Thanks for asking for further explanation Tom.
The MTD comes in several different configurations. The AAB1x1 is the cone I designed as the upgrade to the AudioPoint, it's a solid cone as well but when you go to the site you can see the shape difference.
As Tom pointed out and has been explained several times on the forum here, Brent (AMD) was the original designer of the cone Starsound uses and the cone I first distributed as some of you recall Michael Green's Audiopoint. Before the Audiopoint I used German Acoustic Cones. The Audiopoint I felt was a much better transfer cone for my rack designs, The ClampRak and JustaRak. These Audio Racks and the BasicRak all came with bottom cones which I designed with Brent. As I started dealing with custom products such as the cones for Klipsch and other different thread sizes and configurations I started to notice a shift in pitch that the original Audiopoint made that was becoming apparent and fatiguing in certain applications. This is when I started slowing reconfiguring the product line, moving the production to Pennsylvania for the specialty points. In fact some of the review samples of the Audiopoints were from the Pennsylvania location not AMD. In time we decided to move on from the original design and started making the MTD. Part of this decision was so I could monitor the production and refine the product. We got our own CNC and moved forward.
From that moment on the MTD took on it's own life. In time I designed the Sonic Bell and MTD round tip. I never returned to the disk used for the Audiopoint to rest in. This was a flawed design from the beginning. Different woods actually became a much better step between the point and surface. I recommend when people use brass cones that they use wood on top and bottom. It's been impressive to watch all the cones and feet develop. I've also seen a lot of creative DIY cones out there. The ones that interest me the most are the brass/wood combos.
The MTD Sonic Bell
The Sonic Bell is another cool cone that is pretty versatile. Took me forever the get the bell the way I wanted but once I heard it I knew I landed on something special.
Tom talks about me not knowing my product, but neither he nor Robert were around when the development of the Audiopoint and MTD were conceived and refined. The cones were designed 8 or so years before Robert was even on the scene. I understand all product makers need to have their feeling of pride, and in HEA their mystical story that only they understand, but these stories mean very little to me except when I am on TuneLand. You explain something here and your going to have 200 folks debating for their amateur hour award.
If Tom and Robert were sincere in their approaching me it then could be worth something but I doubt that will ever happen. So be it. In the past 15 years or so I've been moving much more toward the sound of wood and the ability of wood to respond to vibratory response.
Tom talks about wood going out of tune, actually brass goes out of pitch much faster than most woods. Brass is also more sensitive to temperature change and humidity change. Wood moves with conditions, metals change pitch. Lets say you have your component off over night or even playing at a lower volume. You come in and turn the volume up. Obviously the cone reacts to the vibration and heat change. It doesn't take much to change the pitch of that cone, whereas wood responds to nature because it is nature. Trees live their whole lives keeping with the timing of nature.
hope this explains a little more
Michael Green
