Borresen Acoustics Børresen M1

Small speaker – Huge soundstage

The Børresen M1 is the absolute high-end version of a loudspeaker that incorporates all the premium elements of the most innovative and advanced audio technologies that both Ansuz, Aavik and Børresen stands for. The performance of the M1 loudspeaker makes it necessary to redefine the quality of absolute high-end music reproduction.

Technologies and Components

When designing the Børresen M series loudspeakers, Børresen’ s overriding goal was to challenge existing technological constraints and pioneer into new and unorthodox realms of audio technology. This comprises the absolutely new design of loudspeaker components, finding effective ways to fight resonance and vibrations, and searching for materials that provide the ultimate properties to elevate the sound quality to unprecedented new level.

The basket – A real revolution

Zirconium, topology-optimized This basket is a real revolution – it is a topology-optimized basket made of zirconium, which ensures maximum rigidity and thus minimum vibration and resonance. Zirconium is by far the best choice of material, since it allows the basket to generate an inconceivable quality of natural sound.

This basket is not just a placeholder for the membrane. The energy generated by the membrane is also held by the structure behind it. The goal was therefore to eliminate the noise of the basket by designing a basket with maximum stiffness. Studies were conducted using computer-optimized finite element designs, resulting in a topology-optimized basket made of the exclusive material zirconium.

Børresen has not only designed a basket with extreme stiffness, but also added important factors such as tremendous internal damping and resonance control, resulting in extreme clarity in overall performance.

M series membrane – Bass/midrange

Børresen IronFree5 Zirconium SSE driverThe membrane is designed to achieve maximum stiffness with minimum noise. The membrane for the M-Series speakers are the most advanced and sophisticated speaker membrane on the market. The membrane has the highest stiffness and the lowest membrane resonance. The technological requirements for this unrivalled, world-class membrane performance made it necessary to design, develop and assemble all components in-house. Michael Børresen and his team had to construct a large number of different variants and models until they accomplished their uncompromising goal of ultimate membrane performance for an unprecedented sound quality.

The result is a membrane that consists of four skins laminated into a single unit: two layers of spread tow carbon fiber, a layer of aramid honeycomb spacers in between, and a titanium skin with Ansuz Supreme coating.

The combination of all these materials give this state-of-the- art membrane its unique properties. Spread tow carbon fiber is designed to ensure a skin with optimum stiffness in many different directions. This unique characteristic reduces sound disturbing vibrations and resonances to an unprecedentedly low level. This is also true for resonances in the frequency range above 8 kHz. Since the membrane/driver is used up to the 2.5 kHz range, disturbing resonances have been shifted two octaves outside the effective frequency range, ensuring an absolute minimum of resonances.

The aramid honeycomb also has the best stiffness to weight ratio in the vertical direction.

Titanium has perfect resonance control properties and supports a natural, organic sound of the membrane. With the Ansuz Supreme coating, the skin of the membrane is further acoustically optimized. This coating is applied to the titanium skin in a Hi-PIMS (High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering) machine to create the finest and most uniform layer of zirconium, followed by a layer of tungsten and finished with a layer of aluminum chrome nitride. This coating provides the music with a truly impeccable sound quality.

Magnet system – Bass/midrange

Børresen IronFree5 Zirconium SSE driverThe patented Børresen iron-free magnetic system has been further refined, and is used in all loudspeakers in the M-series. Their inductance is about ten times lower than that of conventional drivers. This exceptionally low inductance has now been even further reduced to an unprecedented new minimum level – about 12 times lower than the inductance level of conventional, iron-based drivers. Here is how we achieved this: Since silver has 6-8% better conductivity than copper, we replaced the copper pole rings with in-house manufactured, handcrafted silver rings.

Cryogenic process

Extreme treatment, huge improvement. Cryogenic treatment of all metal components of the loudspeaker results in a further significant improvement in conductivity – unleashing the finest and most subtle musical details. When metal components undergo cryogenic processing, they are subjected to extreme cooling. In the wake of this process, the crystal structure of the metal contracts more and more. Alloying elements are pushed out of the grain structure of the metal, which now becomes very similar to a monocrystal. These structural changes in the metal have a profound effect on its audio properties, resulting in an increase of conductivity by 6-8%.All metal components in the M-series undergo cryogenic treatment. The cryogenic processing cycle requires a 3-day-time window. Within the first 24 hours, the metal undergoes a cooling process from room temperature to cryogenic temperatures. During the second 24 hours, the metal parts are held at temperatures around -196°C (-321°F) before the temperature, within the next 24 hours, returns gradually to room temperature. The gradual cooling and heating is critical to avoid any thermal stress. The process strengthens and compresses the grain structure of the metal components and reduces inherent residual stress that occurs when metal solidifies from its liquid phase to a solid phase.

The Børresen tweeter

Børresen RP94 Ribbon Planar TweeterElaborate finite element methods have been applied to linearize and optimize the magnetic flux field, to facilitate driver movement and to ensure high efficiency and outstanding linearity.The efficiency of this closed ribbon tweeter amounts to an exceptional 94dB and operates from approximately 2.5 kHz upwards. The moving mass is extremely low at 0.01 grams. The totally concealed tweeter has the capacity to operate at an incredible speed, which is an absolute prerequisite to unlocking the most subtle and refined sound details of any kind of music. The enormous robustness of this tweeter allows it to handle extremely high transient peaks without any ear fatiguing breakups. No transformers are being used.

Crossover.

Serial configuration, coherent system.

Børresen loudspeakers are fitted with a serial crossover configuration. The reason for this is that the drivers share the very same flow of electric current in the crossover region. As a result, the electric current is phase-locked over the crossover region. Unlike standard parallel filtering, where each driver receives its own frequency and phase content, the new serial filters work by diverting out-of-band currents around the current flows, thus creating a much more coherent system. This unrivaled and innovative technological approach takes your music into a new echelon of acoustic delight.

For the crossover filter, we went to great lengths to source the very best and most sophisticated state-of-the-art components. The coils are foil types wound with paper isolation and impregnated with resin under vacuum to make them mechanically extremely solid and stable.

For crossover capacitors, we use arrays of small military spec stack-foil types. They have the best mechanical stability and lowest induction of any type of capacitor on the market (and they sound wonderful, too).

For tweeter attenuation resistors, we use metal strip types since they have, by far, the lowest noise figures and additionally, a very low thermal variation.

Cabinet M1 – Redesigned and reinforced

The design is an evolution and optimization of the stunning Børresen 01 cabinet. To ensure even higher performance, the M1 cabinet is constructed with additional 5mm braced, block-milled, pressed wood structures. In addition, braces are built into the sides of the speaker to give the cabinet even more rigidity and mechanical stability. The tweeter and woofer sections are fitted with matched terminals to ensure highest efficiency. The cabinet is covered with black piano lacquer.

The M1 stand – Aesthetics with sonic potential

The stand for the M1 speaker was designed with auditory functionality in mind to ensure the impressive performance of this world-class speaker.

The speaker is placed on the meticulously machined top plate, which is constructed as a sandwich solution. The base material is a heavy, compact laminate panel with titanium layers on the top and bottom. This unique sandwich construction supports a natural and organic sound.

Three Ansuz Darkz Z2S resonance control decouplers are almost invisibly placed between the speaker and the top plate. The Darkz Z2S is made of zirconium and represents the flagship version among the resonance control decouplers.

The lower plate is mounted on an aesthetically designed vertical column and feet, which are designed as a cross shape. The material of the column and feet is NBCM (Natural Based Composite Material). This composite material is also used by Børresen’ s sister companies Ansuz and Aavik, as it reduces distorting mechanical influence, especially hysteresis. The sonic result is clearly audible. In addition, the adjustable feet of the bottom cross plate are designed to sit on top of Ansuz Darkz.

Ansuz Darkz Z2S – Børresen M1

Invisible resonance control.Ansuz Darkz decouplers have been designed to ensure a distinctly better mechanical grounding of the speaker cabinet to the stand, respectively to the floor. Ansuz Darkz consist of 3 discs separated by 3 titanium ball bearings.

The M1 features built-in Ansuz Darkz Z2S resonance control decouplers mounted between the speaker and the bottom cross plate. The adjustable feet of the bottom plate are designed to sit on Darkz decouplers of your choice. Ansuz Darkz decouplers provide much better mechanical grounding of the speaker cabinet to the stand, respectively, the floor. They absorb vibrations that are not directly related to the signal path. The absorption prompts a vibration feedback that audibly purifies the sound quality. It is this natural and authentic sound that Ansuz Darkz devices are designed to preserve.

Internal wiring- Ansuz Gold Signature

Ansuz Gold Signature cables feature by far the most innovative and most advanced audio cable technology, literally paving the way to an extremely clear, natural, and authentic sonic reproduction.

The Tesla coil principle

The principle is to have two coils that are wounded in each direction / a coil and a counter coil. In Ansuz words: “A double inverted coil” – the two coils are both carrying voltage – and when the Tesla coil encounters a voltage spike a counter spike is activated in order to eliminate the noise. As Noise spikes are pure voltage and carries virtually no charge, the cancelation is quite good, but not 100%. By adding more P-TC coils in parallel the performance increases. By implementing this the perceived blackness in the music improves significantly. Ansuz Tesla coils are available in various types as they complement each other in terms of strengths /weaknesses.

Active square Tesla coils

Impressive noise reduction. The active square Tesla coils are embedded in our circuitry boards – one coil on the top and the counter coil on the rear side. The principle is exactly the same as the active Tesla coil and thus a great ability to eliminate noise than the passive Tesla coils.

Analog dither technology 3rd generation

A 3rd generation of the Ansuz analog dither technology has been developed. Analog dither technology originated in radar, where it ensured a stronger signal and thus greater range. The active Tesla coils send pulsating signals at precisely defined frequencies. These signals are sent in anti-phase. This significantly amplifies the musical signal and eliminates the background noise floor.

Analysis and studies have led to new options – and a lot of listening has resulted in this 3rd generation design which is a further optimization of the most effective frequencies which opens the soundscape even more and with the tiniest details when it comes to reproduction of the recordings.

Anti aerial resonance coil technology

Prevents airborne noise. All cables and cable screens are acting like antennas for airborne RF noise which of course is a huge problem. The passive cable Tesla coil is wounded on the external part of the cable and protects the signal from absorbing the airborne RF noise. This noise is absorbed in the Tesla coil. As there is a voltage running in the conductor itself, and it is wounded in the counter direction – this is used as the counter coil and the RF noise is then eliminated.