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Presentation Gauder Akustik – Hifi Studio Wilbert – Utrecht

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Presentation Gauder Akustik – Hifi Studio Wilbert – Utrecht

Ceramic units, diamonds, aluminium and steep filtering… that sounds to some enthusiasts like a dish of deadly boring or even “aggressive” stuff. Yet this is at the heart of Gauder Akustik, a German high-end speaker manufacturer. And after a good two hours of presentation with lots of music we have to say: wow… they know what they’re doing!

We’re not quite going to write out what Dr Roland Gauder said in his presentation to Wilbert. Essentially, it comes down to that:

  • A unit needs to operate in its optimum range
  • Ceramic units (Accutone) are especially ideal for midrange and bass.
    • This because of the speed and stiffness (and thus following the impulse).
  • Diamond is perfect for tweeters
  • Steep filters work better than 1st order (Gauder works with 60dB filters!).
    • This is due to small overlap between units and therefore fewer phase problems.
  • The best cabinet is a completely dead cabinet; hence the rib construction
  • Aluminium is many times better than MDF because of the energy immunity of aluminium.
  • Think of the acoustics of a room
  • DSPs do not solve acoustic problems!
  • Enjoy music. we’re living in a good time when it comes to access to a lot of music.

Dr Roland Gauder has been at it for decades when it comes to loudspeaker design. He has done a lot of research into the best materials, filter designs and cooperation with housings. During these decades he finds out that a straight frequency response says nothing. There’s plenty of “right-measuring” speakers. Still, they all sound different. Some boring, some woolly…

However, according to Gauder, what matters is impulse behaviour. The punch, speed of a speaker is what makes or breaks a speaker. And that makes sense according to him. Music is not a fixed sine wave. They’re transients. The kick of a drum, the start of a note… voice… all dynamics. Transients. If a speaker cannot follow it, it will never be able to reproduce faithfully. No matter how straight it measures. And there’s something to be said for that.

So Gauder has been looking for times for a formula that can reproduce the transient information well. The mix is a solid, dead case (aluminium), ceramic units, diamond for the tweeter and a super steep filter (60dB). So in the world of Gauder that comes to a DARC 250 with a price tag of around 120,000 euros.

What is fascinating, however, is that the 3000 euro boarding party is also made according to these principles. Only the quality of the materials varies. No expensive aluminum housing made with ribs. A no diamond tweeter. But ceramic untis and a complex filter. And the same signature and ‘punchy’ rendering. Very nice.

If you want to hear and see everything about Gauder’s philosophy and way of working: we recorded the complete presentation. Have fun watching!

Video Gauder Akustik