Introducing Ethos Powered Speakers
November 2021
We build audio equipment because we love music and care how it sounds. When we began Ethos development a few years ago, we knew we were going to do the assembly and testing in-house at our Woburn, MA workshop – the same way we build all our turntables. This gives us full control over the performance and quality of every component, and lets us ensure that each part is working together perfectly.
What makes Ethos different
Our goal with Ethos was simple: build speakers that make getting great sound from a turntable as easy as possible. Many contemporary speakers rely on digital signal processing (DSP) to correct an otherwise imperfect frequency response. But what’s the point of listening to vinyl if the analog signal is being converted to digital? That’s why Ethos has a fully analog signal path. As the signal travels from the RCA inputs to the speaker drivers, it’s never converted to digital or enhanced using digital processing.
Instead of digital equalization, we rely on good old-fashioned loudspeaker design. Proper speaker design requires choosing the right drivers, building the right cabinet and crossover components, and then fine-tuning acoustic and electrical parameters to achieve the desired performance. It’s like perfectly lighting a scene before taking a photo with a film camera, as opposed to shooting with your phone and adding a filter. It’s not the easiest way to do it, but it can get the best results.
Inside Ethos assembly
We are fortunate to have a team of dedicated and talented assembly technicians that truly understand what goes into making great products. Being on the U-Turn assembly team requires technical expertise, attention to detail, and a commitment to quality.
Ethos production starts with the amplifier assembly. The PCBA, heat sink, and transformer are fastened to the back plate and connected together. We use torque-controlled screwdrivers and thread-locker to keep fasteners tight even during extreme vibration.
We examine each speaker cabinet the same way we would a turntable plinth – inspecting for imperfections before continuing. Foam gaskets areapplied to the cabinet to ensure all the seals between components are air tight, which is critical for performance. Next, the amplifier assembly, woofer, and tweeter are each carefully installed in the cabinet.
Once the cabinets are sealed up, we perform electrical safety testing. Then the speakers are placed into an anechoic test chamber for acoustic testing. We use an Audio Precision audio analyzer and calibrated measurement microphones to test the frequency response of each speaker.
The speakers are polished and placed in cotton bags before getting boxed up. We’ve been perfecting Ethos for over three years, and we’re excited for you to finally hear them.
