TOTL Kabuki

[HH-Bham]

Those are so loud that they melted the clock on the mantel.

 

[nj pheonix]

Ribbon woofers?

 

[bshorey]

I saw the same ad and chased it. Kabuki ribbon speakers, who woulda thunk it. They seem pretty cheap for what they are, the little I could find online about them says they sound pretty good, although not very much in the low end.

bs

 

[markshan]

While viewing the OP ad, I saw these at the bottom of the page. What the heck are these critters? More kabuki?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Very-Rare-Sawafuji-America-Corp-SFI-Digital-20-Speakers-Made-in-Japan/322003915850?_trkparms=aid=222007&algo=SIM.MBE&ao=1&asc=49917&meid=c2169601ee29427b8dbe553034e0af19&pid=100011&rk=2&rkt=12&mehot=pp&sd=122888172158&_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850

I don't know, but I notice some yummy JBL behind them.

 

[432HzBob]

Looks like Kabuki to me.
1st hint is the silver center caps, blue surrounds and plastic frame covers.
No way to do the "knuckle test" on the boxes?
My rule of thumb? As with the above JBL's and with other speakers like B&W, speakers lacking anything flashy to catch the eye like a fishing lure are usually the ones to go with.

 

[toxcrusadr]

The Sawafuji drivers are not exactly ribbons, I thought they had conventional motors on the drivers but with flat pleated 'cones'. Similar to the, what was it, Sony? who had those flat drivers. But we digress.

Agree with the above post on appearance...Although blue and shiny things do sometimes sound good.

 

[scuba]

Found on US AudioMart. No affiliation.

From Audiokarma forum..."Each contain 13 drivers. One is a planar tweeter with a flat etched voice coil and the other12 drivers appear identical, except they are arranged in a 4x mid and a 8x low frequency setup. Each driver is truly fascinating, contain 10 magnets and a continuous looping voice coil and clear mica like diaphragm. The drivers are 4 ohm and are arranged in a series parallel setup. The whole cabinet is very solid but only and inch or two deep with 4 drivers attached to 3 individual plates. The entire design is bipolar with nearly as much sound coming out of the back as the front. The grills have steel rods to protect the fragile diaphragms and the rear grill removes on Velcro. The entire cabinet is screwed together with extensive mitering and facing. Mdf with a walnut veneer (fake).....How do they sound? Well, interesting to say the least. No bass to speak of, but an absolutely unbelievable mid and treble that just floats. You can truly walk around them and the sound doesn't change - in fact all over my 60 ft room they sound the same - very interesting....They must have cost a fortuner due to the 24 + 2 drivers and each having these amazing 10 magnet floating diaphragm."

Some references on the web that the 12 drivers were made by Sawafuji - and JVC put their name on them. Sawafuji marketed a similar looking flat panel speaker for a couple of years - SFI Digital 20 was one model. Used similar drivers, although perhaps different dimensions.

 

[EVBoy]

Now, that's my kind of Kabuki.

 

[Ds2000]

Those are worthwhile!

 

[CT_Ohio]

Found on US AudioMart. No affiliation.

From Audiokarma forum..."Each contain 13 drivers. One is a planar tweeter with a flat etched voice coil and the other12 drivers appear identical, except they are arranged in a 4x mid and a 8x low frequency setup. Each driver is truly fascinating, contain 10 magnets and a continuous looping voice coil and clear mica like diaphragm. The drivers are 4 ohm and are arranged in a series parallel setup. The whole cabinet is very solid but only and inch or two deep with 4 drivers attached to 3 individual plates. The entire design is bipolar with nearly as much sound coming out of the back as the front. The grills have steel rods to protect the fragile diaphragms and the rear grill removes on Velcro. The entire cabinet is screwed together with extensive mitering and facing. Mdf with a walnut veneer (fake).....How do they sound? Well, interesting to say the least. No bass to speak of, but an absolutely unbelievable mid and treble that just floats. You can truly walk around them and the sound doesn't change - in fact all over my 60 ft room they sound the same - very interesting....They must have cost a fortuner due to the 24 + 2 drivers and each having these amazing 10 magnet floating diaphragm."

Some references on the web that the 12 drivers were made by Sawafuji - and JVC put their name on them. Sawafuji marketed a similar looking flat panel speaker for a couple of years - SFI Digital 20 was one model. Used similar drivers, although perhaps different dimensions.

Thanks for this and other replies; didn't mean to threadjack, but it was on the same page. based on some of these photos a quick translation of kabuki seems to be 'wretched excess'.

 

[Nat]

I found a single Sawafuji at the dump. It was a well made speaker, and very interesting. I think it had two of the square drivers, which I believe I gave to AKer Mark Hardy who accumulates interesting stuff. My memory is that they sounded quite promising, but as a single driver per channel, volume was limited.

 

[MannyE]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Very-Rare-...m=322003915850&_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850

Those things are super cool.

 

[JosephH]

While viewing the OP ad, I saw these at the bottom of the page. What the heck are these critters? More kabuki?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Very-Rare-Sawafuji-America-Corp-SFI-Digital-20-Speakers-Made-in-Japan/322003915850?_trkparms=aid=222007&algo=SIM.MBE&ao=1&asc=49917&meid=c2169601ee29427b8dbe553034e0af19&pid=100011&rk=2&rkt=12&mehot=pp&sd=122888172158&_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850

After looking at those for a few minutes, I want waffles for breakfast.......

 

[MannyE]

After looking at those for a few minutes, I want waffles for breakfast.......

Mmmmmm yeah!

 

[Pio1980]

Sawafuji Dynapleat drivers, I found one single 5x5 driver at a hamfest years ago. It sounds good at moderate levels but the magnet plate has resonance ringing when driven hard.
Complete Sawafuji Dynapleat speakers are rare indeed, the midrange driver like mine looks like this.

A molded semi- planar diaphragm on a stiff pleated surround carrying multiple coils around multiple magnet polepieces on a steel backplate. Tweeter is a smaller version with fewer coil/polepiece sections.

 

[Ds2000]

I think the original pipedreams line array used these.

 

[restorer-john]

Gotta love it when my posts turn up 11 years later...

http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/ever-seen-anything-like-these.110891/

and this:

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/pictures-of-unidentified-speaker.96011/