Advanced Ribbon Technologies
In-Wall, In-Pillar and Invisible Ribbon Loudspeakers™

The Advanced Ribbon Technologies' Invisible Ribbon Loudspeaker modules are designed for uncompromised sonic performance and uncomplicated installation in medium-to-large home theaters.

The fundamental concept of the Advanced Ribbon Technologies' in-wall and in-pillar mountable transducers is to provide audiophile-quality sound while being minimally intrusive.

The cornerstones of the product are:

1) Excellence in sound quality;

2) Ease of Installation;

3) East of Integration

3) Long Term Performance

Ribbon loudspeakers are legendary for their sound quality. The Advanced Ribbon Technologies' transducers represent the pinnacle of ribbon transducer design. Built as a true ribbon, with the diaphragm directly driven by the amplifier (not through a transformer) and an open motor structure completely absenct of reflections in front of and behind the diaphragm, the .A.R.T. ribbons display a level of clarity well beyond the capabilities of all other dome, cone and planer-magnetic "pseudo-ribbon" drivers. Combining high efficiency, easy drivablility, enormous excursion capability, superior sonics and our patent-pending Sweet Field™ technology, the sound quality of an .A.R.T. In-Wall and In-Pillar ribbons are equal to that of the best dedicated two-channel systems.

Part of the magic of a line source transducer is that it eliminates a cylindrical wave front the entire height of the line source, which decays very slowly with distance and expands little in height as it moves through the listening area. Unlike the hemispherical wave front created by virtually all dome and cone drivers, the ribbon's cylindrical wave front does not suffer from floor or ceiling reflections over distance. This means that even at considerable distance from the ribbon, its sound is still remarkably clean fully intelligible.

The .A.R.T. ribbons final advantage is in speed: The ribbon diaphragm weighs less than two grams, and it is driven by over forty pounds of magnetic material. The ribbon can move more air faster than any other kind of loudspeaker.

The underlying concept is that the ribbon transducer should be mounted with little difficulty and, after final installation, be completely unobtrusive. To this end, we have consulted with both with building contractors and installers to develop a product which blends completely and effortlessly into the theater environment.

Complete installation of the .A.R.T. ribbon drivers consists of three critical elements: the initial physical installation of the wiring and rear cabinet; the builder finishing the wall surface, and the final installation of the ribbon driver and lens.

Physical installation is simple as the in-wall cabinets are pre-configured on sixteen inch centers to drop into standard framing construction. The In-Pillar ribbon modules can be easily customized to fit the pillar framing, with a minimum width of seven inches and a maximum depth of eight inches. Each ribbon module is entirely self contained, and consists of a robustly made chamber which mounts to existing wall studs. This chamber houses the ribbon's passive crossover network and is filled with rear-wave absorbing material, and is pre-cut to accept the ribbon driver. External connection points are provided on both the top and bottom of the cabinets to attach to the amplifier cable. A minimum of 14 gauge OFHC copper wiring is suggested, 12 gauge for longer runs.

The builder has two options: For paneled walls, the builder mush machine the lens into paneling, finish the panel as usual, then align the machined lens with the ribbon aperture and install the rest of the paneling from there. For sheetrock walls, the face of the In-Wall Ribbon cabinet is designed to match standard sheetrock thicknesses, with the edges chamferred and face paper coated, so the cabinet face accepts joint compound, tape, and after final sanding blends invisibly into the wall. After the painters finish, the final step is for the installer to drop in the ribbon and pop on the face plate lens. Face plates come primed and may be finished on site. A few standard finishes are also available from stock.

The R1.1 ribbons have a bandwidth of 100 Hz to 20kHz, whilst the R.7 ribbons operate from 135 Hz to well beyond 20kHz. Both come with a built in high pass filter which protects the ribbons from overexcursion and thermal overload. Integrating directly to a subwoofer is as simple as setting the subwoofer amplifiers' crossover frequency, absolute phase and volume level.

R.7 Frequency Response measured at 2 meters

Frequency Response of the R.7 In-Wall is shown above. This measurement is taken at 7 feet (apporoximately two meters), on the "seated" listening axis which here is configured for 40 inches (on meter) above the floor. Frequency response measures an extraordinary 180Hz to beyond 20kHz, ±2dB. The -6dB point is 135Hz, which is the suggested subwoofer crossover frequency. The R.7 exhibits frequency response superior to most 2-way monitors, yet is a single, continuous source. The remarkable clarity and sense of continuity is due to R.7's ultra-wide bandwidth.

In-Wall Input Impedance through Stock Crossover Network

The R.7's input impedance is shown above, measured though the crossover. This is the impedance which the amplifier "sees". Above 200Hz, the impedance minimum is 2.50 Ohm at 550 Hz and the maximum is 7.5 Ohm at 5kHz. This is a very easy load for most quality transistor amplifiers to drive; however, a minimum amplifier power rating of 100 Watts into 8 Ohm and 200 Watts into 4 Ohms is suggested.

R.7 In-Wall Crossover Module

Above in the In-Wall crossover module. The crossover is constructed of the highest quality passive components, including 12 Gauge air core inductors, polypropylene film and film-foil capacitors, and custom made resistors. All connections are point-to-point, crimped-then-soldered, and built with silver-clad copper wiring. All components are hand matched to ±0.5% before assembly and re-tested after assembly.

Long Term Performance

Advanced Ribbon Technologies' ribbon transducers consist of only a single moving part, the ribbon diaphragm, which consists a custom made aluminum alloy bonded to Kapton® film via a high temperature silicone adhesive. All materials are manufactured in the USA to the highest military-spec standards, which are far more stringent than even the highest consumer grade standards. Long term testing has confirmed that our ribbon diaphragms are nearly indestructible. Even at extremely high volume levels, where the ribbon is using all of its one inch peak-to-peak excursion and becomes so hot that one can actually see the heat ripples coming from the diaphragms' surface, the ribbons continue to function effortlessly.

All .A.R.T. home theater transducers are designed and constructed with dedicated, built in high-pass passive crossover networks which protect the ribbon diaphragm from both overexcursion and thermal overload. Because of the execution of this passive network, amplifier DC offset and turn-off pulse which can damage actively crossed over drivers can not harm an .A.R.T. ribbon.

.A.R.T. 1.1 In-Wall Ribbon loudspeaker system ….pricing available upon request, available only to CEDIA-trained dealers, please contact North Creek Music Systems, Inc., info@NorthCreekMusic.com.

Advanced Ribbon Technologies

www.NorthCreekMusic.com, Info@NorthCreekMusic.com