Editor,

We would like to thank Daniel Smith and Speaker Builder for the review of our Rhythm Revelator loudspeaker kit.

The Rhythm loudspeaker system was initially released in 1993. In those days, both Scan Speak and North Creek Music were tiny, relatively unknown companies, and North Creek made a big splash by being the first domestic manufacturer of 10 Gauge air core inductors and using them in what was at the time the most expensive loudspeaker kit in history. The original Rhythm used the Scan Speak 18W/8544 woofers and D2905/9000 tweeter, 10 Gauge inductors and metallized film capacitors, with all crossover components hand matched to 1%. It was updated in 1996 to the Scan Speak 18W/8545 woofers, '9300 tweeter, and Crescendo film and foil capacitors. The most recent update (1998) was to the Scan Speak Revelator tweeter, 8 Gauge inductors, and drivers hand matched to ± 0.5dB. Every upgrade has represented the evolution of both driver and crossover component technologies.

The Rhythm Revelator loudspeaker system is the quintessential example of the North Creek Music design philosophy; that the single most important aspect of a successful loudspeaker is the quality and voicing of the crossover design, and the most critical element of its production is the quality of the crossover components. To this end, the Rhythm measures a remarkable ± 2dB from 39 Hz to 22kHz, yet still has a sweet top end, liquid midrange, and a low end with some serious slam.

To get the most stable imaging, widest sound stage and greatest sound stage depth, North Creek also hand matches the crossover components to ± 1%, and the Scan Speak drivers can be ordered broken in and hand matched to ± 0.5dB. We also match resonance frequency and Q_ts. This allows for a maximum left-right speaker variation of only ± 1dB, three times tighter than the industry standard. This is tighter channel-to- channel matching than a lot of pre-amps and most phono cartridges. Pair matching is a laborous, time consuming process but worth every bit of effort; the Rhythm system (and every North Creek loudspeaker) will routinely reproduce a rock solid image 10 feet behind the loudspeaker positions, and an ambient field larger than most listening rooms.

But this is not the point of it all. Our fundamental philosophy is that North Creek Music manufactures loudspeakers that are a pleasure to listen to. To this end, 90% of the design time is spent in the listening lab playing real music that the listening panel enjoys. Rock, Jazz, Classical, Big Band - it's all here. The process is usually six to eight months from start to finish, but when the group starts staying late on a Friday night or a couple of them drop in on a Saturday morning just to listen to a few more CD's - that's when we know we have a good speaker.

Thank you again for the excellent review and this opportunity to comment.

Sincerely,

George E. Short III, President

North Creek Music Systems