Description
Cube Audio F10 Select fullrange driver
F10 Select is the newest 10″ fullrange driver. It opens the 10″ line and is the easiest driver to apply in a DIY projects. Being a fullrange driver that requires no crossover while keeping high 8 Ohm impedance and 90 dB efficiency makes it perfect driver for any DIY design. We recommend bass reflex, TQWT or Open Baffle designs.
F10 Select Drivers
Cube Audio magical sound character
Sounds excellent not only with tube amps but also with many class D & T chip amps
Rubber surround – at least 30 years lifespan for the drivers
Underhung magnetic motor design
Great for Bass Reflex, Sealed, TQWT and Open Baffle designs
No crossover is necessary for a single-driver speaker configuration
Free DIY plans are available
Price 2990 euro per pair of drivers – an estimated cost for DIY speakers: 3500 euro
So what are the main differences between the F10 Neo and F10 Select drivers?
The F10 Select driver has a ferrite-based magnetic motor and maintains the same magnetic field gap of 9 mm with an underhung design. The X-max value of both drivers is the same; thus, the cone control by the magnetic motor for F10 Select is very good. However, due to the lower magnetic field (1.7 Tesla) of F10 Select, the sound contour and microdetails, while still extraordinarily good and way above those of the majority of audiophile speakers, are not at the same groundbreaking level as in the Nenuphars.
We also knew that we wanted to end up with smaller loudspeakers than the Nenuphar, so to keep the sound balance that we all like, the efficiency of the drivers had to be brought down a bit. We decided to aim for a sensitivity of 90 dB since it is the value that would work out beautifully with over 99% amplifiers on the market. The drivers have an impedance of 8 Ohm
and are very easy to drive. Basically, any 8W SE 300B amplifier would be able to rock the house.
Also, F10 Select is our first driver using a rubber surround. It is heavier than the equivalent one made of foam. However, since we needed to add more mass to the driver to obtain excellent balance in a smaller cabinet, it was a perfect opportunity to increase the longevity of the drivers at the same time. The rubber surround of the driver should last for at least 30 years, as compared to about 15 years for the foam ones. The cabinets of the Jazzon loudspeakers using F10 Select drivers are smaller than those of the Nenuphars. They are 10 cm smaller in depth and 5 cm smaller in height, resulting in 30 x 40 x 100 cm cuboid-shaped cabinets.
Why and how do we do it
We believe that fullrange speakers can create an illusion of live music that multiway loudspeakers struggle to match. Amazing soundstage, absolute holography, magical midrange, open and direct sound that gives you the most emotional presentation possible of your favorite music.
If you have ever heard a good implementation of the fullrange speaker, you know exactly what we are talking about.
Magnetic motor
The voice coil is completely underhung with +- 3 mm excursion in 100% magnetic field strength. Maximum excursion is +- 6 mm. Since the voice coil practically does not leave a magnetic gap, with uniform field strength along all the gap height, the raw power, linearity and reduction of distortions are at their best. In order to maintain 0.01 mm tolerance of all elements, magnetic motor components are manufactured using computer controlled CNC lathes.
The full Neodymium magnet motor contains 81 magnets with a combined weight of 1480 grams and is capable of delivering 2.1 Tesla in the magnetic gap that is 12 mm high. The ultra-powerful motor and specially designed voice coil allow for unheard-of control of the cone.
The Spider
Another unique solution is a lower suspension commonly called the “spider”. After listening to the prototypes with manifold, even the most advanced spiders available for speaker manufacturers, we agreed that we had to develop our own solution. The issue with the spider is that by being a damper it dissipates the energy, that otherwise would be transferred into the speaker cone. It makes the speaker sound weak and dull, so we knew that it is an unacceptable way to go. We wanted a material that does not absorb energy and only transfers it.
After conducting many tests the solution was found and it turned out to be even better than we expected. It is 100 % linear within the maximum excursion of the speakers ( + – 6mm). It behaves like a spring. It does not consume energy by damping, it just positions the voice coil in the magnetic gap. The downside of such technology is that each spider has to be milled with a precise CNC machine. Nevertheless, the advantages are obvious and totally worth it. In order to measure the actual compliance (amount of excursion under known force) of the suspensions, we designed and custom-made the special device to do the measurements. You can see the graph with the measurement comparison of our suspension and classical (resin-soaked cloth) spider below.
Cones and whizzers
Once we had the motor ready and capable to control heavier moving cones and suspensions mass, it was time to do the cones. Plenty of experience for experimenting with 8″ drivers came in handy. We knew where to start with. But that was basically it. 10″ is a completely different beast. For a very long time, we were not satisfied with the sound. There was a time where we didn’t have more bass than from 8″ driver which is basically pointless. Multiple times we had a prototype cone geometry that on measurements was absolutely linear and looking amazing to the point that the studio monitor could be really envious, but the sound was dull and boring. Those times were very frustrating. Sometimes we thought that it is impossible to do a really amazingly sounding 10″ fullrange driver. But we never gave up and experimented more and more with even more drive every next day.
It was definitely worth it. The final design consists of 4 cones. One being the main cone and 3 whizzer cones. The smallest cone is responsible for the highest frequency range. With only one standard whizzer we never would never be able to go up to 18 kHz with a driver that in proper cabinet reaches 30 Hz region. So adding that little whizzer, solved one of the issues that we had. But there were plenty more of them. When you add a whizzer to the cone, there is additional interference between the cone and the whizzer. The mini high-frequency whizzer and the main whizzer got together really well and the sound was way better than without it. There was still a geometry issue present though. Its diameter, height, surface, geometry, stiffness, damping, coating all are a part of the final sound equation.
To achieve the right amount of sound pressure in the desired frequency region the most important of them all is geometry. There was one geometry that gave us amazing rich, colorful midrange, but on the other hand, it interfered with the main cone in such a way, that mods were pumping up mid frequencies. Since “shouty” vocals were not desired, we had to do something about it. Here’s where the third whizzer comes into play. That is a very elegant solution to change the interference mods of the whizzer and the cone. Due to changed geometry and distance, the amplitude of the modes decreased. As a result, the overall sound became sweeter, richer and more natural. At that moment we knew that this is the way to go.
Connecting the dots
Thanks to all the technologies that we developed, we got more control over speaker behaviour, sound character, frequency response and Thiele – Small parameters, than ever before. We deeply believe that the drivers that we are presenting to you will satisfy your needs and are the fullange drivers that you were always looking for.
So as you can see, we are obsessed with pushing boundaries and finding the frontier of what’s possible within the fullrange speaker concept. We are driven by our passion and we will never stop looking for the best sound possible. It is not an 8-hour job for us we do it, because we love it. If you share our passion for full range speakers, look no further. You deserve them.
All of our speakers, cones and voice coils are made and manually assembled in Poland. We take pride in our products and we always aim for the highest quality.
