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Richter Audio Owners & Discussion Thread


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Dear Shane,

Thanks so much for taking the time to write about your Richter loudspeakers. I cannot tell you how heartened I am to hear that you have received years of enjoyment from them. And how much they sweetened your life's journey and became part of your history. That news tells me that my endeavours were well worth it.

 

I know what it is to blow your entire savings on sound gear. I recall only too vividly at age 12 , when I spent every penny I had saved on a pair of Coral 8CX50 speakers ( still have them and they still sound wonderful), a Peak stereo amplifier and a turntable. Music was my life..

 

I tried very hard to make Richter as much as possible Australian made. I worked very closely with Magnavox Australia ( no relation at all to the overseas brand), to develop woofers that were fast and low in distortion. It was a slow and arduous process, but I attribute much of the success of the brand to Magnavox and their magnificent hand assembled Australian made drivers. We used Australian wire in the inductors, Australian made resistors and all the cable was Australian. Many of the early models also used Australian made capacitors. I really hoped that the brand would be by Australians for Australians. Australians like you!

 

I also worked very closely with Graham Jones from JJ cabinets and without his efforts Richter would never have birthed in the first place.

 

So I guess that 25 years on, I am very encouraged that this obsession with Australian made, was worth the effort.

 

I think the best part of Richter for me were the great friendships I made with retailers and consumers alike. Without this aspect the journey would have been quite empty

 

The logo of Richter was " A nice way to say Australian". Sadly, I understand that the speakers are now all made overseas.

So thanks once again for sharing your story. I was immensely pleased to  hear from you.....

Kind Regards

Ralph Waters

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On 8/31/2017 at 8:48 AM, Maty J said:

Just pickup up myself a never used still in box set of black Wizard MkIV and Unicorn MkIV....mate....above and beyond. I feel these speakers were made and designed before a financial crisis hit? 

They are the only thing in my set up that has remained constant over the years.

The centre unicorn is a beast!

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Welcome Ralph, it's great to see you posting here. I coveted your speakers badly in the late 80's as a teenager. I eventually bought a pair of Mentors and I should never have sold them. There was something that was just right about their sound that I recall just stood above everything else. I have fond memories of the Secret Weapons knowing sadly that they were out of my league.

 

Papps HiFi in Gippsland was pretty active with Richter back then and I think I may have even met you briefly at a demo show you attended in Traralgon around 1990.

 

Great memories!

Edited by mondie
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Hi there Mondie,

Boy is your posting a blast from the past! I recall  this trip vividly as Peter Stein from ME and myself travelled together. At the end of the show we packed up and just headed home. We were pretty tired after a lot of travel and long hours at the show and so I suggested we stop over at my sister's place in Canberra. We arrived in the wee hours of the morning so we simply decided to plant our sleeping bags on her backyard lawn. When she woke up in the morning, she found two frosty sleeping bags laid out on the lawn and was going to call the police ! I think it was the automatic sprinkler system that finally woke us up.

 

Many of the shows were like that..long travel times, long show times and lots more travel. But the friendship and camaraderie between Australian producers was wonderful. I often travelled with Brad Serhan from Orpheus loudspeakers and we formed a very close bond.

 

Around this time I started OZFI which has been largely forgotten. It was the Australian Hi Fi manufacturers guild and included all the main players of the time.

 

The whole era was quite exciting . We really were a bunch of boys happily indulging our hobbies and passions rather than serious businessman! And that was always the attraction for me...to play music and to play in the sandpit!!

 

Thanks for your posting!

 

Kind Regards

Ralph Waters

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7 hours ago, ralph waters said:

Hi there Mondie,

Boy is your posting a blast from the past! I recall  this trip vividly as Peter Stein from ME and myself travelled together. At the end of the show we packed up and just headed home. We were pretty tired after a lot of travel and long hours at the show and so I suggested we stop over at my sister's place in Canberra. We arrived in the wee hours of the morning so we simply decided to plant our sleeping bags on her backyard lawn. When she woke up in the morning, she found two frosty sleeping bags laid out on the lawn and was going to call the police ! I think it was the automatic sprinkler system that finally woke us up.

 

Many of the shows were like that..long travel times, long show times and lots more travel. But the friendship and camaraderie between Australian producers was wonderful. I often travelled with Brad Serhan from Orpheus loudspeakers and we formed a very close bond.

 

Around this time I started OZFI which has been largely forgotten. It was the Australian Hi Fi manufacturers guild and included all the main players of the time.

 

The whole era was quite exciting . We really were a bunch of boys happily indulging our hobbies and passions rather than serious businessman! And that was always the attraction for me...to play music and to play in the sandpit!!

 

Thanks for your posting!

 

Kind Regards

Ralph Waters

What a great post. Love reading stories like this.

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@ralph watersTook me a while to grab a snap of my friends Harlequin Mkll tweeters, but here it is :) I think the ones I had were different maybe but have no pics of them anymore.

 

Have pondered on these tweeters make/model for so used in these speakers, thanks for taking a look, Ralph. Appreciated :thumb:

59ba26b2579b6_HMkll.jpg.df56424b446b031a997256b1fc728604.jpg

Edited by Muon N'
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Hi there,

These tweeters were made by Philips in Belgium. It is interesting that in 1974 I bought a pair of tweeters and they were made by Philips. I used Philips tweeters in the Mk1 Wizard. Eventually they stopped production and I had to source other brands, but I have always been partial to cloth domes and to tweeters with a conical waveguide.

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There has been a lot of interest in Ralph Waters joining the forum, and there have been plenty of members posting comments on Ralph's new member introduction thread about their enjoyment of the products. As a former retailer (now retired) of Australian speakers including Richter throughout the 1990s, I've dug out my brochures and scanned them as pdfs. Rather than add them to that intro thread I'll post them here. Moderators can decide if they want them on that thread as well.

Dragon A.jpg

Dragon B.jpg

Evokator A.jpg

Evokator B.jpg

Excalibur A.jpg

Excalibur B.jpg

Harlequin A.jpg

Harlequin B.jpg

Hydra A.jpg

Hydra B.jpg

Medusa A.jpg

Medusa B.jpg

Merlin A.jpg

Merlin B.jpg

Unicorn A.jpg

Unicorn B.jpg

Wizard A.jpg

Wizard B.jpg

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I've got some too to complement, e.g. mk1 thor and harquinn mk2. will add when have a bit of time. though no scanner will just be some photos of them. I have quite a bit info as Ralph included with every sale or was it the retailer I dont know. we had good support from retailers certainly in victoria ... with Audio trends and Secher audio selling the brand along with Orpheus.

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I used to sell Ralph the enameled copper wire for his crossovers in the late 1980's and early to mid 1990's. I still sell the wire but very few make their own speakers here or crossovers for that matter. In fact, there is very little manufacturing of anything here! 

Edited by Lance B
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Hi @ralph waters, when the Richter Evokator subwoofer was released, it was always on my dream list.

Just wondering if it would be possible to elaborate on the design of the unit, and in particular the electronics? I remember at the time that "Kinetic Intelligence" was mentioned, and what seemed to be a dynamic loudness contour/compression.

Also, was the amplifier of the negative feedback type? The flyer posted above (replicated in this post) has some info but I'd be appreciative of anything you could add.

 

Regards,

 

Matt

IMG_7650.JPG

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Hi Matt,

The Evokator was groundbreaking in many ways....and probably ahead of any technology in the world at that time.....let me summarise.

 

1. It had a dynamic loudness control which actually emulated the Fletcher Munsen hearing curves and automatically compensated for the human ear perceived loudness of bass with precise accuracy according to volume level and frequency.

2. Instead of compressing the output signal in situations where overload would occur, the input signal was monitored. When the input was looking like it would overload, the lowest bass frequencies were progressively removed until the input signal was shaped so that amplifier overload would not occur. These low frequencies ( which cause overexcursion of the cone), were then restored as soon as the input signal was once again manageable. 

This process was happening continually and in milliseconds and so the Evokator could play very deep and very loud but could also sound exceptionally fast in speed. This combination I believe is very hard to achieve.

3. The circuitry could accommodate any woofer at all. The circuit could manipulate the behaviour of the woofer so you could simply dial up the Small Thiele characteristics of the woofer. This is still a unique feature.

4. The amplifier design itself is something that I am a little hazy on. It was brutally powerful due to its huge toroid transformer and multiple output devices and very reliable. I think it as a standard class B design..

 

We found the Evokator at the Energy corporation in Canada on their test bench. We had sealed most of the critical circuitry in resin so the secrets of this design are still not revealed. Energy could not unlock the Evokator's secrets!!

Hope that is sufficient detail..But please get back to me if anything I have said is not clear..

Kind Regards

Ralph Waters

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Thanks for the clarification @ralph waters. The reviews I read of the unit many years ago were all very positive, and being a pipe organ lover, the mere mention of "16Hz" was enough to grab my attention :-) I have been through many subs in my quest high quality deep bass, and have finally settled on a pair of 12" sealed Rythmik "direct servo" subs.

 

I'll keep an eye out for an Evokator for a second system, it has always been on my wish list :-)

 

Many thanks for the extra info.

 

Regards,

 

Matt

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Ralph,

 

Long time user of your speakers. We had met on many occasions at shows and around the Sydney Hi-Fi stands back in the early/mid 90's. 

 

At one of the Sydney shows, you were demonstrating was a prototype subwoofer named the 'tsumami' I believe.

 

This was perhaps one of the best subs I had heard and definitely one of the most uniquely designed and beautiful to look at with its curved wood veneer front.  A few years after this show you had casually offered them to me but unfortunately I did not have the cash.  I would be most interested to hear of the technical merits of this unit and what had happened to it? Would be great to see some pics of it too.

 

I had purchased directly from you a set of Excaliburs. I still have these and the Unicorn centre and two pairs of Hydras that fill out my home theater to this day.  I did have an Evocator subwoofer, again one purchased directly from you and I think at the time one of the first off the production line. I presently use an SVS subwoofer as the room I have is quite large.

 

The speakers are still going strong and sound just wonderful. My wife still loves them and the system is used daily. A testament to their fine manufacturing and selection of components.

 

All the best.

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Hi there,

 

I am so glad that your speakers are still giving you enjoyment. I cannot express just how satisfied that makes me feel, knowing that you have enjoyed decades of musical enjoyment.

 

The curved panel sub was a great product and I regret in retrospect that we did not take it into production. It was two 300mm woofers in a 120 litre sealed enclosure. The drive circuit was very simple...it was simply a 12db octave of bass boost below the resonant frequency of the woofers. AND lots and lots of power. At that time big amplifiers were costly to build. This subwoofer needed about 800 watts to get it to work well. SO at the end of the day we did not go ahead.

 

A sealed design gives away 50% bass output compared to a vented design, but has the superior characteristic of better transient response. This lack of bass output can be counteracted with more drivers and more power...and that is the route that we took with the Tsunamis.

 

The Evokator was vented but we had a method of controlling transient response....so we had our cake and ate it too!

I have no photos at hand of the Tsunamis,  but I may have some in an old photo album, I  shall try and dig them out.

 

Thanks for your comments, they are most encouraging..

 

Kind Regards

Ralph

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Thanks for the reply on the Tsunami Ralph. It was and still is one of the more unique designs in subwoofers that perhaps has a higher WAF than most other systems.

 

The sealed design and its method of boost seems to be is similar to that of Bag End. I managed to grab a Bag End Infrasub in the 90's and can attest to this method of transient response being superior to others.  This was the best sounding sub I have ever had. So the Tsunamis would have been similar but from what I heard at the show, far greater output which is where the bag End did struggle.. but oh so sweet on 99% the sound.

 

Here is a pic of my speaker system in situ. I have surrounds to the side and the rear. Would like to get another pair for the front (to the sides of the screen) but the second hand market seldom brings up the Hydras that I have to match.

 

The big box to the right of the Excaliburs is the SVS PB12 plus 2 subwoofer.(http://www.audioholics.com/subwoofer-reviews/svs-pb12-plus-2) I great unit which has the output I need :)

 

If you find some old show pics of shows (tsunamis :) )I think most here would be appreciative of them being shared.

 

Cheers

John Barsby

 

IMG20171002093714.jpg

IMG20171002093608.jpg

IMG20171002093650.jpg

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  • 1 month later...

Got sold a set of Wizards with a Yammy AVR. Sounded TERRIBLE.

Suffered in silence for a year or two (I was a teenager - you're not supposed to admit your mistakes to your friends!), then put a nice HK integrated on it. What a difference! They turned out to be marvellous speakers, and the Yamaha AVR was just horrible at music reproduction.

Then some kind bugger relieved me of ALL my hifi gear a few weeks later. Devastated.

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