Development Audio Cymatics 6 speakers
A product launch usually generates interest but when it comes from a whole new audio brand then it’s time to really get excited, especially when its founder has such a solid pedigree in the business. The Cymatics 6 is a two-way stand-mount loudspeaker from Development Audio, the brand’s inaugural product and has taken around a year to bring to production.
The Creek factor
Founder Luke Creek comes from a family that has been in the audio business for three generations. His grandfather founded Wyndsor Recording in 1958 while his father, Michael, rescued highly-respected loudspeaker brand Epos some 25 years ago now, having formed electronics company Creek Audio back in 1982. Luke was the designer/manager for Epos as well as time working for industry giants Bowers & Wilkins, before setting up on his own.
As he explains: “Development Audio is a culmination of observed consumer behaviours and technical preferences. As a small independent brand, we’re able to focus on delivering the highest performance for the money through minimum signal manipulation, comprehensive cabinet design and well-engineered drive units. Development Audio is the first brand to emerge from our parent company Step Deeper Ltd. We have another audio brand appearing later this year, along with our mental health organisation Music Is The Answer.”
The word cymatics is highly appropriate as a model name since it relates to the study of sound and vibration, typically on the surface of a plate, diaphragm or membrane. It comes from ancient Greek: κῦμα, meaning wave.
Design
The Cymatics 6 is a collaboration with highly-regarded drive unit producer SB Acoustics which was started by Ulrik Smite and Lars Goeller, backed by industry muscle from Sinar Baja Electric. Quite a number of those behind the company at the start were former Scanspeak designers, so little wonder they created some great-sounding products. A passive stand-mount two-way, the Cymatics 6 is Development Audio’s entry-level product. The drive units and drop-dead gorgeous cabinet are crafted in Indonesia which keeps costs down and results in a competitive final price.
The tweeter is a 25mm aluminium dome with custom, solid aluminium waveguide to aid dispersion and help with breakup as well as setting time alignment. This took considerable R&D time and effort to perfect and is used alongside an SB Acoustics mid/bass unit with 171mm NXR doped paper cone. The coating adds stiffness (for improved pistonic operation) and is on a cast aluminium chassis for optimum strength. The unit includes a low-damping, medium-hardness rubber surround for improved dynamic linearity and mechanical stability. These drive units cross over around 2.2kHz using a simple first-order network for the tweeter and third-order for the woofer.
The 19-litre reflex enclosure chosen for the Cymatics 6, with port tuned for 40Hz, is made from 25mm ultra-dense MDF all round; many lesser designs use such thick material for only the front and back baffles. Internally there is significant bracing of 18mm thickness, comprising one horizontal strut and a pair vertically placed to ensure an extremely rigid box aiming to eradicate vibrations, or at least steer them out of the audible range.
The cabinet’s sides are chamfered which not only aids aesthetics but reduces baffle diffraction and this was evident from some simple in-room plots taken. These also reveal good drive unit integration while both on- and off-axis plots show a fine overall balance.
The Cymatics 6 samples supplied were in high gloss black, an environmentally-friendly engineered wood option is also offered. At the rear is a connection panel with a pair of high-quality terminals, there are no fancy bi-wiring gimmicks on offer here. The rear port is actually machined out of the MDF to enhance the stylish appearance. Supplied as standard are a pair of cloth grilles in magnetic frames which cover the drive units but leave much of the baffle exposed.
Setting up
Aided by the designer who delivered the samples personally, which is always appreciated, we sat the Cymatics 6s atop a pair of Custom Design FS 104 60cm stands (central column partly filled) and connected Hegel H600 amplifier. Sources were an internet tuner, satellite receiver and Qobuz streaming via an Auralic Aries G1.
I settled down to my usual diet of speech-based material of dramas, documentaries and news and current affairs. The sound was rich, full-bodied and, if I might call it so, professional. By which I mean being produced by a clearly highly competent design which added weight and authority to the sound which many speakers at this price point are not able to achieve.
Sound quality
Ahead of the listening panel’s arrival, I ran through a few tracks with the Cymatics 6s, first up was Phil Collins’ Hang In Long Enough which was as punchy as ever; the vocals clear and not lost in the mix as they sometimes are. It was clear that this was not a plastic woofer cone, none of that annoying thickening of the midrange which can ruin some recordings. Also evident was the metal dome of the tweeter but it is very well controlled and never gets out of hand in the way that makes me avoid them as much as I can. As part of a competent design, such as this, they really do help to create detailed and well-defined high frequency content. The dynamic ability of these compact boxes was superb and I was able to increase the volume to neighbour-annoying levels without any distortion or break-up becoming evident.
Switching to female vocals and Maggie Rogers’ 2019 tune Past Life, the projection really brought the recording home in a most lifelike way. The soundscape doesn’t extend much beyond the cabinet edges but it’s plenty deep and wide enough to recreate the recording in a meaningful way. Again, timing was good and my feet tapped along with the beat. Just when I thought that the treble was about to become prone to unwanted sibilance it was controlled enough to avoid it. This is the hallmark of a good design; not to compromise the treble but to know when it needs to be restrained.
The panel’s first piece was Byrd’s rather splendid Laudate Pueri Dominum performed by the choir of New College Oxford under Dr David Lumsden. A 1963 recording, it lost none of its magic via the Cymatics 6s which helped to create something of a 3D image with the performers placed solidly across the soundstage. A piece that can sound phasey on lesser systems, here we had an holistic reproduction which draws the listener in to the recording. Sublime is the word. The midrange was notably good, not in a standout way but as part of the overall balance. It is an area of the audio spectrum which loudspeaker designers often ignore in order to create faux excitement from overly boosted bass and treble. I am so relieved to find that Luke Creek has steered away from this trend. As far as possible, what his loudspeaker produces is what the recording engineer laid down. That’s just how it should be in my book.
Switching genres, it was down to Kenny G’s classic Songbird to prove just what these little monitors are capable of when it comes to reproducing the ethereal and generating emotion. The panel were mightily impressed at how the Cymatics 6s handled this easy listening/jazz saxophonist as we felt every note personally. The attack and decay of each note was handled with aplomb by the Development Audio speakers and feet tapped involuntarily. The absence of cabinet coloration was also noted as was the bass which achieved the quoted 50Hz.
Before they left, the panel concluded their session with Endor’s Pump It Up, a vibrant track if ever there was one and surely an improvement over Mr Costello’s original (steady on – Ed). The bass produced is well controlled and detailed. These are small cabinets and those seeking thunderous output will need to add a suitable subwoofer. But, for everyday enjoyment the bass is more than adequate. Better this than some fake bass that’s boomy, wayward and completely out of control as is the case with some modern designs.
Conclusion
Market conditions, in the UK at least, are pretty tough currently and this is no easy time to launch not just a new loudspeaker but also a new brand. I wish Luke Creek every success with a product that deserves to do well given its quality engineering and superb sound.
The bass is more than many achieve at this price point and from a cabinet of this volume. The drive units are exceptionally well integrated so the listener is presented with an holistic sound which is pretty much faultless from the high-top downward.
The Cymatics 6 represents marvellous value-for-money, so earns Best Buy status; but it’s so well designed, well made and produces such an enjoyable sound that it’s also in five-star territory. So it’s a joint award from me for this well executed little cabinet that is enthralling to listen to and just gorgeous to look at. I, for one, cannot wait to see what other models emanate from Development Audio and the sister brand that’s in the pipeline. We are surely in for some further magical creations.