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The subject of electromagnetic, or as they called field-coil drivers, popped up at my site numerous times. (Look as it list of related threats). The advances or shortcomings of electromagnetic drivers are arguable, I have my vision, but it is not the point. Lately the electromagnetic drivers got a lot of marketing momentum, I believe that is BS momentum but it is me. What is the most fascinating for me in this subject is the price of electromagnetic drivers.

The poor drivers from the mid of the last century that Morons usually buy and sell for $40-$50 each become suddenly $500 each as soon as they feature instead of permanent magnet the  field coils. The contemporary attempts of the different manufacturers to produce field coil drivers set a new price rank. If and OK vintage compression driver might cost $500-$1000, and some of the exotic drivers might coast to $3,000 then, as soon the similar drivers have electromagnet than the price jumps to $10,000-$40,000. Ridiculous, isn’t?

Well, the ridiculous in this fact is not the price itself but complete lock of the price justification. As far as I know in the today's world no one spends dedicated and targeted efforts to assess and to interpret the idiosyncrasy off the sound that might be coming out of compression drivers this electromagnet. Even if someone is trying to make more on less survivable field coil drivers then no one think about field coil drivers in context off complete system and how the field coil’s benefits or shortcomings might be positively capitalize in context off entire playback installation. So, different manufacturers just produce is more on less degree of success electromagnet drivers and price them whatever the hell they want. Well, there is nothing wrong with it, how would it be different from any other high-end audio item? However, the more fascinating thing in this subject is that the price of field coil driver not necessarily should be higher then the price of a driver this permanent magnet, in fact I personally feel that it should be even less.

The permanent magnet drivers and field coil drivers shell be different by design, primary because the field coil drivers require architecture which would allow cooling off the field coil . If this condition is handled via the driver design then everything else is very simple (besides assessing of the sound of about and presuming that all other issues regarding diaphragm, suspension, exit, compressions, reflections, phase plug, and many others are taking care). Let's be reasonable: no one uses super exotic (expensive) materials to manufacture pole pieces, no one wires the field coil with rectangular wire, no one matches the gap magnetizing force to the diaphragm’s damping. People just turn coils around of relatively simplistic and primitive magnetic systems, plug the coils in mostly very extremely crude and poorly sounding power supplies, load the field coil drivers into severally underperforming horns, organize the installations in very compromised fashions, drive this thing with DJ amplifiers and is then, they declare that the driver is at way present is the Mecca of field coil apology, if not Mecca but it least it might coast $ $50,000 a pair. The sad irony is that for this price the park of the expensive field coil drivers remains mostly not evaluated by a wide audio community.

Sure, within this environment it is very simple to spread mythical narratives about imaginary advances of drivers which cost $50,000. With this price you don't need to sell them a lot. You need to be able to find a dozen Morons a year and you can pay a nice mortgage in Tokyo’s suburb. I do not feel any problem with it business wise but I do feel is that based upon this price policy the concept of electromagnetic drivers is still losing its ability to be objectively validated.

I presume that if there was at shop, let's presume at come pressure driver distributor, where on the very same shelves and at the very same price, there were a dozens of permanent magnet and electromagnetic compression drivers, and the people were able to access them, evaluate them, without any regard to price and without being exposed to Hi-Fi marketing paranoia, then the sad BS-glory and mystical aura around field-coil drivers, that so many people are suffering in audio, would be greatly reduced or perhaps even eliminated.

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