Schmitti Memorial as in Klang+Ton 6/06

The Schmitti Memorial, an unusual speaker with high efficiency and lots of power, was developed by Christian Gather and Holger Barske.

The project was initiated by Heinz Schmitt, the late editor in chief of Klang+Ton. Now, the staff of the editorial office completed this project to honour an commemorate Heinz Schmitt. The goal was to design a rather unusual, not just a run-off-the-mill speaker. And certainly, the team succeeded in doing this.

The following driver were used:
- Mundorf AMT 2830 Air Motion Transformer
- PHL 2520 midrange driver
- 24 inch Precision Device PD 2450 bass driver by Cantare

The 61 cm bass driver with a voice coil of 150 mm diameter is capable to generate low bass with high efficiency in a 360 litre cabinet. It was quite difficult to find a matching midrange driver. Eventually, we came across the PHL 2520, a PA midrange driver distributed in Germany by Achenbach. To shift any possible baffle step effects to lower frequencies the driver was equipped with a circular front plate.

Excerpt of the Klang+Ton review in 6/2006:
... "Despite a relatively unobtrusive appearance, the enormous bass driver diaphragm suggests that an unparalleled inferno will befall the poor listener when the volume is cranked up. How wrong. The Schmitti Memorial has not been designed as a PA speaker dressed up in a hi-fi outfit. Don't make the mistake to judge the tonal balance by the distribution of driver diaphragm areas. The 24 inch driver behaves a lot more civilised than expected. In the first place, the Schmitti Memorial is a high resolution speaker with real monitor qualities, not just a dumb and slow low bass hooligan. Clearly, the midrange driver and the tweeter are calling the tune, the bass driver is just a supplement - that's it. Large diaphragms usually indicate high energy, and here the PHL midrange driver proves to be the ideal partner for the energy brimming AMT. Purity, clarity and a subjectively loud but disciplined way of playing are properties of this tweeter. I tend to talk about course dynamics, although this sound a bit strange when talking about a high frequency driver. The PHL is complements this exceptional tweeter without leaving a gap, ensuring a deep insight into the musical events. You can call this performance direct, frank and even a little merciless - lovers of classic, British miniature monitors might have their problems with this one. The bass driver's big moment arrives when authority is needed. There are no big bangs as sometimes heard with horn type speakers, but large drums are reproduced in a way I have seldom experienced before. But then, this is not a big surprise, since a bass drum has a similar radiating area to the driver's diaphragm. The reproduced size of those percussion instruments is just perfect, only for that reason this enormous saucer pays off. Low frequencies need space. Is the listening position closer than, let's say four metres, then the reproduced sound stage is far too big and spectacular. Moving further away from the speakers the sound become more integrated, almost detached from the speakers and might even become small and intimate. Within limits the sound character may be altered. In my opinion a transistor monster would only be an adequate partner if demolishing of building is one of your hobbies. However, to really enjoy music this speaker should be partnered with either a Class A or valve amp. Since the subject of cables at 96 dB is irrelevant we could also try one of the single ended triodes. Our tuned Dynavox? Connected to the Schmitti Memorial this amp means business. It's certainly not a combination for sensual moments, but unbeatable at a party. This is an extreme loudspeaker in every aspect. Since the pace of this speaker is not really decent, handling could become critical. But now we have come full circle with the person lending his name to the speaker. Heinz Schmitt was also a man of loud and clear words, he also had oomph, even though he didn't display it openly – just like this loudspeaker. The editorial office of Klang+Ton would be pleased if this speaker could conserve some of Heinz Schmitt's virtues and see to it that his remembrance is kept alive." ...

Our kit consists of:

Price for Schmitti Memorial kit without cabinet per speaker: - not available

Additional components required (available from a hardware store:
- a 150 mm drainpipe
- Parador Akustik Protekt (or any other impact noise damping beneath laminate floors)
We can also supply these materials.

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