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www.bowers-wilkins.com
Midrange. Owners of earlier 600 Series speakers will
be wondering how we could improve on the clarity and
detail of a midrange drive unit that’s already in a class of
its own. That’s just the kind of challenge we like.
In all our 600 Series midrange/bass units the
distinctive yellow woven Kevlar® cone snuffs out
the kind of concentric standing waves that build
up in standard, homogeneous cones, while a light,
airy ‘open’ chassis cuts down echo from behind
the cone. But, to the midrange of the three-way
683 speaker, we’ve been able to add something
even more special. We call it a ‘fixed suspension
transducer’, or FST™ for short. It sounds complex,
but it’s not. It’s simple, and it sounds wonderful, but
until now it has only been seen in B&W’s audiophile
ranges, such as the 800 Series.
The FST™ is a ring of foam whose mechanical
properties exactly match those of the woven
Kevlar® cone, which gives it magical properties
over the bending waves that travel outwards
through the cone, to its edge. With a conventional
roll surround, these energies would be reflected
back into the cone and smudge the sound.
The FST™ soaks them up, like a circular shock
absorber around the cone’s edge. What you hear is
a cone moving even more freely and responsively: a
midrange that’s top of the range.