There are a good many schools of thought as to how to get the very best reproduced sound. Recent years have seen the tubed and Single Ended Triode form of amplification gaining ground as the "preferred" forms of music reproduction. A single driver is a very good way to realize excellent sonic satisfaction with low powered tube equipment (and well designed solid state as well). There is not now, not will there ever be a crossover design which does not, in some way, detract from the quality of the musical reproduction. The only perfect crossover is no crossover. With a single driver there is no crossover between separate drivers. This allows a seamlessness which isn't possible with any speaker utilizing multiple drivers.
The midrange is where these speakers can expose weaknesses in recordings and other parts of the system as well. Cain and Cain use Fostex drivers which tend to be smoother sounding and easier to implement than Lowther equivalents. Consequently, the speaker itself has no glare or excessive peakiness in the midrange. Any glare which could occur would be contained in the signal given to the speaker.
Single driver speaker systems, when properly set up, and fed a nice clean good sounding watt or two, can provide musical enjoyment far beyond what multi-way speakers are capable of. These speakers to not WOW you with what they are capable of. They will WOW you with what the musician is capable of.
Advanced forms of tubed amplification such as directly heated triodes and quiet push-pull amps seem to have an ideal synergy with this type of speaker. The low powered 2A3 and 300B amplifiers are what this system was designed for. The immediacy of which these speakers are capable is a powerful lure that can pull you into the music further than most speakers are able to.
The all wooden front of the cabinet is designed to aid in low level resolution. In an industry devoted to utilizing the "latest materials", we have actually lost touch with what solid wood can do for sound reproduction. All solid woods exhibit a sonic signature that influences the sound of associated equipment. The Alder wood fronts on the Abby were chosen for light weight and extreme rigidity as well as reflectivity. Using solid Alder wood adds to a lively sound that will find appreciation in acoustical music particularly. The low level decay of notes of strings and percussion tends to become easier for the ear to track, and ambience from the recorded venue can now be further appreciated. Being solid wood, minor imperfections in the wood such as pin knots and color changes appear and contribute to a natural and very pleasing look, especially when combined with the high quality Cain and Cain finishes. Assembly of the precision parts is done without fasteners and is done manually one case at a time ensuring solidity and consistency.
Abby and Bailey Subwoofer-Natural Alder
Super Abby
The Abby Loudspeaker-The Super Abby-The Bailey Subwoofer
The openness and transparency of the Abby loudspeaker, combined with excellent tonal balance (in addition to high efficiency and dynamics), has made the Abby "annoyingly good sounding", as one dealer has remarked. This wonderful speaker has found homes in systems with analog front ends costing twenty times as much as the Abby.
The Abby was designed by Terry Cain to be an introduction into high efficiency speaker systems of simple yet refined design; a design which pays tribute to classic forms and reinterprets them using current thinking, and production techniques. The result has been a runaway success, finding a soft spot in music lovers' homes worldwide.
The standard Abby is now offered as two completely different systems using the same cabinet structure. The Abby "Normal" uses a driver with superb tonality and dynamics, the Fostex FE 166e. The Abby "Nearfield" uses the Fostex FF165k without a whizzer cone, but using an aluminum dustcap for smooth 17kHz response across a very wide pattern, making wide soundstaging in a small room a reality. The idea was to offer a nearfield monitor version to better suit small rooms, yet maintain 95dB efficiency and excellent bass performance. High efficiency designs in the past meant very large cabinets coupled with a generally forward sound in the midrange, especially when horns are used in rooms smaller than they were designed for... The Normal can sound a bit "busy" in smaller rooms due to the onset of midrange reflections earlier. The Nearfield version does not really project over a distance in large rooms and can sound dull in big, overdamped rooms where the Normal Abby is at home, where it can overcome even large overdamped rooms with placements well away from the walls. Any questions, please ask. Basically, Cain and Cain recommend the Nearfield Abby only for rooms smaller than 12x12x8ft. "Nearfield" in this case means an ear to speaker distance of less than 6ft. The Nearfield has a softer, lusher midrange and high frequency reange than the Normal. This works better with walls closer to the speakers in a way that does not harm the direct output of the system in the crucial midrange.
The Abby "Normal" has a tremendous dynamic ability well suited to even the largest of rooms, and sounds like a much bigger speaker than it's physical size would suggest. They mate well with low power amps like 1.5 watt 45 tube models, etc., but give them massive monster power of 6 watts and the Normals can deliver quite amazine volume levels with wide open beautifully textured sound. Control of the first few milliwatts is where triode amps excel, though other amp designs have their strong points. The Abby has proven to be a very forgiving design, allowing it to be paired with a variety of amplifier types.
The Super Abby adds a rear firing Alnico supertweeter to the standard Abby. A single voice coil (driver) attached to your amp will always win the clarity game. Adding another driver to the main presentation always destroys some sonic aspects regardless of implementation, an issue ignored by every system with two or more drivers facing forward. However...adding a rear firing alnico horn tweeter to the Abby adds the high end air and information that ultimately brings ease to the presentation. All without destroying the point source soundfield that smaller single drivers excel at. Adding a sub makes for a full 20Hz-beyond 20kHz system at 95dB and no load 8ohm impedance. Use of the tweeter allows a main driver with a lower natural resonance, which extends the low end response. An enlarged soundstage, wider bandwidth, and the same easy power requirements are arrived at with the Super Abby. Available in all finishes. Pricing starts at $2.000 per pair in most colors. Some finishes and wood types are up charges.
The Bailey subwoofer is designed to be capable of the speed and clarity needed to harmonize well with the existing Cain and Cain designs.Uses a SEAS 10" aluminum driver and 125w amplifier with a full scale of adjustment. The standard Cain and Cain designs go so deep that many or most people would not feel any need for a subwoofer. However, if your taste runs to electronica or hip-hop, a Bailey would offer as much clean, clear, and fast bass as you could ever hope to get out of a music system. Stellar.
IM BEN in Acid Washed Cherry Finish with Bailey Sub
Cain and Cain Price List
The ABBY (ported, modified Voigt pipe with 166mm Fostex Driver)- US$1500 in natural alder. US$2000 in solid maple. US$1750 in dark finishes
The Super ABBY US$2000 in natural alder. Other finishes available.
The Bailey Subwoofer US$1500 in natural alder. Other finishes available.
------STUDIO SERIES------
The Double Horn Studio IM BEN (with 168mm fostex Sigma driver) US$5500 in natural alder. US$6500 in acid washed cherry.
The Single Horn BEN (with 208mm Fostex Sigma driver and alnico supertweeter) US$5500
The Double Horn BEN ES (with Fostex ESigma drivers and Fostex T-900a brass alnico supertweeter) US$12,000
Please visit the Cain and Cain factory web site
(www.cain-cain.com) for much more extensive information on their complete line of loudspeakers
