Woofer

Too often, the woofer design is perceived as a relatively simple task, with optimal performance seen as primarily dependent on matching and tuning with the cabinet. In our philosophy, this is far from sufficient.

While a well-tuned cabinet may initially impress with full-bodied bass, over time, listeners will begin to notice the finer details. It is the definition of these details that distinguishes a good woofer from an exceptional one.

Selecting highly efficient magnetic circuit configurations, voice coils that match the cone’s movement, and suspensions ensuring the most linear cone excursion are fundamental in the design of a high-performance woofer. RS woofers are characterized by ventilated magnetic circuits, balanced magnetic gaps with demodulating rings, ventilated voice coils with fiberglass formers, Konex “Progressive Wave” spiders, and “Dual Asymmetric Wave” rubber suspensions.

In addition to these features, which already ensure remarkable performances, RS woofers offer a decisive element for achieving excellent results: the cone.

It is an acknowledged fact that the cellulose still is the best material for cones to deliver the most natural music reproduction. The selection of cellulose blends, their processing before cone forming, the forming process itself, and the treatments applied post-forming are secrets that only those with decades of experience can master for optimal results.

After 50 years of continuous development, Raimondo Sbarbati knows these variables perfectly and, with his team, has managed them to create our cones with excellent results. By choosing a cellulose fiber blend that ensures the right cone rigidity with a reasonable weight, treating the front of the cone with an acrylic mixture, and adding a second damping treatment on the back, we created cones with outstanding performances.

Despite the impeccable laboratory measurements of the initial samples, there remained a subdued sense that a further improvement was possible. Long-term listening sessions did not feel sufficiently relaxing, with a subtle push to change the audio tracks after a few minutes—an evident symptom of listening fatigue, not detectable by a standard set of anechoic chamber measurements.

Using advanced laser technologies to measure micrometric variations and assess their behavior over time, we delved deeper into cone vibration research, discovering imperceptible resonances that occur during playback, akin to the sequence discovered and canonized by Fibonacci in the 1200s.

Controlling these nearly infinitesimal vibrations significantly eliminates the listening fatigue. RS has thus developed and patented a laser erosion process for the cone surface, executed according to Fibonacci’s mathematical criteria, which resolves the issue without additional treatments that may add weight, reduce sensitivity, and potentially introduce other side effects.

This technique, along with those previously described, allows us to confidently state that our Woofers and Mid-Woofers are among the best available as of today.