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Model G-3
Model X-1
Model 2
Click on pictures to enlarge
The G-3 is the latest Beveridge
speaker design. Although it
incorporates the knowledge and creations of my father, it is 100% my
own creation. Yes, it is a lot prettier than the original Model 3,
but that is where the differences begin.
 Up to this point, all Beveridge speakers were built by installing an
acoustic lens into a cabinet. In some cases, like Models 1, 2, and
2SW, the cabinet was made using flat pieces of wood. Models 3, 5,
and 6 were made using round tubes. In each of these, the lens had to
be installed into an already existing structure.
The G series starts with a whole
new concept. It is the lens itself which determines the size and
shape of the speaker and gives its strength. Once the lenses are joined together with bulkheads
and stringers, a thin skin of very flexible 1/8 inch plywood is
joined directly to the structure of the lenses with a 3/4 inch thick
bedding of Microspheres and Epoxy resin. This forms a structure which is extremely
strong, rigid, and (conveniently) light. It also ensures a perfect
fit of the lenses to the cabinet.
The original Model 3 was, and
still is, one of the best speakers ever built. Nevertheless, some thought that it might be a better idea to separate
the woofers from the main electrostat cabinet. Therefore, with the
G-3, I have
chosen to put each woofer into its own enclosure. There are
also some other good reasons to separate the woofers from the electrostats. One of these is that it allows me to make the
footprint of the electrostat much smaller. This results in a tall,
slender speaker which presents a far less imposing presence in the
room than any previous Beveridge speaker.
 The most
significant feature of the G-3 is the new lens design. I watched as
my father progressively altered the amplitude
front of his speakers, starting with
the almost perfectly uniform amplitude front of the original Model 2.
In an effort to achieve the highest possible
SPL, as measured by a centered microphone, Bev increased the center
amplitude "bloom" with each subsequent system model he designed. (In
those days, high SPL was the holy grail of the entire audio industry.)
 In the G-3, however, I have
restored the amplitude front
uniformity.
This turns the entire room into a sweet spot, with no preference for
any particular location. Realism, for which our systems are justly renowned, is further enhanced by
this redesigned lens. As I have been very impressed and encouraged
by the results of these modifications, all my future designs will
incorporate them.
As is widely acknowledged, Beveridge Model 2SW was the first
hybrid system to incorporate a dynamic sub-woofer of the infinite
baffle design. With its limitations, the addition of the sub-woofer
had nevertheless enabled the 2SW to gain an additional 10 dB SPL
and, in due course, become our best selling model. The new G-3
system includes our newly developed woofer, which takes advantage of
lessons learned over the intervening 30 or so years. Specifically, we
have adopted a transmission line design, with inherently superior
qualities over the enclosed baffle design.
Over a period of some
eight months, my friend Arthur Vered and I have
worked closely together, to the exclusion of all other work, to
develop a truly superior woofer. This resulted in a superlative
product, a 10' transmission line speaker, housed in a cabinet
similar in shape to the electrostat. Apart from employing an
expensive, aluminum-coned 10" driver of the highest quality, the
shape of the woofer which eliminates any flat surfaces (save the
back) also results in enhanced rigidity. Further, no particle board
(MDF) is used in its construction, only the highest grade plywood,
reinforced by Microspheres and Epoxy resin. The same technology is
employed in many high stress environments, such as airplane and speedboat construction, where extreme rigidity and light weight are
required.
 The resulting woofer exceeds my highest hopes. It is so fast and
natural and blends so well with the electrostats that a cello solo
sounds just like it's in the room. Existing Model 2SW as well as
Model 3 owners will notice a dramatic improvement in their systems
if they replace the original sub-woofers with this woofer. For that matter,
these woofers
will improve the performance of any hybrid electrostat on the market
today.
The new G-3 system can presently be heard at my factory in Santa
Barbara California.
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Model X-1
The Model One was the first
pair of speakers my father made utilizing his invention of an
acoustic lens.
Each speaker measured six feet tall by three feet wide by some two
feet deep. It was a single source, full range, wide dispersion
cylindrical wavefront, monopole electrostatic loudspeaker. It was
also an active speaker with its own dedicated integral OTL tube
amplifier, developed by my father. The design's frequency range is unknown,
but I believe it could go well into the 20 Hz range.
They performed beautifully in the very difficult room at our home on
Franceschi Rd., on the hilltop overlooking Santa Barbara. I believe
that it was this room that caused my father to conceive the idea of
a vertical, wide dispersion cylindrical
 wavefront as well as the
concept of the acoustic lens necessary to accomplish such a wavefront. This room was about 60 feet long by 20 feet wide (ending
in a small L-shaped extrusion). At each end there was a solid wall
with no windows. What made this room so difficult to work with was
the fact that along each of the long walls there was about 30-40
feet of floor-to-ceiling interlocking sliding glass doors. These
glass walls were parallel to each other and had a polished concrete
floor between them for most of their lengths. There were curtains,
but they were almost always pulled back into the corners. Very few
speaker systems, then or now, can work with such a difficult room,
but the Model One handled it beautifully.
Akio Morita, the founder of SONY Corporation, spent almost a whole
week at our house, along with a battery of his engineers,
investigating the performance of these speakers. He was so impressed
that he wanted to buy out the entire design and produce it under the
SONY name. Yet my father still had ideas relating to the many
advantages of this acoustic lens and its perfectly uniform
cylindrical wavefront which he wanted to develop further. Since the offer
from SONY would have precluded any further involvement by my father
into the project, he turned down Mr. Morita's offer.
When we decided to go into production ourselves, we realized that
the Model One was too large to be commercially acceptable by
the domestic market at that time. With the aid of Donald McFarland,
a noted interior designer, my father rescaled and redesigned the
cabinet; the first production speaker became the well-known Model
2. The scaled down version preserved all the sonic qualities of the
Model One, except for an unavoidable reduction in bass extension. The
Model 2 became a success, launching Beveridge straight to the top
of the audiophile market.
Today, honoring that unique Model One, I am resurrecting and
introducing the design in its radically new, modern format - the
X-1. Although its width and depth remain relatively the same, it gains
almost two feet in height. The most striking difference between the
X-1 and Model One is the doubling(!) of its electrostatic radiating
area. This doubling of radiating surface allows for a 3 dB gain in
headroom over its predecessor.
The Model X-1 is a complex design. The doubling of the transducer area
doubles the capacitive load placed on the amplifiers. Each speaker
will require over 3000 VA (the same power required by a pair of
Model 2s). The acoustic lenses are modified to take advantage of this
greater surface area. They also retain the 180-degree polar
dispersion of the original. The frequency range of the X-1 goes more
than an octave lower than the Model 2. This enables the X-1 to be the first
single source, truly full range electrostatic speaker ever, covering the
entire audio range from 20 Hz up to 18 KHz.
This impressive and imposing mammoth of a speaker will appeal to the
very few, whose appreciation for the wide frequency range of this
speaker will override all other considerations.
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Model 2
It was our first production
speaker. For information on its ancestor, the Model One, please click
here.
The Beveridge Model 2 is a very unique loudspeaker and, in the
opinion of many, the best speaker we have ever produced. It is a
scaled down version of its predecessor the Model One, such that it
can fit through doors and hallways.
It is an active speaker, driven by its integral OTL tube amplifier,
capable of an equivalent output of 1500W. Its full range of 40 Hz -
15 KHz (+/- 2 dB, with useful output at 35 Hz) of
 180
degrees cylindrical wave front is also referenced
here.
For more on cylindrical wavefront sound propagation, combined with the benefits of
a monopole design, I suggest that you also visit
JansZen.
The current Model 2 produced today has an entirely redesigned lens.
This work was done
by my brother Ross Beveridge of
Colorado State University (computer department), employing his
custom-developed
 software. These tools were totally
unavailable to my father at the time. The net result of this
development is, among others things, a smoother and more uniform
amplitude front. In addition, the lens reinforcement is now accomplished, as it
is in the Model G-3, by means of Microspheres and Epoxy resin.
The amplifier design and construction also benefits from 35 years of
accumulated experience and technology improvements. High quality
components are used throughout and modern manufacturing techniques
are nowadays employed.
SPL, in and of itself, is not and never was the main objective in
the design of the Model 2. In my opinion, the dynamic range of a
speaker is of far greater importance. For dynamic range,
 the Model 2
is truly unsurpassed. It may not equal the G-3 in terms of total SPL,
but it was, and it remains today, to be the only single source, full range,
cylindrical wavefront, monopole, electrostatic, active loudspeaker
system in the world.
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