Design philosophy of a revolution in the field of planar headphones CENTAURI is our first planar headphones that have seen a major design effort to offer something different than what has already been seen on the planar headphones market. To date, the development of planar headphones focuses on the ever-increasing driver which, inevitably, plays a role as a supporting frame. The dimensions of the membrane, together with the intrinsic deformability of the structure that supports the rows of magnets, leads to a low dynamic efficiency of the headphone system, which tends to deform under the strong stresses of the membrane which, by its nature, is not very light and has a certain inertia. This results in a sound in which high-energy dynamic contrasts are mitigated in the mid-low range, losing the sense of rhythm. The other big problem related to the size of the driver is that there is no space left to insert the pressure compensation holes between the acoustic chambers of the headphones, forcing to fall back on simplified designs that provide a sealed ear chamber which creates an imbalance in the membrane movement. This design feature also triggers a major problem relating to our ears: once the headphones are placed with a pad in a sealed chamber, the eardrum undergoes pressure and modifies the high frequency response, triggering the typical cave effect. In our headphones we focused attention on finding a planar driver support plate which was light but very stiff, in order not to deform under dynamic load of the powerful planar driver with N52 class neodymium magnets on both faces of the diaphragm. We have introduced a new composite material called Texalwood, which involves casting epoxy resin in a panel of poplar plywood and two sheets of Texalium (glass fiber loaded with aluminum). This new support is organized to house the VPS Pad ventilation system and the pressure compensation holes, allowing the membrane to move with a symmetrical resistance in both movement directions. An evolved Pad for an important headphone It is important to understand that the pad represents 50% of headphone designs and cannot simply be adapted from one design to another. Centauri are large headphones and provide for the insertion of the proprietary Ventilation Pad System through an outward expansion trumpet, instead of the usual ventilation outs. Centauri’s Pad, realized In Alcantara and leather, it is large, leaving room for large ears and creating a listening room capable of generating an imposing sound stage. The Centauri pad attachment system is another novelty for Spirit and provides for quick release via magnets arranged on the frame. In this way you will be able to carry out replacement and ordinary maintenance with extreme ease. A Multilayer Wood system frame in walnut and Texawood driver rack to optimize dynamics To maximize the dynamic performance of the planar headphones, which represents the real Achilles heel compared to traditional dynamic systems, due to the limited range of motion of the planar membrane, we have also exploited the concept of inertial frame which further optimizes the system dynamic efficiency index. To trigger the inertial frame concept it is necessary to reach a minimum mass of the static parts of the headphones frame, in order to offer the appropriate inertia when it is subjected to the thrusts determined by the accelerations of the planar driver membrane. This inertial mass was achieved by exploiting the Multilayer Wood system technique introduced in Mistral, that provides for a laminated wood structure, which in this project has provided for the selection of a compact and rigid walnut wood. A sound that will amaze the professional and the enthusiast. Centauri offer extremely satisfying sound reproduction that combines very low frequency extension with surprising dynamics for a planar system. Another novelty for the planar technology is certainly that of having a tonal rigor comparable to our dynamic projects, allowing Centauri to be used also for professional uses of audiophile recordings. Let’s not forget the sound stage, which is certainly one of the characteristics that distinguishes the unanimous appreciation of this sound reproduction technology. Centauri offer an extremely convincing performance in this parameter, for realistic proportions and total dimension of the sound stage.
