Lightningboy
Experienced
Hey guys
Not been posting much due to gigging and recording schedule but been lurking around here and there and just wanted to update everyone that's interested on the developments on the Matrix active and passive FRFR wedges. I've seen a few posts and some speculation in different threads so thought it may be a good idea to get everything down in one place and hopefully update everyone as to where Matrix are in the land of FRFR.
THE STORY SO FAR!
So back in March 2012 we tested and showed off a prototype FRFR wedge. Powered by a GM50 module and featuring a B&C 12HCX76 coaxial driver, we demo'd a couple of these wedges at the guitar show at that time. We gathered feedback from people at that show as well as further ideas, improvements and as much live testing as we could, putting the wedge through its paces. We implemented some improvements into a MK2 wedge, these were mainly cosmetic such as handle placement and different coating etc. At the same time we also developed a wedge with a lower/mid range driver in a passive model (seen in photo below). This was the MK1 CFR12, with the Celestion TF1225CX driver.
Both wedges were good but not quite good enough. We felt that the MK2 active wedge although looking better, didn't sound as good as the MK1 so it was back to the lab to get a hybrid of both those (MK1 sound with MK2 cosmetics). The passive wedge was ok but we wanted to see if we could better it so we decided to increase the baffle thickness as well as tinker with the crossover.
Some time passed........
In time for the next UK guitar show (May), I get two new MK2 Celestion passive wedges delivered to me for sounding and beta testing. Raced to the rehearsal room and powered up......holy shit! It's a home run! These things are seriously good....IMO! Not content with just my word on it though so we reveal the Celestion driven CFR12 at the show. The reaction is overwhelming. We have to keep pointing out that the 4x12 we had there wasn't plugged in and that the sound was coming from the 2 smallest speakers there!
We also get the B&C driven MK3 GFR12a's in time for the show, just in time to quickly demo, compare and get some more feedback and then send to Fractal for the NY Amp Show for them to evaluate. We kinda knew what the reaction and feedback was going to be as by now we'd had the B&C driven wedge in front of a lot of people but it was still valuable none the less to receive it, especially from a set of ears belonging to the guys that did the Axe FX!!
The feedback we got was it seemed a bit too bright at "normal" volumes. At gigging and onstage volumes the B&C driver has a lot more oomph and bottom end than at low to medium volumes. Still crystal clear in the mids and high, just seemed like the HF driver because it's so efficient, wasn't letting the LF driver get a look in until it was cranked. (Just my layman's opinion there, no technical facts to back that up) As has been stated elsewhere on the forum, we have a couple of options to tweak this right and we're currently re-working the crossover again to correct that. That's ongoing as we speak. No conspiracy or mexican stand-off or seeing who blinks first, just simply that we want to get the product right for everyone, bedroom as well as gigging players. Andy Hunt is the kind of guy that won't release a piece of gear unless it's been tested to it's limits and is sonically right. With a monitor, that means taking it out on the road and loading it in and out, knocking it about, sweating on it, spilling beer if needs be so that it continues to do the job day after day, night after night.....bit like an AK47!
So with all that in mind we decided last week to have a mini shootout and put our products up against some others. Matt's posted a photo from that day here http://forum.fractalaudio.com/amps-cabs/55157-matrix-gfr12a-active-wedges.html
We tested the RCF NX12-SMA which seems to be the speaker of choice at the moment for modelling users. We also tested out the D&B M4 monitor with it's matching amp. This thing is one of the industry standard high level wedges that you'll find on alot of big stages. They'll only let you hire out the speaker with it's corresponding amp so that's what we did! Also present was a D&B clone with a 15" coaxial (B&C I think) and a Matrix 15" prototype (B&C driver). Bringing up the rear is a little powered 8" wedge which has a Volt FR220 driver in it Volt Loudspeakers - FR220.1 seriously great driver I just plonked into a small wedge. We tested these against our passive CFR12 and the active GFR12 (Celestion and B&C respectively).
Firstly let me say how impressed we were with the RCF. A lot smaller than I thought, well constructed and nice design with some good features. Soundwise, plenty of bottom end, a slight compression in the lower mids and the high end seemed a little brittle. The "digital" amp powering it may have had an impact on that or indeed the DSP. Not bad and certainly I liked the bottom end with guitar through it but when faced with music, it seemed a little "unfocussed". The D&B M4 was up next. I can see why this is used on plenty of stages. Great bottom end, not too flabby and tight and focussed. Clear in the mids and highs. Like a big hi-fi speaker that goes really really loud! Easily the benchmark to aim for.
The question was how would the Matrix stuff hold up against it?
The GFR12 active wedge held up well. The B&C driver in the D&B is the 15" version of the one in our wedge so aside from the bottom end issue, the results were very similar. However the GM100 module in the GFR12 will tip the balance I feel when we get the MK4 version with the new bottom end tweaked.
The real surprise though was the Celestion CFR12. We ran that through a GT1000FX. We were surprised how easily it kept up with the D&B, not much to choose between the 2 with a slight leaning towards the Matrix as being better, very close though.
Whether or not you take our word for it is up to you (we've not disappointed so far!! lol) but at the moment this is where it's at.
The B&C powered active GFR12 is waiting on tweaks to help the bottom end. No timescale yet that I've been made aware of.
The Celestion powered passive CFR12 is in production as we speak, all built in the UK, wood on the router, drivers on the shelf and I think some pre-orders have been taken already, release very soon.
Other products still in development, on the drawing board, in the brain.
I'm sure Matt or even Andy will chip in with anything I've missed or retold in error.
Not been posting much due to gigging and recording schedule but been lurking around here and there and just wanted to update everyone that's interested on the developments on the Matrix active and passive FRFR wedges. I've seen a few posts and some speculation in different threads so thought it may be a good idea to get everything down in one place and hopefully update everyone as to where Matrix are in the land of FRFR.
THE STORY SO FAR!
So back in March 2012 we tested and showed off a prototype FRFR wedge. Powered by a GM50 module and featuring a B&C 12HCX76 coaxial driver, we demo'd a couple of these wedges at the guitar show at that time. We gathered feedback from people at that show as well as further ideas, improvements and as much live testing as we could, putting the wedge through its paces. We implemented some improvements into a MK2 wedge, these were mainly cosmetic such as handle placement and different coating etc. At the same time we also developed a wedge with a lower/mid range driver in a passive model (seen in photo below). This was the MK1 CFR12, with the Celestion TF1225CX driver.
Both wedges were good but not quite good enough. We felt that the MK2 active wedge although looking better, didn't sound as good as the MK1 so it was back to the lab to get a hybrid of both those (MK1 sound with MK2 cosmetics). The passive wedge was ok but we wanted to see if we could better it so we decided to increase the baffle thickness as well as tinker with the crossover.
Some time passed........
In time for the next UK guitar show (May), I get two new MK2 Celestion passive wedges delivered to me for sounding and beta testing. Raced to the rehearsal room and powered up......holy shit! It's a home run! These things are seriously good....IMO! Not content with just my word on it though so we reveal the Celestion driven CFR12 at the show. The reaction is overwhelming. We have to keep pointing out that the 4x12 we had there wasn't plugged in and that the sound was coming from the 2 smallest speakers there!
We also get the B&C driven MK3 GFR12a's in time for the show, just in time to quickly demo, compare and get some more feedback and then send to Fractal for the NY Amp Show for them to evaluate. We kinda knew what the reaction and feedback was going to be as by now we'd had the B&C driven wedge in front of a lot of people but it was still valuable none the less to receive it, especially from a set of ears belonging to the guys that did the Axe FX!!
The feedback we got was it seemed a bit too bright at "normal" volumes. At gigging and onstage volumes the B&C driver has a lot more oomph and bottom end than at low to medium volumes. Still crystal clear in the mids and high, just seemed like the HF driver because it's so efficient, wasn't letting the LF driver get a look in until it was cranked. (Just my layman's opinion there, no technical facts to back that up) As has been stated elsewhere on the forum, we have a couple of options to tweak this right and we're currently re-working the crossover again to correct that. That's ongoing as we speak. No conspiracy or mexican stand-off or seeing who blinks first, just simply that we want to get the product right for everyone, bedroom as well as gigging players. Andy Hunt is the kind of guy that won't release a piece of gear unless it's been tested to it's limits and is sonically right. With a monitor, that means taking it out on the road and loading it in and out, knocking it about, sweating on it, spilling beer if needs be so that it continues to do the job day after day, night after night.....bit like an AK47!
So with all that in mind we decided last week to have a mini shootout and put our products up against some others. Matt's posted a photo from that day here http://forum.fractalaudio.com/amps-cabs/55157-matrix-gfr12a-active-wedges.html
We tested the RCF NX12-SMA which seems to be the speaker of choice at the moment for modelling users. We also tested out the D&B M4 monitor with it's matching amp. This thing is one of the industry standard high level wedges that you'll find on alot of big stages. They'll only let you hire out the speaker with it's corresponding amp so that's what we did! Also present was a D&B clone with a 15" coaxial (B&C I think) and a Matrix 15" prototype (B&C driver). Bringing up the rear is a little powered 8" wedge which has a Volt FR220 driver in it Volt Loudspeakers - FR220.1 seriously great driver I just plonked into a small wedge. We tested these against our passive CFR12 and the active GFR12 (Celestion and B&C respectively).
Firstly let me say how impressed we were with the RCF. A lot smaller than I thought, well constructed and nice design with some good features. Soundwise, plenty of bottom end, a slight compression in the lower mids and the high end seemed a little brittle. The "digital" amp powering it may have had an impact on that or indeed the DSP. Not bad and certainly I liked the bottom end with guitar through it but when faced with music, it seemed a little "unfocussed". The D&B M4 was up next. I can see why this is used on plenty of stages. Great bottom end, not too flabby and tight and focussed. Clear in the mids and highs. Like a big hi-fi speaker that goes really really loud! Easily the benchmark to aim for.
The question was how would the Matrix stuff hold up against it?
The GFR12 active wedge held up well. The B&C driver in the D&B is the 15" version of the one in our wedge so aside from the bottom end issue, the results were very similar. However the GM100 module in the GFR12 will tip the balance I feel when we get the MK4 version with the new bottom end tweaked.
The real surprise though was the Celestion CFR12. We ran that through a GT1000FX. We were surprised how easily it kept up with the D&B, not much to choose between the 2 with a slight leaning towards the Matrix as being better, very close though.
Whether or not you take our word for it is up to you (we've not disappointed so far!! lol) but at the moment this is where it's at.
The B&C powered active GFR12 is waiting on tweaks to help the bottom end. No timescale yet that I've been made aware of.
The Celestion powered passive CFR12 is in production as we speak, all built in the UK, wood on the router, drivers on the shelf and I think some pre-orders have been taken already, release very soon.
Other products still in development, on the drawing board, in the brain.
I'm sure Matt or even Andy will chip in with anything I've missed or retold in error.
