Wood Cone Speakers Wood's Superior Acoustic Characteristics Underlying wood's superiority as a material for musical instruments is its superior acoustic characteristics. Wood features high sound propagation speed, which ensures high sound definition, while its sufficient vibration attenuation (internal loss) delivers crisp, clear sound. This combination of attributes is impossible to achieve with conventional materials. Another advantage of wood is the uneven sound propagation speed. Usually, sound propagates at the same speed in all directions, causing standing waves, resonant points, and poor sound pressure frequency response. Wood is free of such drawbacks, because the sound propagates at diverse speeds -- faster along the grain than across. Challenges in Development -- and a Surprising Solution In developing the wooden diaphragm, JVC engineers faced a significant barrier -- stamping. Wood sheets can crack, split, or break when stamped. Countless techniques were tried, but all proved ineffective. After years of trial and error, the solution was finally found in a surprising material -- sake, or Japanese rice wine. When soaked in sake, a wood sheet becomes soft and pliable enough to withstand the stamping process without breaking or cracking. JVC has combined the 'sake' method with careful, elaborate stamping processes using special resins and agents to make the wood diaphragm durable enough to retain natural sound over a span of many years. In the end, JVC's 20-year process of research and discovery resulted in the successful development of a wood cone speaker. Final Sound Tuning with JVC Studio Engineers JVC looked to studio engineers from the Tokyo Aoyama Recording Studio, a JVC affiliate, to collaborate in the final sound-tuning stage of the micro component systems with wood cone speakers. Advice and opinions from the sound-creation experts helped us successfully complete the painstaking process of fine-tuning, which was aimed at reproducing sound that comes as close as possible to what musicians and composers originally intended. Solid Cherrywood Enclosure Encasing the wood cone speaker is a solid cherrywood enclosure. In addition to the same acoustic characteristics as the wooden diaphragm, cherrywood boasts a beautiful grain that lends a touch of elegance to the speaker system.