(formerly known as the Sibelius)
The Model One Oak is a single drive unit, floor-standing loudspeaker utilizing an internal front loaded, quarter wave pipe. It has a shallow, all alloy drive cone in either Copper Gold (CG) or Silver Grey (SG) which is mounted onto an extremely rigid, 3.2cm thick European oak enclosure. Apart from the drive cones’ connecting leads, terminal posts and internal dampening materials, The Model One has no other components.
Each oak enclosure is hand built by highly skilled master craftsmen, without nails, screws or internal battens. We take great pride in the quality of our finishing; selecting exactly the right cuts of wood and choosing the stains to emphasise natural charm of each piece of oak.
Our Model One loudspeakers are very easy to drive, with an impedance curve that does not dip low, or give problems to amplifiers of any kind. Because The Model One Oak delivers so much detail, they are able to capture the characteristics of all the equipment upstream from them. For example, if you like the warm midrange associated with a particular Class A amplifier, then that’s what you’ll hear. Even subtle changes from one DAC to another will offer you an endless choice in fine tuning and pairing possibilities. We are here to advise and help you.
Inspired by the way acoustic instruments (such as the double bass and contra bassoon) produce wonderful low notes that can be heard at the back of a full concert hall, Harley Lovegrove, the Model One’s creator, believed the same could be possible in a HiFi loudspeaker, simply by mimicking the natural principles of acoustic instruments. He believed that by using a single driver and stripping away all the electronics, everything that a recording engineer captures could be accurately reproduced with more than enough power.
The story behind our Model One loudspeaker has many twists and turns and actually begins in 1995, when Harley decided to go back to basics; to move away for the complexity and artificial approach of multi-drive unit loudspeakers, with all their electronics and their inherent driver phase and compatibility issues.
His starting point was not to see the driver as merely a device that moved backwards and forwards in order to move air, but as a transducer that would act like a microphone in reverse. He knew from his classical music recording experience, that most microphones are totally capable of capturing the entire frequency range required for the reproduction of all genres of music. He knew too, that their diaphragms worked, not only by physically moving, but also by simultaneously vibrating within themselves, just like a tweeter.
In the same way that all the energy generated by a pair of reeds in a bassoon, or the tiniest vertical movement of the double bass’ bridge, the Model One’s drive cone would need to convert all its energy into the movement of air, and for that Harley needed an extremely rigid enclosure to encapsulate the body of air required. Solid, slow grown, European oak seemed the obvious choice, and once built, he knew the enclosure could last for literally hundreds of years.
Impedance: 7.2 Ohm
Power handling: 35 Watts RMS – 70 Watts peak
Efficiency: 87db @ 1W @ 1 meter
Maximum output: 105db @ 1 Meter peak (in practice consider 96-98db as a working maximum)
Frequency range: 38Hz-20Khz. (-6db occurs in most acoustically well balanced listening rooms at around 36Hz)
Dimensions: 1095mm (H) 225mm (W) 295mm (D)
Weight: 25kg each (excluding packaging)
In the early 1990s, Harley Lovegrove shifted from complex crossovers and electronic filters to a minimalist design inspired by Paul Voigt’s 1939 principles. This led to the creation of a narrow, quarter-wave, front-loaded horn enclosure, featuring a full-range driver complemented by a tweeter for the highest frequencies.
Utilizing a simple two-component 6dB per octave crossover, this approach marked a significant departure from popular designs of the time. However, the quest for a single driver capable of covering the entire frequency spectrum remained unfulfilled, as existing options couldn’t adequately reproduce frequencies beyond 16kHz at realistic sound levels.
In 2012, two pivotal developments occurred:
Advanced Drive Units: Harley discovered Markaudio’s Alpair 7 and Alpair 10 full-range drivers, renowned for their purity, power handling, and exceptional soundstage dynamics.
Craftsmanship Collaboration: Harley partnered with Chris Cabergs, owner of a bespoke joinery in Diest, Belgium. Specializing in high-quality natural timber, particularly oak and beech, Chris’ support and expertise enabled Harley to specify an enclosure, along the lines of a musical instrument; without the need for internal battens, bracing, screws or nails.
It took a further three years of rigorous testing and refinement, changing and adapting the enclosures’ design elements, along side a collaboration with Mark Fenlon’s team in Hong Kong, who developed a custom drive unit, tailored to Harley’s design needs. This culminated in the launch of the Model One SG and CG models, originally named in honour of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. These result embodied Harley’s vision of accurately reproducing the subtle colours, dynamics and frequency range of the entire symphony orchestra. In short, a childhood ambition come true!