Back in 1986, I had a room at the Chicago CES show where I was demonstrating speakers of my own design (the company name was Shannonbrooke Audio FWIW). During the show, the one speaker that impressed me as superbly musical from top to bottom was the Waveform speaker from John Otvos. This was I believe near the beginning of Waveform and the speaker I heard (which I think was called the Mach 17 but I'm really not sure) was a very large, pyrimidal shape with a large woofer (12 or even 15 inches). It was voiced very well and I was impressed with its sheer musicality. This was the only speaker I heard that surpassed the Shannonbrooke Model 1's that I displayed (he said with no modesty). I heard Apogees and Wilson's at the show among a number of other brands but the Waveform was truly excellent.
I hadn't had the chance to hear any of Otvos's evolving designs in subsequent years but I imagine he was able to improve them. I think its a pity that John threw in the towel several years ago but this is a cruel and competitive business. One reason why his speaker was less popular is that the top of the line required tri-amping thus making its potential market smaller. Oh well...
I hadn't had the chance to hear any of Otvos's evolving designs in subsequent years but I imagine he was able to improve them. I think its a pity that John threw in the towel several years ago but this is a cruel and competitive business. One reason why his speaker was less popular is that the top of the line required tri-amping thus making its potential market smaller. Oh well...