Unveiled at the High End show in Munich yesterday, Monitor Audio's Concept 50 loudspeaker marked the company's 50th anniversary alongside the new limited-edition Silver 100s announced earlier.

Pegged to go into production later this year and currently dubbed Concept 50, the 1384 x 439 x 451 mm (HxWxD) prototype speaker was in fine voice as the British firm showed what it was capable of. 

The Concept 50 loudspeaker started its life two years ago when Monitor Audio's Technical Director, Michael Hedges, and Design Director, Charles Minett, experimented to see how far they could push passive loudspeaker design. Their work quickly paid off when they spotted the opportunity to create something very special.

The 96kg three-way design's heart is 'The Array', an ultra-compact multi-driver mid-range and tweeter assembly. Using Monitor Audio's RDT III cone technology, the six mid-range drivers together are said to have a surface area greater than a Platinum Series mid-range. 

Firstly, each mid-range has an exceptionally wide bandwidth and could cover much of the range of a traditional tweeter. This ensures the smoothest crossover to the tweeter and exceptionally low distortion. 

Secondly, traditional dual concentric drivers add additional intermodulation distortion to the tweeter due to the displacement of the mid-range diaphragm, which forms the tweeter waveguide. This can be reduced by limiting the lowest frequency at which the mid-range operates but is never totally removed. As Monitor Audio's tweeter waveguide is fixed and the drivers create a flat baffle around the tweeter, we're assured that there's no additional intermodulation distortion. The result is that the mid-range can run to its full potential without compromise.

The second part of the 'The Array' is the third-generation Micro Pleated Diaphragm (MPD) high-frequency transducer. Monitor Audio says that this iteration improves nearly all aspects of its design, including linearity, distortion, directivity and power handling. 

The Concept 50 bass drivers are anchored together in pairs facing each other in a 'Force Cancelling' configuration resulting in the loudspeaker claiming an in-room frequency response (-6dB) of 21Hz-60kHz with minimal distortion. 

The 4 x 200mm bass drivers are encased in a thermoformed and precision machined mineral and acrylic stone cabinet. Meanwhile, 1 x MPD high-frequency and 6 x 50mm mid drivers are mounted within a precision-machined solid aluminium baffle combined with a custom-designed and 3D printed enclosure tuned to the mid-range drivers' requirements.

The Concept 50 is a prototype loudspeaker that Monitor Audio will continue to develop into a flagship product that will go into production later this year so that audiophiles worldwide can own and enjoy the absolute pinnacle in loudspeaker development. 

Visit Monitor Audio for more information