Carbon MK IV

The Carbon MK IV loudspeaker uses a single carbon fibre German Physiks DDD driver mounted on top of a slim, octagonal, floor standing cabinet, with a downward firing 12-inch woofer set in its base

Improved Bass, Resolution and Dynamics

The Carbon MK IV has always been an exceptional performer. The latest version has a new crossover design that provides significantly better bass, with improved integration with the DDD driver, resulting in exceptional top to bottom coherence. The resolution and dynamics have also been noticeably improved, removing another veil between the listener and the music. All these improvements come together to produce a sound that is truly effortless.

Extended Bass with Low Distortion

The Carbon Mk IV uses a single 12-inch woofer of the same type used in our prestige Loreley model. This provides a degree of bass extension normally associated with high quality component sub-woofers. Most impressive is that this is achieved with a cabinet of relatively modest dimensions, making this a loudspeaker that is easy to live with.

The bass driver is located at the bottom of the cabinet and works in a “sealed” enclosure. This enclosure is linked via a small opening to a smaller cavity located at the top of the cabinet. This cavity acts as a Helmholtz Resonator and is tuned to the resonant frequency of the main bass enclosure and ensures a smoother bass response.

The heart of all German Physiks loudspeakers is the unique omnidirectional DDD driver

The German Physiks DDD driver uses a cone made of extremely thin (0.15mm) carbon fibre. This is very light, but also very rigid. Each driver is hand-built by a skilled technician in our factory in Germany. This is a painstaking process that takes 6 hours. After assembly, each driver undergoes a series of rigorous tests. It is then subject to a 96 hour pre-aging process, playing specially selected music at high level. Finally, it is retested and put together with another driver to form a matched pair.

The DDD driver has two key distinguishing features

1. It is omnidirectional, meaning that it radiates the sound evenly around it.
2. It has an exceptionally wide operating range. In the Carbon MK IV it covers the range from 190Hz up to 24kHz – almost 7 octaves.

This extremely wide range is achieved by the use of 3 modes of radiation:

• Pistonic radiation

• Bending wave radiation

• Modal radiation

By comparison, most loudspeakers use drivers that only use pistonic radiation. These have a much narrower operating range and as the frequency rises, they tend to concentrate their energy into a progressively narrowing beam.

Product Finish

The sides of the Carbon MK IV’s loudspeaker cabinet are covered with several layers of bi-directional, resin impregnated carbon fibre, which are applied using techniques originally developed for the aircraft industry. Several layers of clear lacquer are then applied on top of this. Each layer has to be allowed to fully harden before it is hand polished and the next layer applied. This has to be done with great care and is a time consuming process, but the end result is a truly luxurious finish. All other parts of the Carbon Mk IV are finished in high polish black polyester.

Hand Finished For Ultimate Quality

Because the look of our products is as important as the sound, all cabinets are hand built and finished in Germany by skilled cabinet makers for the best possible furniture grade finish.

They are built in small batches, so that they can maintain a consistently high level of quality. Nothing is rushed.