After a culmination of three years of research and development, Martin Audio has launched FlexPoint.
Managing Director, Dom Harter declared that alongside Wavefront Precision optimised line arrays and TORUS constant curvature arrays, FlexPoint completed the company’s line-up of live sound loudspeaker solutions. But its three-year development programme hints at the challenges the R&D team faced to deliver such a series.
Experienced Product Manager, Dan Orton, takes up the story: “While Martin Audio had existing premium portable solutions like the XD series, this only comprised a 12” and 15”, while its popular DD6 model was a one off product type. Our goal was to provide rental companies with a versatile series, requiring no tools to deploy and could cover a wide range of applications,” He continued. “It needed to achieve constant directivity characteristics, delivering our signature sound in the near field, while at the same time voiced to work in tandem with larger Martin Audio systems, such as TORUS and Wavefront Precision.”
Phil Anthony, Martin Audio Associate Director of Design, was the team leader on the project and was tasked with fulfilling the vision. It became clear that there was an opportunity to leverage Martin Audio’s experience of coaxial design but it would need to encompass a transducer that could be rotated, vertically or horizontally, in double time without the need for tools.
Starting with the driver composition, the development and finesse over many iterations and sampling eventually led to the final coaxial drivers exhibiting dispersion patterns, achieved by trademark acoustic technology which starts by incorporating a two-stage waveguide within the magnet structure.
The first stage of the waveguide blended the circular exit of the HF compression driver into a slot exit. The second stage merged the slot exit into a contoured LF cone which determined the overall coverage pattern. Alongside the directivity characteristics in the horizontal plane, the drivers also improved the frequency response, both on and off-axis, with pattern control extended to a lower frequency while maintaining wide constant horizontal coverage out to very high frequencies.
The drivers don’t require any tools in order to rotate, creating a nimbler set-up on the road, the grilles are secured by proprietary quick-release latches, and the driver fixed to the baffle by means of captive release clamps. Loosening these by hand allows the driver to be quickly rotated through 90° and retightened. This complete feature, above all others, piqued the interest of rental companies. This was confirmed by Senior Design Engineer, Helen Moors. “Everything to do with the proprietary quick release grilles and horn rotation was fabricated from bespoke parts. The grille clips, handles and fixings,” she confirmed.
“We investigated numerous solutions, and designed a variety of prototypes over a long period of time. Special attention was also paid to ensuring tolerances could be met with our suppliers,” Moors continued. “This had been one of the biggest challenges—with countless interactions—subjecting products to rigorous tests before eventually establishing our final solutions which are both elegant and road worthy anda great source of pride.”
Anthony reflected on the development journey: “We thought about this from an end user perspective, and the technology that was deployed was principally to make the experience better for the end user.”
