Cain&Cain speaker info

[MikE]

A fellow 'mate has been nice enough to keep me informed on the latest developments with the Cain&Cain speakers. Not sure if he is reviewing a pair, considering picking up the line or just a casual observer. Regardless, I'm VERY interested in the line and considering getting "The Abby" for my Moth s45 amp. I would like to swing an in house demo before I put my Sonatinas on the selling / trading block. If interested>

"Terry Cain is a dedicated master cabinetmaker, utilizing the old world traditions of joinery and hand-finishing. His original dream was to build loudspeakers when he first founded Cain & Cain in 1981. To fulfill this dream, he has devoted innumerable waking hours over the last 4 1/2 years studying traditional speaker design, and more specifically, Japanese cabinet design. Terry views loudspeakers in terms of building a musical instrument, not unlike certain other manufacturers. However, Cain & Cain loudspeakers differ from the rest of the crowd with the use of natural solid woods and natural wood-ply cabinetry....not a speck of MDF, HDF, or inferior fiberboard is used. There are no metal screws, brads, or rivets holding the cabinet together....just true old-fashioned precision joinery and heirloom-quality construction. Again, a master craftsman's product.

All Cain & Cain models use single-driver technology from Fostex of Japan. Every driver model chosen is mated to a cabinet specifically designed to reveal the best of what each particular driver complement has to offer. All Cain & Cain speaker cabinets are true rear horn-loaded designs (in the Studio series), where the driver is at the terminus of the horn. The Abby is a ported, modified Voight pipe design, while the TQWT model is a true tapered quarter-wave tube or pipe. Front baffle openings are precisely measured for these exact terminae, which translates into an unusually coherent sonic rendering devoid of any "honking" or horn resonance common to most horn-loaded designs. Cain & Cain uses the newest Fostex drivers that display a wonderfully open, smooth, extended, fast, and immediate sonic presentation that must be experienced. Additionally, all loudspeakers models use Cardas internal wiring, solder, flux and binding posts."

(Pricing and specs)

The ABBY......$1499 (introductory pricing)
(ported, modified Voight pipe with 166mm. Fostex S driver)
(available in four colors......natural alderwood, hunter green, kind-of-cobalt blue, rosewood red)

Dimensions: 9" W x 9" D x 70" H
Sensitivity......95db ~ 1 watt ~ 1 meter
Frequency Response......<40Hz ~ 20kHz (+ / - 3db)
Nominal impedance......8 ohms
Minimum impedance......5 ohms

The ABBY (nearfield, small-room version)......$1499
(ported, modified Voight pipe with 165mm. Fostex FF-165K)

Dimensions: 9" W x 9" D x 70" H
Sensitivity......95db ~ 1 watt ~ 1 meter
Frequency Response......<40Hz ~ 17kHz (+ / - 3db)
Nominal impedance......8 ohms
Minimum impedance......5 ohms

TQWT......$2200 (projected pricing)
(tapered quarter-wave tube with 168 mm. Fostex Sigma)
(maple finish is standard......dark walnut available as an optional upgrade)

Dimensions: 7" W x 18" D x 64" H
Sensitivity......95db ~ 1 watt ~ 1 meter
Frequency Response......<45Hz ~ 20kHz (+ / - 3db)
Nominal impedance......8 ohms
Minimum impedance......5 ohms

STUDIO SERIES

Single-horn BEN......$4500
(with 208 mm. Fostex Sigma driver)

Dimensions: 12.5" W x 23" D x 48" H (round maple baffle is 14.5" wide // maple front platform is 20" wide)
Sensitivity......97db
Frequency response......<40Hz ~ 20kHz (+ / - 3db)
Nominal impedance......8 ohms
Minimum impedance......5 ohms

Double-horn BEN......$5500
(intermediate-size cabinet with 168 mm. Fostex Sigma driver)

Dimensions: 11" W x 15" D x 72" H
Sensitivity......95db ~ 1 watt ~ 1 meter
Frequency Response......<45Hz ~ 20kHz (+ / - 3db)
Nominal impedance......8 ohms
Minimum impedance......5 ohms


Double-horn BEN......$8500
(with 208 mm. Fostex Sigma driver)

Dimensions: 12.5" W x 21" D x 72" H
Sensitivity......97db ~ 1 watt ~ 1 meter
Frequency response......<40Hz ~ 20kHz (+ / - 3db)
Nominal impedance......8 ohms
Minimum impedance......5 ohms

Double-horn BEN ES......$12000 (projected pricing)
(with upgraded Fostex ES drivers & Fostex T-90 alnico magnet super-tweeter)

Dimensions: 12.5" W x 21" D x 72" H
Sensitivity......97db--99db (estimated)
Frequency response......<40Hz ~ 14kHz for ES driver // 9kHz ~ 35kHz for T-90 super-tweeter)
Crossover......adjustable, first order, with single Hovland capacitor
Nominal impedance......8 ohms
Minimum impedance......5 ohms

MikE

 

[MikE]

Great News!

Alan m. Kafton of AudioExcellence whom I've been corresponding with on the Cain speakers will be shipping me a pair of "The Abby" speakers for an audition. This way I'll be able to swap them with my Sonatinas and decide which puts me closer to the "musical truth". I'm openly wishing The Abbys walk all over my speakers as they would definately make a more sensible pairing; 95 vs 93db / single-driver vs 3-way dynamic. And as beautiful as the Sonatinas are, the Abbys are real lookers as well. Should the Sonatinas prevail, that wouldn't be a bad thing... it would just likely postpone their eventual replacement by another speaker type, horn-loaded or another example of a single-driver design.

MikE

 

[Thatch_Ear]

Mike,
I am sure that Terry runs his speaks for a long time before sending them out, but ask how many recent hours are on them so that you don't do an uneven A/B on them.
There is a horn builder close by that has a pair tuned to 80 hz and a sub horn tuned to 30 hz. The 80hz sounded great with stand up bass(Brian Bromberg) by themseves, so the 40Hz ought to work great.
I have been helping him tweak his amps and got him tube rolling, and his system is really awesome. The goosebumps get bigger all the time.
Thatch