The Ra is the result of a unique collaboration between two companies and loudspeaker designers. It's conception was as a result of a wish by JoSound to manufacture a horn loaded loudspeaker to top its range of products.
But unusually for JoSound's chief designer and managing director, Joe Jouhal, instead of immediately embarking on the design himself, he contacted his good friend and drive unit supplier Inès Adler of Voxativ in Berlin. Joe had long been impressed by Voxativ's drive units and Acoustic Stealth Technology (AST) which, without any performance sacrifice, resulted in horn dimensions that were significantly smaller than of traditional designs (Voigt, Crabbe, Olson, Klipsch , Dinsdale etc.). Inès in turn had also been impressed by the quality of JoSound's designs and especially the quality of manufacture and finish.
The result is a horn loaded, single driver loudspeaker cabinet, branded as "Voxativ by JoSound", that will accept any of Voxativ's excellent drive units.
In effect Ra is not a single model but a complete range with a built in simple upgrade path. It can be bought with the entry level AC 1.5 drivers which can be replaced with any other driver in the Voxativ range all the way up to the legendary Permadur based AC-Xp field coil driver.
At its world debut with the AC 1.5 driver at HighEnd 2013 in Munich, the world renowned recording maestro Giulio Cesare Ricci, the founder of Fonè Records, spent considerable time listening to numerous recordings that he had made himself. Speaking to Joe Jouhal after his audition he stated "there two types of high end loudspeakers, ones that do sound reproduction and the second that is a real window into the heart and soul of the music and these are some of the clearest windows that I have had the pleasure of viewing my music through. Bravo!"
At the New Music Belgian hifi show, equipped with the wooden coned AC 4a AlNico driver and fronted by modest electronics, many listeners, including exhibitors of much more expensive products, acclaimed Ra "best in show".
Ra is offered in four standard models equipped with either the AC 1.6, AC 2.5, AC 4a or the AC-X field coil drivers. All other Voxativ drivers can be supplied by special request.
Features
Single driver for pin-point imaging
Pseudo spherical driver housing ensuring solid and stable sound stage
No passive cross-over thus eliminating phase anomolies
Voxativ's Acoustic Stealth Technology resulting in more compact dimensions than traditional horn designs
Internally cabled with high quality O2A cables, hand made in Lichtenstein
Specs
AC 1.6
Drivers: One – 8 inch paper cone
Sensitivity: 99 dB @ 1 watt @ one meter @ 1 kHz
Nominal Impedance: 14 ohms
Frequency Response: 40 Hz - 20 kHz
Power: 50 W (RMS) per channel
Overall Dimensions: Height – 1200 mm, Width – 720 mm, Depth – 394 mm
Approximate Product Weight: 93 kg each
AC 2.5
Drivers: One – 8 inch paper cone
Sensitivity: 93 dB @ 1 watt @ one meter @ 1 kHz
Nominal Impedance: 14 ohms
Frequency Response: 38 Hz - 22 kHz
Power: 50 W (RMS) per channel
Overall Dimensions: Height – 1200 mm, Width – 720 mm, Depth – 394 mm
Approximate Product Weight: 93 kg each
AC 4A
Drivers: One – 8 inch paper cone
Sensitivity: 101 dB @ 1 watt @ one meter @ 1 kHz
Nominal Impedance: 14 ohms
Frequency Response: 36 Hz - 20 kHz
Power: 50 W (RMS) per channel
Overall Dimensions: Height – 1200 mm , Width – 720 mm, Depth – 394 mm
Approximate Product Weight: 101 kg each
AC X
Drivers: One – 8 inch paper cone
Sensitivity: 100 dB @ 1 watt @ one meter @ 1 kHz
Nominal Impedance: 14 ohms
Frequency Response: 28 Hz - 22 kHz
Power: 50 W (RMS) per channel
Overall Dimensions: Height – 1200 mm, Width – 720 mm, Depth – 394 mm
Approximate Product Weight: 108 kg each
Price with AC 4A driver - €52000
