Gilmore Audio planars revealed


The Gilmore Audio speaker have finally been photographed for the world to see: Gilmore Audio

Disclaimer - I'm a dealer for the Gilmores, though at this point I'm still awaiting my first pair, as they haven't begun shipping yet.

The Gilmores push the edge of the envelope for planar technology in several areas. Innovations include an extremely thin (3 mil) Kapton diaphragm; bass extension to below 20 Hz; easy 8-ohm load combined with 92 dB efficiency (you can drive 'em with Atma-Sphere M-60's!); and maximum output level in the mid to upper 120's.

Designer Mark Gilmore is the webmaster of the Atma-Sphere Owner's Group website, as well as of the Sound Lab Owner's Group site. He's been around for a while, but this is his first commercial loudspeaker design (to the best of my knowledge).

I haven't heard 'em yet so can't comment on the sound (I know, that's all that really matters after all). I'm expecting a pair before the end of the year, and will post comments then.

Duke
audiokinesis
Apologize for what, o sellerwithintegrity? For pointing out that your claims for these speakers might be a tad overblown?

I have speakers using dynamic dipole drivers for the bass so I have an idea what the tradeoffs are, although dipole bass is as good as it gets. If you want a better idea yourself, examine this site carefully:

www.linkwitzlab.com

Regarding the excursion, here is a link to the subwoofer with possibly the highest excursion out there, the Adire Tumult.

http://www.adireaudio.com/diy_audio/drivers/adire/tumult.htm

Notice the very large roll surround that is clearly visible? The Tumult has a 1.5 inch xmax. Your magic woofers are claiming 2 inch. So the surround should be even bigger.

Without the big, flexible surround the cone cannot move in and out by the required amount, since the surround allows the movement to take place. It's quite simple really.

You can tell even from the poor quality photos on the Gilmore site that the surround is nowhere near enough to allow that kind of xmax. Of course, if you care to have the woofers Dumaxed for us and post the results I will eat my words and even say sorry.

http://www.dlcdesignaudio.com/dumax.htm

You may also notice the very large motor on the Tumult, handy to control the cone at those kind of excursions.

The weak motors on the Gilmore drivers are, you stated, to raise the Qts. Presumably to create a low frquency rise in the response to counteract dipole roll off so you don't need active EQ? This is valid design decision but has its own tradeoffs as noted here:

http://www.linkwitzlab.com/faq.htm#Q34

As for the SPL question, I would simply invite anyone who is interested to download the following spreadsheet and plug in the numbers themselves.

http://www.linkwitzlab.com/spl_max1.xls

The path difference is half the baffle width, in this case 450mm.

The answer I got for four 12 inch drivers with a 25mm xmax is 98dB at 25Hz. Just for giggles, keep adding drivers until you get to 127dB. You'll find you need 100 of them.

Of course, the 'so-called expert' who designed this spreadsheet might not know what he is talking about. In which case I suggest you contact Seigfried Linkwitz and tell him yourself. I assume the name is familiar?

You made the claim "The Gilmore speakers, especially the model 2's, can play bass louder and cleaner than any other dipole or planar for sure and any home audio dynamic speakers we know of."

I find the dipople/planar part of this statement at least plausible, but the second part less so. Any other home audio dynamic speaker?

That's a heck of a bold statement. Price no object?

Finally, to suggest that the height of a line source doesn't matter is rather strange. Anyone who has listened to the Newform R645 speaker or other similar ribbon speakers can tell you what happens when you either stand up or sit too low. The treble rolls off.

To avoid this, your ear needs to be within the range of the ribbon, which may be a problem with the Model 3.

As I said earlier, I'm sure these speakers sound great. But to make all these hyperbolic claims taints them with a strong whiff of snake oil.

Have a lovely day.
Yes, there was a typo. Total excursion is 2 inches, which is plus or minus 1 inch, not plus or minus 2 inches. It's as simple as that. A number of people on the forum figured that out by themselves. I wanted to make sure that it was clear. That' what people with integrity do -- they admit when they are wrong and stand firm when they believe that they are right.
Yes, that pricing is correct. Sorry, but I was not permitted by the moderator to state the price. I tried to answer the forum earlier. We are able to offer that price because we will be selling them predominantly through home-based showrooms, rather than through the traditional dealer network -- otherwise they would have to be priced even higher. We hope to have a national network of these home showrooms in the near future. Eight should be open before Christmas.
If you go on ebay, you can see the reports on me as "buyerwithintegrity". A perfect record with over 600 transactions. I took this name on audiogon several years ago before I even met Mark Gilmore. I took this moniker because I believe that integrity is one of the most important qualities that anyone can have in their business dealings. And I believe that I set a standard when it comes to doing business with integrity. I have been that way my whole life. I hope that you will have the opportunity to meet me so that you can look me in the eye and see for yourself. Fortunately, some of you have seen the satirical tone in the ads. A big part of audio for me is having fun. One of the most fun things in life is being involved with beautiful things. I have been involved with music for most of my life -- still play with some of the best guys on their instruments in the world. I have dreamed my whole life of having the finest musical reproduction system in the world. And when you think about what very serious audiophiles spend, what we have to offer brings the "best of class" within many more people's reach. I am sorry that we can not sell these speakers for 1/4 the price. That would make me very happy. My father was one of the founders of the discount store industry in this country -- discounting is in my blood. But I can say without reservation that these speakers are well worth the money relative to those offerings that aspire to be the best.

Some of you know that Duke and Albert Porter are serious folks and well-meaning folks. WE have a lot of such people assoicated with us: Mr. Tri Dung from Tri-Planar; Mr. Roger West from Soundlab whose speakers changed my life; Ralph Karsten from Atma-Sphere, winner of more Golden Ear Awards than any other company as far as we know; Donna and Kirk from SOTA turntables; Bob from Sound Anchor; the Magnans from Magnan Cables; All wonderful people, trying to do the right thing, with a great passion for music and music reproduction.

We are for real...and we respect healthy and respectful skepticism. We have no problem proving ourselves to the audiophile community. We feel confident about our ability to gain the respect of those who are sincere and knowledgeable. The product in our opinion speaks for itself. The claims we make aare as we see it, measure it and hear it. I hope after hearing and seeing Mr. Gilmore's creations that you will agree that it is special.
I do not know Mr. Errivera; but it is obvoius that he has first-hand experience and has some important insights for all to read. Mark GIlmore has a set of modified Amazings in his living room. As I said before, Mr. Carver's speakers were a wonderful inspiration to Mark to reach even higher -- to achieve something even more remarkable. The efficiency issue has been solved and the GIlmore speakers offer many other enhancements. I appreciate Mr. Errivera's comments. Thank you sir.