Hybrid Audio Technologies Clarus-Series, Installation Manual

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Clarus User’s Manual ©Hybrid Audio Technologies Page 4 of 26
Clarus Individual Component Parameters
Your Clarus system contains speaker drivers and passive crossover networks that were developed
and assembled with a significant effort in research and development, materials science engineering,
an exhaustive level of sampling and prototyping, real-world testing, and obsessive attention to detail.
The specifications and parameters of your Clarus component system is detailed as follows:
Midbass Speakers (Clarus C5 and Clarus C6)
Frame:
Cast aluminum with black powder-texture surface coating. The basket is a high-quality cast
aluminum design, which plays a critical role in aligning the voice coil in the magnetic circuit.
Additionally, the cast aluminum frame allows for better clamping strength verses typical stamped steel
frames, and ensures that the voice coil remains centered in the former. The black coating on the
frame protects it from abrasion and oxidation. The frames are similar in size and format to the Mirus,
Imagine, and Clarus-series drivers, allowing for upgrade potential from these product lines to the
Clarus series.
Cone and Dustcap: Pressed paper, untreated on the front side and treated on the rearward side. It
is widely acknowledged that pressed paper cones are the best marriage of lightness, stiffness, and
ability of the cone to damp unwanted cone and edge modes and resonances (read: distortion). The
damping afforded by the paper cone ensures the midbass speakers can play lower treble frequencies
effortlessly, without significant cone “breakup.” Our approach to “point-source imaging” is to rely on
the midbass driver to effectively reproduce the lower treble frequencies, where the human vocal
range extends, as well as other imaging-critical musical instruments, ensuring phase-coherent
imaging and stable, lifelike staging character.
The paper cone, known for its excellent sonic attributes, is water resistant, thanks to a polymer
developed exclusive and proprietarily by Hybrid Audio Technologies. The treatment does not change
the look and parameters of the driver like old-fashioned “glossy” polymers which added an
appreciable amount of moving mass and significantly colored the sound. No, the Clarus cones look
like any “normal” paper cone. The treatment protects the cone from periodic drips (such as inside a
door panel), as well as accidental splashes to the front of the cone.
The dustcap covers the voice coil to keep dirt and debris from fouling the voice coil gap. Since high
frequency information emanates from the center of the cone, a paper dustcap was utilized in concert
with the pressed paper cone diaphragm to ensure that the speaker’s response remained linear into
the lower- to mid-treble frequencies.
Surround: Inverted high-loss rubber surround. The inverted high-loss rubber surround (in concert
with the spider, detailed below), helps to provide the compliance and “restorative force” needed for
the Clarus drivers to play effectively into the lower midbass, and even upper subbass frequencies
(depending on in-car cabin gain and other factors). You'll also know a Hybrid Audio midrange and
midbass design by its inverted surround; this design feature allows for the use of a smaller height
grille, better clearance with OEM panels, and more flexibility in mounting options. The surround is a
shared technology with the Imagine series coaxial and convertible component sets.
Spider: Phenolic fabric and tinned tinsel leads. The spider is the brownish/yellow corrugated
(rippled) fabric that attaches the cone and voice coil. The spider for the Clarus designs was the
subject of a considerable amount of our research and development. The spider is a phenolic
symmetrically-rolled fabric which provides excellent restorative force during excursion, and the woven