First we interview you on the phone. We will ask questions like these to learn about your listening preferences:

What is your price range?

This tells us what level of accuracy and dynamic range to consider in our calculations. If you are listening to music, it tells us whether you would be interested in a system for home listening pleasure or for studio reference. This will determine how far you go into subsonic or ultrasonic. Our minimum order is $1000 per pair.

Do you listen primarily to music or home theatre? This will tell us whether to design for accuracy (to render the fine details of music) or for home theater (to render the pounding subsonic booms and ultrahighs with clarity and pressure you can feel).

What type of music do you listen to? This will tell us how to balance the sound, which drivers to use, the dampening materials to use, how to engineer the crossovers, etc.

What is the size of your listening room? This will tell us how many subwoofers to include in the system, which is generally calculated as approximately one 12" subwoofer for every 3000 cu. ft. of volume, which in turn tells us the power required to drive the system.

What size of box will best fit in your space with other furniture? This will help us assess the ability of your room to render subsonic bass and other details in music or home theater. Lower bass (subsonic, etc.) requires a larger box to render it.

What finish will match your other furniture? This will help you choose the finish for your box, and help determine if you can use one of our standard veneers or if you need a custom wood finish.

Some of the many factors we consider in designing speakers for your precise needs and preferences:

• research and select components and drivers to match your needs
vmatch the crossover points to the specs of the selected drivers
• choose crossover components -- top of the line, metalized polypropylene caps and pure copper air core inductors
• select compatible subwoofers, tweeters and mids to create harmony
• calculate the Thiele-Small (T-S) parameters for bass design
• test each driver and adjust the T-S parameters for actual performance values
• personally tune each driver to achieve maximum results
• calculate finished dynamic range and efficiency (sensitivity)

We research and order whatever drivers will produce the best results for your listening preferences.

The drivers need to be properly matched to deliver the dynamic range you want. Then the crossovers need to be designed to match the drivers. We use primarily American and European sources because that is usually where we find the best quality. For example, in one system we might use a subwoofer from Asia, a tweeter from France, a midrange from the U.S., and combine them all for perfect harmony to create a balanced system.

We design and fabricate our cabinets with tremendous care, so they don't talk back to the speakers.

We use thick, 3/4-inch medium density fiberboard (MDF). Thicker MDF is also available, up to 1.5-inches. Thick MDF is "dead" and eliminates cabinet involvement in the sound. We also use MDF for its excellent rigidity and machining capability and its ability to work well with bracing.

The formica-based laminate we use for the outer finish comes standard in black, cherry, and oak. Real wood finishes are also available (call for quote).

Proper dampening of the cabinet is crucial for a rich, realistic, powerful bass delivery. The fill greatly effects the way the speakers sound. We will select the best material for your listening preferences, choosing between polyfill, open cell foam, and fiberglass. We have found that overdampening is very common, even in popular high-end brands. This gives the bass a muddy sound and destroys the finer aspects of good bass response.

Each cabinet is custom machined -- by hand -- to perfectly fit the driver to avoid unwanted interaction between the driver and cabinet. We use just the right amount of torque to make sure the driver is not loose or overly tight. All joints are welded with silver solder for the best conductivity and flexibility. All connections are hard-wired, using wiring management to reduce potential problems.

We pack and ship each pair of speakers according to the need. For big pairs, we mount them on pallets in a wooden box and ship via the most appropriate carrier in your area. For smaller pairs, we generally ship via UPS, packed with styrofoam in a cardboard box. Delivery times vary depending on carrier and your location. We ship anywhere in the continental U.S.