Audio Solutions Figaro M2

Description

Audio Solutions Figaro M2 Floor Standing Speaker

Meet the all-new Figaro! An evolution of our most successful speaker series. Five years have passed since the original Figaro was introduced in 2018 and yet we are pushing the limits once again. The new Figaro is vastly improved in all aspects. Embrace a new modern design with brass metal accents and satin color options. We give you a remarkable tandem of performance and design where science meets art.

Description

Figaro! maintains timeless Audio Solutions design. Designed to be easily driven by most amplifiers and with the ability to be placed very close to the wall. Figaro’s task is to make your life easier with as simple as possible setup, cable, and amplifier matching. We wish you many great moments while listening to your Figaro.

Features

The Figaro M2 features a Two-way speaker system designed with Mini-Horn loaded silk dome tweeter and our unique midbass driver which works in extended mid-band effectively making it an Extended-Band driver, allowing us to push crossover frequencies of the drivers further away from the most critical area for the human ear – 1000-1500Hz and thus reduce crossover distortions and perception of them. Two whole new re-designed ER (Extra Rigid) hard paper cone bass drivers deliver faster and deeper bass response and improve overall sound clarity.

The Cabinet-In-a-Cabinet enclosure system taken from upper scale Virtuoso series contributes to a complex closed system that eliminates unwanted resonances by turning acoustical energy into heat, allowing all drivers to perform with precision and dynamics.

Figaro features outriggers with height-adjustable spikes, WBT NextGen connection terminals with bi-amping for models L and XL, and also a whole new 6 unique never seen before satin finishes with brass metal accents.

Mini-Horn Loading

Figaro M2 utilizes a Mini-Horn loading technology to cope with the infamous soft domes problem – cone breakup and cone “walk”. Cone breakup and “walk” happens when a soft dome tweeter is being driven hard at high signal levels. Distortions rise exponentially because: 

a) when a certain point in signal level and thus dome acceleration/amplitude is reached, the center part of the dome flexes in an uncontrolled fashion due to the silk’s soft nature

b) differences in air pressure behind the dome and in front of the dome creates a nonlinear environment and overcome suspension ability to prevent axial movement of the cone

Our Mini-Horn is based on acoustical dampening which happens at the frontal dome area. We carefully measure at which frequencies the dome starts to flex and emit an avalanche of distortions. Mini-Horn then is designed and manufactured according to desired specifications to dampen those frequencies. The result is a proportional dampening of the tweeters’ movement. The louder it plays the more dampening and air pressure on the frontal area it gets from its own emitted sound. It is described as acoustical impedance and is highly dependent on the Mini-Horn’s shape. Another positive by-product of this process is that Mini-Horn adds sensitivity and thus the efficiency of the driver.

Extended Band Midrange

The human ear has uneven sensitivity to different frequencies. We are naturally less sensitive to high frequencies and especially to low frequencies. The exception is sensitivity to mid frequencies in the 1000-2000Hz band due to evolution. Simply put – in nature, the sounds of life-threatening events lie more or less in 1000-2000Hz diapason, so naturally, we are most sensitive to that so we could stay alert. The downside of this phenomenon in this rather safe modern world is that we can hear and pinpoint the slightest imperfections in reproduced sound at those frequencies. And imperfections in sound reproduction are called distortions.

Most of the manufacturers calculate crossover points in exactly this area of 1000-2000Hz. Since each driver has its natural spectrum of distortions we actually can hear the transition from one driver to another, let alone an additional distortions caused by the crossover phase shift. The resulting sound is described as an unnatural or multi-way sound. It is not possible to completely eliminate natural-born driver’s distortions or the phase shift in crossover which is mathematically tied to how db/oct crossover is calculated. The only way to fight this is to utilize crossover points away from this region of 1-2kHz. For that reason, we created an Extended Band Midrange driver. Crossover points of 400-4000Hz are one octave away from the sensitive band. Not only this solution helps with crossover distortion perception but the listener gets uniform, unchopped sound coming from one driver with virtually zero phase shift.  Homogenous sound in our opinion is one of the biggest goals in the audio industry.

Cabinet-In-A-Cabinet System

The new Figaro! Figaro M2 speakers share a Cabinet-In-a-Cabinet enclosure design. This system is based on two separate enclosures – an inner cabinet and an outer cabinet bonded together by a thin layer of Polyurethane. The inner cabinet is manufactured of a lightweight yet rigid material that controls primary vibrations by absorbing acoustical power coming from the drivers. Then a thin layer of viscous Polyurethane situated in between the inner and outer cabinets acts as a dampening layer which converts vibrations born in the inner cabinet to heat. The residue of vibrations is then dampened by the outer cabinet which is manufactured of a much heavier and less dense material that acts as a mass damper.

ER Cone Bass Drivers

Second generation Figaro speaker utilizes re-designed bass drivers with ER paper cones. Er stands for Extra Rigid paper. It is actually visible on the cone surface as flakes of hard pulp and fibers and is natural to rigid cones. ER paper cones were chosen due to all the pros of traditional paper cones and the pros of hard material cones. Hard cones (metal, ceramic, etc.) provide uniform push-pull movement where all cone’s points act as a uniform piston which is desirable. Con is that hard cones have the potential to have early break-up points and ringing due to a lack of dampening properties inside the material itself. Paper on the other hand does not have break-up points as it is quite soft and flexible but it does not act as a piston, and usually, the edge of the paper cone are fluttering, and all cone is flexing. Having positive properties of paper and introducing hardening materials like sturdy fibers and hard pulp gives us a unique cone that acts as a piston, but at the same time does not have ringing or early cone breakup points. ER cones allowed us to introduce new piston-like bass drivers and of course our Extended Band Midrange.

Exclusive Personalization Program

Audio Solutions’ Exclusive Personalisation team is ready to help you to customize your speaker. Please address us for custom coloring or style. We can do small changes and we can make completely tailor-made speakers. Our team works in conjunction with architects, and designers and is ready to make a one-of-one product for your living room. 

Finishes

We offer 3 Standard trim high gloss colors and even more colors of “Bespoke” trim. A modern-looking “Bespoke” satin color with brass accents looks stylish and refreshing, matching nowadays modern living rooms. A completely new approach to color and material matching allows us to offer a truly bespoke look for your speaker.