The Festival provided the perfect backdrop for a visit to the company’s manufacturing facilities in both Valencia and Barcelona, where dealers got the opportunity to take a closer look at a number of new speakers recently launched by the company, and first seen just a few weeks earlier at the Frankfurt MusikMesse.
Key amongst these is the Compact 1. Self-powered, it is a three-way, bi-amplified system that can be used as a full-range stand-alone unit or as a mid-high cabinet with bass reinforcement. It features a 1000W ‘Class D’ switching amplifier, which delivers 500W to the low frequency transducer and 300W to the mid/high section. The low frequency section has a G-354, 15" low frequency speaker with 4" voice coil, whilst mid-range frequencies are reproduced by a horn loaded B-6, 6" cone loudspeaker. An M-5, 1" exit compression driver with 2" titanium diaphragm handles the high frequency reproduction.
The second new product is an addition to the popular Reference Series. The R-214 is configured as a passive two-way system designed for fixed installation applications. Providing powerful bass response, it features two high efficiency 15" low frequency speakers with 3" voice coils and a carefully engineered cooling scheme. The high end makes use of a 1" exit compression driver with 2" titanium diaphragm, coupled to a constant directivity horn. The third new speaker is a self-powered subwoofer in the ACtive Power line-up of products. The Sub 118A incorporates a ‘Class D’ switching amplifier, delivering 500W to the low frequency transducer. The Sub houses a DAS P-18 18" cone transducer configured as a direct radiator.
These latest developments add to a vast array of products that includes loudspeakers, components, power amplifiers, electronic signal processors and accessories - a product portfolio that has gained the company a worldwide following in over 85 countries. In addition to its main office and manufacturing plant in Valencia, DAS also has a regional office in Miami, handling sales and distribution for Canada, Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean. It also has an established international partnership with Sennheiser operations in the UK, US and France.
The DAS of today is, of course, some way removed from the DAS of 30 years ago when a young industrial engineer called Juan Alberola began building loudspeaker components for the hi-fi market in a small shop on the Calle del Mar in Valencia. What started as a hobby had, by the eighties become a major concern, pioneering the use of high-pressure injection-moulding techniques. The success of the Biflex-8 paved the way for the development of a complete line of small to medium-sized sound systems, and the DS-15 was the first injection-moulded 15" speaker system manufactured in Europe. If the latest products are anything to go by that history of innovation continues.
