I used to sell their hybred ribbon speakers in the 80s. They seemed to disappear, reappear and then I lost track of them when I left the retail end of audio. During the 80s, I remember them selling both a bookshelf and floor standing model. The larger model used a 7 inch ribbon and an 8 inch woofer with a transmission line. I still have a pair around the house, collecting dust, with torn grills. A friend who also had a pair of similar vintage, saw Clements reappear at a CES during the 90s, and I believe he was able to obtain new grills from them. Since then, I have no information about the existance of the company. I can tell you that when I was selling the speakers, they were still making crossover changesand that the same model sounded different, depending on vintage. Hope this is useful and that perhaps someone else can provide additional information.
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The classic Clements RT-7 is going to be re-introduced in updated form in Fall, 2003, according to Custom Audio of New York City. My own pair date from the late 1980's. Stupendous pitch accurate, deep bass from the transmission line variant bass design coupled to musical, accurate mid and high frequency performance with the special ribbon tweeter. Transients are crystal clear. The demanding human voice and piano sound very natural, but drums, bass, guitar, brass and percussion are always stunning to jazz fans. This can even be driven by well designed tube amps with modest forty watts per channel such as Cary SLA-70 Signature model, itself an oldie, but goodie. Contemporary Aronov 60 watts per channel tube amp is even more dynamic sounding. The loudspeakers currently in the line are high value. Talk to Custom Audio of NYC or Audio Essence of Georgia, dealers with whom I have had some contact and who really know Clements as true audiophiles, not just sales men. This speaker designer is quite talented. |
I have the only pair of Clements "Little D's" that I have ever seen. They are not book self speakers nor are they floor standing. They are small transmission line speakers that are supposed to be used with the original stands because they have to be tilted back a few degrees for the best sound. I guess one one could call them a mini monitor. They use a ribbon tweet and a 5.5" long throw woof. The cabinet is a molded two piece out of some kind of plastic or resin material. Very dense. I paid about $700 for them I think in the mid to late 80's. I have rewired them and re-finshed the cabinets twice. Once I used Audioquest solid core wirw and it made a significant improvement in the sound over the original wire (common 4 conductor telephone solid core). These things look hand made down to the deflection baffle on the ribbon. They are very nice sounding speaks and can take a lot of abuse if you are so inclined. The only times the woof crapped out was during music with very powerful low end information like on a song from Peter Gabriels self titled album and, I think Ricki Lee Jones first album playing Danny's All Star Joint. The basss is pretty good for the size of the driver. My pair look like a prototype or early first run. I caontacted clements a while ago when they were still in Canada. they wanted $50 a peice for new grills. Obviously I have the pair they came with. The owner sold the company then bought it back. I talked to him a year or so ago about a new ribbon for one of the tweeters and he said they go for $100 apeice. I am thinking of replacing them with a pair of vifa tweets for about $35 bucks apeice. |
Klimek99, Interesting how you used your Little D's as a platform to experiment. I saw a pair at Stereo Exchange in NYC sometime in the late 80's when I listened to my RT-7's. And again, in Toronto suburb, when a tourist. So there are at least two of your model known to have been in existence. By the time I heard your model, the Little D's (I think this is a reverse allusion to Big D, or Dallas, Texas, a big deal place in the 1980's) I had become accustomed to giant transmission line variation bass in my Clements RT-7, and no longer able to scale down my expectations in the bass department. I recall the treble was fine, but I can seen that $200 is a lot more than $70 to get your tweeters working, in 2004. |
Philip Clements bought the company back from the Canadians around 1998 and he runs it out of Arizona. He also is working on another line of in wall/ home theater stuff with ribbons, "Solius Inc." I believe (close anyway). Parts are tough to find- he hooked me up with a replacement tweeter in 1998 for my Ref-1's (great speakers). I just went with scan-speak for replacement woofers after a tragic tube arc that has turned put to be very fortuitous. I spoke with him recently and got the impression that RT-7 plans have fallen by the wayside and that the Solius stuff is what he is focused on... really nice and helpful guy. cheers |
Just picked up a pr. of 208DI for 120 canadian .. in mint shape .. don't think the guy who sold them knew what he had .. rushed home and played a few tunes on them .. wow are they sweet ... can't seem to find any information on them .. and not a member on this site .. would love to know more about them .. what they cost new and what they are worth today ..any help would be much appreciated. Thanks ...... Thunder. [email protected] |
The 7/16/03 post in this thread gives the manufacturer's url, and their website has at least some information. I'd say you got a deal, even with any technical issues related to the speakers' aging, such as surrounds deteriorating or woofers sagging from gravity or erstwhile advances in driver technology, etc. |
Phill Is vary much Alive And the new compony (Solus) Is doing Grate. I am A Dealer For Phill In Up State NY. Audio Sound Solustions The new Solus Line has been grate for Our Home Thater market. His in wall Speakers (GR-6 , Gr-8, And the amasing Ir8 With the Same 7" Hybrid/ Planar Ribbon And 8" Driver With the 1.5" Voice Coil.) This Ir8 Is Modeled After the RT-7, the Crossover Ribbon And Driver are all the same the diffrence is that thease go in the wall. I Hope this has help some people with the mithe the Clements / Solus is gone. Address Solus/Clements LoundSpeakers 4211 E. Elwood St Suite 5 Phoenix, Az 85040 Phone # 1-602-431-1290 Thanks Audio Sound Solustions |
I recently purchased a pair of Clements RT-7's (Serial # 1099) in excellent condition. Had heard this model and the "Little D's" back in the 80's at a store in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada. Was very impressed with the sound then and thought I would take a chance on the pair on offer. Had to do a little minor repair to the wooden ribbon dividers (one was slightly loose and buzzing a bit). The previous owner removed the outer sock and poles and painted the cabinets. They look like the last version offered in the late 80's. These speakers are terrific. However am interested to hear from Jonbok about replacement of bass drivers (fortuitous?) with Scanspeak. What model, improvements to sound, etc. Am |
I bought a pair of Clements 103D speakers for a small system that I play daily in my laboratory. The system is set up on shelves against the long wall of a very large room that is subdivided by shelving and equipment but no walls. It is connected to an old Kenwood integrated amp that puts out ~70 wpc, that is in turn fed by an inexpensive Sony SACD/CD changer, or the iTunes library from one of our computers. In this context the speakers are stellar performers. They play with better than average dynamic authority for such a small speaker, but it is their ability to portray the human voice that is most distinctive. Female and male vocalists, either individually or in chorus are clear and tonally true. There is no chestiness in male voices or ringing in female voices that plagues so many similar designs. These speakers replaced a pair of Fried Betas that were almost twice the size and price, played louder, and were more extended at the frequency extremes but were not as good with voices. I recently had a pair of Audioengine 5s in the lab and they were much louder, dynamic and extended at the frequency extremes but couldn't come close to the Clements' ability with vocals. I think these are very thoughtfully voiced speakers that play music as faithfully as they can given their modest dimensions. I like them a lot. |