Until now…
Return Of The King?
That somewhat convoluted trip down memory lane might seem like an unnecessary precursor to what is a visit piece featuring a current manufacturer, with distinctly current products, but that’s the whole point: what’s changed and why is a company like Diptyque growing and thriving when panel speakers seem like a thing of the past. Nor are they alone. We’ve achieved great results from the ‘Apogee-like’ Clarisys models, speakers that deliver on – indeed, exceed – the Apogee’s promise with none of the practical issues. So, something has clearly changed and in understanding what makes a speaker like the Diptyque not just special but possible, it’s essential to understand what that is.
Like the early Magneplanar speakers, the Diptyques are planar magnetic designs, at least in broad operational terms. But the details and the actual topology are quite distinct – and not to be confused. One of the biggest challenges facing those early Maggies was their single sided design. Placing the magnet array in front of the diaphragm carrying the voice coil created a driver that was driven over its whole area, but also one in which the greater the excursion, the lower the control exerted by the magnets. This was ultimately solved in the MG 20 and 30 models which introduced dual magnetic arrays, sandwiching the diaphragm. But the popular models up to and including the MG3 remained single sided. Unlike Magnepan, Diptyque uses double-sided magnetic arrays on all of its designs. It also employs neodymium magnets, far more powerful and compact than those used in earlier planar magnetic (or isodynamic) speakers.
The second huge advance lies in terms of manufacturing technology. CNC machining is so common these days that it’s easy to forget that back in the day, it didn’t exist and many processes had to be done by hand. Hence those ‘hand-cut’ ribbons in the Apogees – fine for steak tartare, not so good when it comes to manufacturing consistency and failure rates? The Diptyque speakers employ CNC machining for not only the major mechanical elements, but the quasi-ribbon voice-coils as well.
Finally, there’s more than a little cleverness in the mechanical execution of the designs, as well as technological innovation. The challenge with any planar design is controlling the large area panel. Double-sided ‘motors’ represent a big step forward in this regard, but Diptuque have taken it further still, their flagship Reference model introducing a completely new Crossed Push-Pull magnetic topology, where the low-frequency diaphragm is driven by two ‘voice-coils’ and magnetic arrays, one arranged vertically, the other horizontally, allowing the simultaneous application of twice the driving power (and control). It’s this combination of innovative thinking and modern manufacturing techniques that has made the Diptyque story possible – a story that started 25-years ago. As I’ve already said, building a functional planar magnetic speaker at home is entirely possible. But refining its performance takes considerable time and experience, while turning it into a consistent and manufacturable product is a whole different challenge. Diptyque might be the new boys on the planar block, but it’s been a long journey and the lessons learnt along the way are a big part of what makes their speakers both so impressive and – considering the build quality, fit and finish – so affordable.
