The Story

 

     The Mother of Burls holds a special place in our hearts. In many respects this set put us on the map. The MoB’s made quite a number of trips with us on our two year tour of audio shows around the country, and were the ones first recognized for their superior performance on top of their stunning good looks. The Mother’s came into existence along with its sister set known as The Plain Jane’s, which held down the fort at our studio while the MoB’s toured the good ole USofA

 

     The Mother’s have been through several iterations since being conceived, and played the role of guinea pig in many ways, as we used audio shows as test labs for our concepts. Originally, they started out as a standard 2-way design. The first change turned them into 3-way with the introduction of a tweeter. Meant only as a concept from a sonic standpoint, we hastily mounted the tweeter above the main horn which sounded fine, but honestly was quite hideous looking. The Mother’s were first to have their tweeters tucked discreetly up inside the front of the cabinets, and the design change turned out to be just the ticket sonically and visually.

The first time we showed the new tweeter placement coincided with the introduction of our sub woofer package, and the combination didn’t go unnoticed. Getting named one of the best five loudspeakers among the worlds renowned manufacturers was especially noteworthy coming from a respected writer who never much cared for horn speakers. T.H.E. Show Newport 2016 produced multiple glowing show reports for us, and no doubt the shimmering grain of the beautiful burl cabinets lured many a lustful eye in our room for a listen.

 

     As the MoB’s traveled the country with us, they suffered their share of bumps and bruises along the way. Packing up from a show in Denver, one of the horns was set on top of the truck, and with no time to react, we watched it slide off the hood and crash to the pavement. The horn driver exploded into pieces, but we first worried if the hotel manager would forgive us for the chunk of asphalt that went flying. After finding a proper replacement for the driver, we could have turned the horn upside down to hide the big doink, but chose to place it upright, front and center. This is, after all, part of the story.

 

     Subsequent show reports featuring the MoB’s include a couple of photos where if you look close, you can see the scar on the horn. You probably wouldn’t notice it if it wasn’t pointed out, but we think it adds character, and we proudly highlight it. It’s part of the history, it’s part of the Mother of Burls