TO UTOPIA.”
Like everyone, the expectation on AE Super HifiShow is
heightened year after another year.
Being an active member in this community, people would often come to ask
for any insider story when they can’t get too much from the sealed mouth of PT. If one has read the introduction written by
PT for the show this year, there is a room not yet earmarked with a speaker to
be used and this is Project Divin.
I had the honor to join this special close door audition
with Yamada San, Mori San, Master Chik, Jlam and PT in an outskirt area in
Munich after a very relaxed outdoor dinner sitting next to a river with Oliver
Goebel couple. The level of excitement
to join this audition (started at 1030pm till midnight) has surpassed the sum
of all calculated enjoyment from visiting all the rooms in the Munich
show. This is not an exaggerated
statement because the performance of this speaker has easily exceeded my
expectation by a wide margin and could possibly be the best that I have ever
listened in the domain of conventional speaker, notwithstanding its close to
horn efficiency of 98db.
Whilst I would leave PT and Oliver to further unveal the
technical design of this speaker, one thing I would like to highlight is, this
speaker will be sent to a University in Germany shortly to ensure the linear
phase response across all drivers below 25hz above which it has already been
fully proven to have zero phase distortion.
I was subsequently told by PT the impedance fluctuation of this speaker
is very flat along the frequency spectrum.
Many speakers have the spec of 4ohm, 8 ohm, etc but in fact they can go
as low as 3ohm or 2 ohm at lower frequency posting challenge to the power amp
driving it. For power amp without a
constant high current supply, such drop in impedance at lower frequency
compartment would result in sluggishness or slowness. Dietmar designs his Trinity power amp to
address such ‘inaccuracy’ in the impedance spec of most speakers in the market.
The size of the speaker, well, yet another gigantic monster
that would jaw drop every one. I asked
PT why so big, the answer was simple, technology determines the size and shape,
shocking factor is just a by-product not forming part of the original goal
set. The speakers disappear into the
room without much demanding pressure on the power amp driving them. On the other hand, I got the feeling that
such speaker will be cognizant on the acoustics landscape of the listening
room.
My listening experience with Project Divin: REAL. Music appears to come from only one full
range driver with laser focus and perfect harmonization. Tonal picture is no longer composed of pieces
sewed and stitched together, it comes in one contiguous piece without any
overlap or gap. Sonically it
revolutionizes my own belief on what realism means. It is no longer a dramatic or exaggerated
emphasis on certain musical emotions, it is a truthful and unembellished
depiction of the original music recorded!
When I went back to visit all the rooms with mega speaker
system in MOC the next day, I told myself:
A new Star was born last night!!
Salute to PT! I am impressed by the way you cradle AE. I dare say almost 95% of other companies I know are doing trading business.
This kind of project is risky, and no one would do something that aren't sure if there is a market for it. At the same time, this is the successful formula of yours
Comments
what are you guys talking about? What project? I ain't Chinese.
Or maybe new horn speakers from Cessaro? They have Chinese name like 宇宙 and 元霸 etc.
If one uses the term "神曲", I would guess it must be the much talked about Zanden DAC for the past 2 years to complement the current SOTA Zanden amplifiers
On the other hand, if you use "DIVIN" as a name, I would have guessed a new Wadax Phono to complement the Atlantis series since DiVin Mapper is the name of the phono stage in Wadax pre-1 some years ago...
The “Divin Conference”
The “Divin” conference was conducted in two sessions on May 18, 2017. First, we arrived at a small town called Fürstenfeldbruck in the west of Munich, next to the St. Mariä Himmelfahrt church. It is also known as the Church of the Assumption and is one of the most important church in Bavaria. It is unique because the architectural design gracefully combines the elements of Renaissance, Gothic, Romanesque, and Baroque. Likewise, the participants also come from different nationality. Mr. Oliver Goebel from Germany is the chairman, accompanied by his wife Carolin. Mr. Yamada Kazutoshi of Zanden Audio from Osaka, Japan, together with his protégé Masari Mori. Chris Leung, JLam, Master Chik and Marvel from Hong Kong were all present.
Oliver confidently presented the whole development process chronologically to us, followed by an hour of intense discussion over new ideas and technical solutions put forth in this project to the service of music. Divin was a mandate commissioned by Audio Exotics years ago to create a conventional dynamic loudspeaker free of any design constraints with a set of “holistic” technical goals to monitor the development process. It wasn’t easy because it requires a philosophical departure from his thesis of “bending wave" driver. To the genius of Oliver Goebel, the Divin is born with brilliant specifications:
1. Sensitivity of 98db measured at 1M/1WATT
2. Linear impedance curve around 5 ohm +/- 20% between 27hz to 30,000hz - only a small dip at 100hz to 3.1 ohm
3. Constant frequency dispersion. Off axis response has no dips below 12,000hz over a very wide angle
4. Ultra Linear frequency response of 27hz to 21,500hz +/- 0.8db
5. Continuous SPL is over 124db/1M for each channel
6. K2/K3 distortions at 90db are respectively lower than 0.3%/0.1%.
7. Absolute time coherence without phase distortion. (The Divin was measured at the University of Deggendorf in a non-reflective full anechoic chamber, which is certified down to 50hz). The presence of Yamada of Zanden is crucially important because his is the expert of ear-verifying “phase correctness”.
These specifications matter because they are the ends. Searching the right means to reach the ends is the greatest challenge of this project. Form must follow functions, not vice versa, however the potency of consumerism nowadays. This is a very costly project approach because deviation from technical goals often involves overhauls of existing solutions. We did thorough research from the advertisement strategy of numerous flagship loudspeakers between USD100,000 and USD500,000. The conclusions are constant marketing emphasis on the applications of expensive tweeters, structural rigidity of the cabinet, and advancement of material sciences. Undeniably, they contribute technological merits to the final outcome, appealing to different type of supporters. But is that all what it takes to make a good speakers? How do we define a good speakers in the first place?
We shall share the Divin approach with a special technical paper later on, showcasing RMS and moving mass data of all drivers employed. Tremendous efforts on each parts down to the “choice of glue” are meant to preserve timing and phasing to absolute perfection.
The second session of the conference took place in Alling, 6km from the Church of the Assumption. This is where the Divin is born. We were all excited because neither the aesthetic nor the sound descriptions were known prior. I belonged to the first group with Yamada and Mori to enter the scared chamber. When the door was opened, I was totally enraptured by HIM.
He is 8ft tall and 2.6ft wide with a depth of 3.7ft, 420kg per channel. Each channel comprises of 3 separate enclosures: 1 x 18” bass driver on top, followed by 2 x 8” mid-range and 1 x tweeter in the middle, plus another 18” bass driver in the bottom. I could see Yamada and Mori were totally immersed by His sheer presence. JLam and Master Chik were speechless. Marvel was motionless. Oliver and Carolin were silent in benediction.
The room was quiet. Auditioning lasted for an hour till 11:25pm. What matters the most to me is Yamada’s opinion. I still remember vividly the scene where he only took a few seconds to single out the wrong phasing of the tweeters on Avalon’s Sentinel speakers 15 years ago. And he was proven right after verification.
Yamada is an honest man and speaks only truth. I could see he listened earnestly given the intensity of his eyes. For the first time in the past two decades since I knew him as a friend and a business partner, he said to me softly, “Chris san, this speaker has perfect phase. No problem at all. It produces the real size of music.” His endorsement on Divin is religious to me. Then Carolin Goebel opened a bottle of champagne to celebrate the moment of joy because we were all dazzled by the talent of her humble husband.
The Divin conjures infinite emotions.
My Rendezvous with Divin
Like everyone, the expectation on AE Super HifiShow is heightened year after another year. Being an active member in this community, people would often come to ask for any insider story when they can’t get too much from the sealed mouth of PT. If one has read the introduction written by PT for the show this year, there is a room not yet earmarked with a speaker to be used and this is Project Divin.
I had the honor to join this special close door audition with Yamada San, Mori San, Master Chik, Jlam and PT in an outskirt area in Munich after a very relaxed outdoor dinner sitting next to a river with Oliver Goebel couple. The level of excitement to join this audition (started at 1030pm till midnight) has surpassed the sum of all calculated enjoyment from visiting all the rooms in the Munich show. This is not an exaggerated statement because the performance of this speaker has easily exceeded my expectation by a wide margin and could possibly be the best that I have ever listened in the domain of conventional speaker, notwithstanding its close to horn efficiency of 98db.
Whilst I would leave PT and Oliver to further unveal the technical design of this speaker, one thing I would like to highlight is, this speaker will be sent to a University in Germany shortly to ensure the linear phase response across all drivers below 25hz above which it has already been fully proven to have zero phase distortion. I was subsequently told by PT the impedance fluctuation of this speaker is very flat along the frequency spectrum. Many speakers have the spec of 4ohm, 8 ohm, etc but in fact they can go as low as 3ohm or 2 ohm at lower frequency posting challenge to the power amp driving it. For power amp without a constant high current supply, such drop in impedance at lower frequency compartment would result in sluggishness or slowness. Dietmar designs his Trinity power amp to address such ‘inaccuracy’ in the impedance spec of most speakers in the market.
The size of the speaker, well, yet another gigantic monster that would jaw drop every one. I asked PT why so big, the answer was simple, technology determines the size and shape, shocking factor is just a by-product not forming part of the original goal set. The speakers disappear into the room without much demanding pressure on the power amp driving them. On the other hand, I got the feeling that such speaker will be cognizant on the acoustics landscape of the listening room.
My listening experience with Project Divin: REAL. Music appears to come from only one full range driver with laser focus and perfect harmonization. Tonal picture is no longer composed of pieces sewed and stitched together, it comes in one contiguous piece without any overlap or gap. Sonically it revolutionizes my own belief on what realism means. It is no longer a dramatic or exaggerated emphasis on certain musical emotions, it is a truthful and unembellished depiction of the original music recorded!
When I went back to visit all the rooms with mega speaker system in MOC the next day, I told myself: A new Star was born last night!!
This kind of project is risky, and no one would do something that aren't sure if there is a market for it. At the same time, this is the successful formula of yours