DB8 Front LCR Speaker

SPECTRE ACOUSTICS

Spectre was founded by its designer and CEO Adam Rackham in Hertfordshire, England. Adam grew up around sound and music production, his father owned The Sound Suite Recording Studios in Camden, London. There Adam worked with musicians and the best recording equipment with the aim to capture the essence of the band’s performance. After completely overhauling the Studios control room with new acoustic treatment and technical equipment, Adam gained an interest in Loudspeaker design, building customised speakers for some of the artists recording at the studio.

The Need for Better Cinema Sound

After his work at the Studio, Adam entered the home cinema industry, designing and installing dedicated home cinema rooms. “I was always impressed with the quality of projection available but never quite satisfied with the audio. After hearing the sound system in an IMAX theatre, or a final mix in a Studio control room, I think you get used to what a film should and could sound like”. With this Adam looked into what components and general design principle the best systems in the best commercial cinema’s tend to use. “You don’t find silk dome tweeters, you don’t see small bass drivers with lightweight magnets. You find big, efficient, ported designs with large magnets, large driver mass and waveguides projecting the sound in a controlled pattern to the audience.” 

Building on the key principles

Spectre is not about listening to afternoon Jazz, it’s a speaker design that can deliver an exciting, dynamic and detailed sound to the audience. “When an explosive shell lands nearby in the film Dunkirk, you want to be able to feel the impact on your chest. When an actor is whispering you need to be able to distinguish every syllable, and when a gun is suddenly fired, it should make you jump!” 

One of the key components to this is the efficiency of turning an electronic signal into a sound wave. If the system you use to do this creates low and high sound pressure levels with the minimum of effort, you are on to a winner. Spectre utilise large diameter drivers with much larger magnet assemblies than that found on domestic sound systems. High frequencies are not delivered with dome tweeters, but Titanium compressions drivers in cast aluminium horns, optimised for even and controlled dispersion.  

Made In Britain

The majority of speaker systems in the world are made in the factory of the world, China. That’s not to say that is a bad thing, but it comes at a cost. Even big British brands are assembling products there and then shipping them to the UK. With shipping costs soring, this is no longer a money saving venture and production facilities in the UK are simply lost. Many prominent American speaker brands available in the UK and being built in China, shipped to the USA, then shipped here. All adding to the end sale costs, clearly money could have been better spent on component quality.  

Spectre is designed and built right here in Britain! Determined to keep the amazing British HiFi and speaker heritage alive, we assemble everything in Hertfordshire. Cabinets are built in Sheffield by the best in the business, drive units are hand made for us in Dorset by world famous Volt Loudspeakers, crossovers are hand built by us. We not only test, but we listen to everything we build to make sure it is perfect when leaving the factory and then installed in your cinema room.