• HifiVoice
• Audio
  • Milestones
    • Inspiration Stage
      • Opus Ceramique
      • Opus and Eidolon
      • Avaclones
      • Ceramique Designs
      • Boulder
    • Ceramique Stage
    • Wooden Stage
    • Acoustical Stage
    • Measurement Stage
    • Electrical Stage
    • Financial Stage
    • Information Stage
    • Conclusions
    • Acknowledgements
  • Classic 25
  • iPod
  • DIY DAC

The Inspiration Stage

The Milestones have been inspired by the Avalon Opus Ceramique and the Thiel ceramic speaker units. I've auditioned Thiel ceramic units in many different situations and designs, and their transparent and natural performance has always appealed to me. The Avalon loudspeakers seem to be capable to combine the transparent behavior of the units with a warm and dynamic sound, and I've always liked their form factor. Spending €21.000 for a pair of loudspeakers however does not fit my lifestyle.

My demanding work and other interests prevent me from designing a speaker from scratch. I’m not an experienced speaker designer, and from previous experiments I know that speaker design is more than just a cookbook approach, and requires a lot of time, investments in measurement equipment, components and software. That's why I think starting with a good reference design helps a lot in saving time. It also defines a challenging benchmark.

In 2003, when listening to the Avalon Opus Ceramique speakers at the VAD hi-fi show in the Netherlands, my good friend Gydotron offered me to build look-a-like speaker cabinets. I wouldn't be capable to do this myself because of the lack of tools and experience in woodworking. With this very nice offer of Gydotron, a new milestone was defined!!!


[Gydotron, VAD show, 2002]

Disclaimer

Though I've been inspired by the shape of the Avalon cabinet, it is not my intention to make an exact copy of their design. I respect the intellectual property of Avalon, I have no commercial aspirations with this speaker whatsoever, and I don't want to interfere with their business. If you want a speaker that sounds like an Avalon speaker, I seriously recommend you to buy an Avalon speaker.

As speaker design is an evolutionary process, it makes sense to study what other designers and researchers have done. Therefore you'll find references to publicly available information of existing designs on this website. The purpose is learning, not copying. This is common for all associative design procedures. For instance, he cabinet shape with the tilted edges of the Avalon speakers is inspired by a scientific article of Harry Olson in the Journal of Audio Engineering Society in 1969, called "Direct Radiator Loudspeaker Enclosures". It makes sense to study and learn from existing science and designs, and not re-invent the wheel. Despite scientific publications, Neil Patel (the current owner of Avalon) claims the whole design concept is made by himself (see Neil's opinion about Avaclones - starting at 14 minutes 42 seconds), but in my opinion this is "a bit" overstated.

To conclude, don't expect a replica or clone of the Avalon Opus Ceramique with the Milestones! The Milestones are not an Avalon clone. They may look similar, but they sound different, and they do so with a very good purpose!!!

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