A
message from Haruhiko "Hal" Teramoto
Builder of Feastrex speakers
I
consider it a great privilege to be able to devote my
remaining productive years to the creation of ultimate
quality fullrange speakers. Over the years I have heard
many different kinds of speakers. A few decades ago there
were produced many speakers that have come to acquire
legendary reputations. However, very few of those legendary
speakers were developed for consumer use. Almost all were
for professional use, although that has not stopped some
stalwart souls from bringing into their homes huge speakers
originally developed for use in theaters. There are many
more audiophiles and music lovers who wish to realize
maximum sonic beauty and fidelity in their music reproduction,
but whose home listening environments make the use of
large loudspeakers impractical. I am convinced that there
is a tremendous need for loudspeakers compact enough to
allow enjoyment of extremely beautiful, high-fidelity
sound reproduction regardless of the amount of available
space in the home listening environment. Furthermore,
I am convinced that when properly built, a compact speaker
can enjoy significant advantages in key areas over larger
speakers with respect to achieving high sound quality.
However,
simply being compact is not enough. The great majority
of compact speakers seem to be plagued by low efficiency
and poor responsiveness. They seem to embody the assumption
that achieving compactness involves compromising on sound
quality. But there are users all over the world (including
myself) who feel that sound quality is perhaps the last
thing that should be compromised, and that pursuit of
ultimate sound quality should be our foremost concern.
I sincerely believe that the Feastrex line of fullrange
speakers achieves compactness without compromising on
sound quality. In fact, the truth of the matter is that
the compactness of the speaker is a byproduct of our pursuit
of ultimate sound quality. The speakers are the size that
they need to be to achieve the sonic objectives. I'm glad
that they don't need to be the size of theater loudspeakers
to do the job, because it means that many more people
around the world will be able to enjoy them.
Every
manufactured product is a reflection of the people who
build the product. Since the people involved with the
manufacture of Feastrex are all Japanese, these speakers
definitely embody our "Japaneseness." Every country has
its own artistic and industrial traditions, and if local
artisans use local materials and technologies, the result
will bear the imprint of the local culture. Since we have
relied very heavily on a combination of the best modern
and traditional Japanese technologies and local materials
in the creation of these speakers, they can be said to
represent a distinctly Japanese solution to the problem
of speaker building, and as Japanese we consider ourselves
privileged to be able to share with the world these modern
specimens of traditional Japanese craftsmanship. Of course,
their "Japaneseness" does not mean they are in any way
limited to playing Japanese music; to the extent that
they succeed in achieving high fidelity sound reproduction,
they will reproduce the music of any culture beautifully.
Among
the various Japanese technologies in these speakers, the
most important is undoubtedly the "washi" paper used in
the cone assemblies. Each local region of Japan has its
own distinct types of washi, and each type of washi will
vary according the individual papermaker. (A skilled papermaker
will be able to maintain a high level of consistency within
his own manufacturing.) It is impossible to know how a
particular type of washi will sound until it is actually
tried, and even then of course the sonic results will
vary depending on how the washi is implemented as a speaker
cone. Here at Feastrex we have tried many different kinds
of washi from all over Japan. As a result of our extensive
research, we decided to ask the master washi craftsman
Mr. Ichibei Iwano for his cooperation in developing paper
ideally suited to our speaker building needs. Despite
the extreme demands that we ended up placing on Mr. Iwano,
he has very graciously striven to give us exactly what
we need. In our opinion, this paper deserves to be considered
a treasure of the highest order. We think there is nothing
that can compare with it anywhere in the world.
The
better the materials that a craftsman is given to work
with, the greater the challenge he faces in his creative
work. The best materials deserve to be turned into the
best possible products. As a speaker builder laying hold
of a lightweight sheet of paper, I am overwhelmed by the
immense weight of one papermaker's soul poured into his
work, the result of a lifetime spent perfecting his craft.
(He is the ninth generation of his family to carry on
this great industry representing one of the pillars of
traditional Japanese culture.) And similar things can
be said of all the other components in these speakers,
because each has been made by a first-rate craftsman who
has poured his soul into his work. As we at Feastrex have
taken upon ourselves the task of combining all these elements
into an organic whole with aim of producing an "ultimate"
speaker, we are the bearers of a tremendous responsibility
-- toward our suppliers, toward our customers, and toward
the musicians and composers and recording engineers of
the world, whose music we intend to reproduce. Everyone
else has done their part to the best of their ability,
and when I build these speakers it is up to me to do my
part well, so that the efforts of all these other people
can bear fruit. Thus I am in a never-ending battle with
myself, to more fully master and perfect my craft, and
to be able to translate the passionate spirit of all these
people into beautiful sound bringing great joy to lovers
of fullrange speakers throughout the world.
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