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The Tethys Speakers Are the Main Speakers in the Titan System
All Titan speakers are made differently from any other loudspeakers both inside and out. Access to the best technology and precision tools allowed us to combine superior cabinet materials, the most elaborate crossover components available, new driver materials, and top grade copper cabling into one majestically designed package.
One-of-a-kind cabinetry is constructed using precision-cut interlocking (N-Flexª) braces found only at Earthquake. The internal bracing is wrapped with 16 layers of rare steam-bent cherry wood and topped with a crown that is finished in a slow and steady black-lacquer coating and drying process that lasts for more than 30 days. A 1.5-inch silk-dome super tweeter sits atop the tower, rescuing tiny sounds that are lost with conventional designs. Electroplated and silk-coated drivers made with low-ash paper cones deliver fast, accurate, and true bass response.
Earthquake's Rhea Sounds and Looks
Beautiful
This center-channel loudspeaker is truly revolutionary. It contains three
1.5-inch soft-dome tweeters, each of which is rated for 30 degrees of
dispersion. The outputs do not overlap until a distance of exactly 15
feet. In addition to the tweeters, the Rhea has four 6-inch full-range
high-speed drivers powered by massive magnetic motors. The motors are
specially designed to produce long and accurate excursions that are critical
for a high-SPL system such as this especially one that is delivers such
deep bass. Earthquake engineers uniquely tuned the combinations of drivers
for uniform dispersion of sound waves over a large area with a broad
frequency range. The drivers are mounted in a horizontal array, based
on a classic design theory developed in the 1960s.
With its aerodynamic cabinet finished in ten layers of piano-black
lacquer, the Rhea is a unique speaker. This unconventional aerodynamic
design reduces or eliminates internal and external reflections and
refractions found in typical rectangular designs. The cabinets' smooth
and curved surfaces allow air to move non-turbulently around and
within the cabinet, delivering the smoothest and most accurate mid-
and high-frequency effects that you will ever hear.
My next stop is the Earthquake Sound demo, which is showing off its 400-pound Titan speakers encased in cherrywood cabinets the size of coffins. Joseph Sahyoun, Earthquake's lead designer and president, is proud of - even smug about - his mammoth creation: "When we were done with this thing," he says, "even we were impressed."
And I have to admit, I am too. I'd never given Norah Jones a second thought until I heard "Come Away With Me" pumped through the Titans. Their 800-Hz supertweeters reveal the subtlest nuances - the piano's minor-key timbre, the cymbals' shimmer. Discerning the seductive way Jones smacks her lips between measures, I instantly develop a schoolboy crush. As if such rich sound weren't enough
to sell the Titans, Sahyoun brags about the speakers' ability to take
a punch. He repeatedly pounds one of the exposed woofer cones with his
fist while telling me, "Our market is anyone with an annual income of
$1 million." (Wham!) "Football players." (Wham!) "Baseball players." (Wham!)
At that point he trails off, unsure who else might pay $25,000 for speakers . and
then beat on them.
By Brendan I. Koerner, "Wired Magazine" | 
