Through him I asked Mr. Seo about his background, main business and what/how/why he got into hifi manufacture. I asked why he opted for isobaric bass loading; and more details on his particular 0.5-way solution whereby the inner driver covers far less bandwidth and at least in the big monitor differs from the outer driver; and how all of it applies to our Mini. I asked about filter components and slopes and whether the outer Mark Audio CHR90 runs wide open on either end.
Finally I asked for photos of the inside cabinet, drivers, filter parts and his production facility and reference system – all standard stuff I think prospective buyers might want to know particularly with a new brand and products priced as luxuries then sold direct.
Mr. Byun: "We currently don't have dedicated Mini stands. Can your own work or do you want us to send 3rd-party stands?" For their Mini, Mon recommend this Q-acoustic 3000ST so on their request, I ordered in a white set from Amazon UK for just €122.46 delivered. That would insure proper height and size and also match what real-world buyers should pursue who don't end up with a desktop or low-boy nearfield setup. For something more heavy metal even custom, Germany's Liedtke might have your number with perhaps this €319/pr Quattro XS and 10x12cm top plate. Proper earlignement of height, toe-in even tilt is key. Giving a think to the right stand becomes part of the full-hit equation. And at €2K for this mini speaker, getting the full hit from it should be public friend #1.
Getting monitor sound 'on the level' includes, quite literally, getting it up to ear level. On my desktop that means 130cm because my office chair places me higher to be ergonomically aligned with the desk's keyboard tray. For my Ikea rockers in the two main systems, it means 110cm. For my upstairs nearfield system, two stacked Kanto stands for proper strength create the needed tilt to aim the central tweeters at my ears. It's nothing but Hifi 101. It's base-level stuff no different than aiming the center of a camera's viewfinder on the object we want to capture. We don't put that in a bottom corner or outside the frame entirely.
Here we have the driver's designer talk about a benign modern widebander that's equally at home in a classic single-driver or multi-way speaker. Its membrane is an aerospace-grade hard aluminium alloyed with magnesium. Click on the image to launch the YouTube link.
Here we see the seven filter components loose then mounted; and the inner driver right behind the outer. The gap between the filter components receives the port tube.
From Young Byun: "Jun uses his hidden driver as primary, the visible driver as secondary unit. The 1cm AMT depth intends for an inverse axis to cast the soundstage behind the speaker while the bass generated by the rear port remains in phase with the high frequencies. As you point out, typical isobaric designs connect two identical drivers in parallel. MonAcoustic's isobaric design differs. It creates unique damping effects when paired with high-output amps of 500 watts or more. You can hear that very distinctly. Anyone into an energetic sound with a large soundstage will be pleased."
"SuperMon Mini condenses Jun's sound philosophy for nearfield listening in small rooms or on the desktop. Over 64% of Koreans live in high-rise apartments and many of our clients use no subwoofers. Now our rear port adds tuning options with varying wall proximity. Mini has very little internal volume. What there is is filled with parts and a port tube. To flatten the sub 200Hz response needs small drivers of very high performance which can work in minimal cubic volume. That affects sound density and release time. Mini's isobaric design addressed those issues with realistic harmonics. The inner driver operates below 130Hz. While the outer driver uses the same coil and magnet system, its coated cone is a different material to maximize phase alignment. When you measure the outer driver without the inner driver's back loading, it will seem to only work above 100Hz."