Fujitsu-Ten was established in 1972 in Kobe (Japan) and if you're driving a Toyota, you may be listening to one of their car audio products. They developed the "Eclipse" concept, first as an after-market car audio production, then as a home use "Eclipse TD", where TD means "Time Domain" theory (below). They have, since, proposed an in-car speaker system, dubbed "Eclipse Sound Monitor". The last baby, the Eclipse TD712z system is finished to the highest standards.
Time Domain Theory (source: Fujitsu Ten/Eclipse)
What comes to minds first is "radical"... Radically new, radically designed. This egg, because it looks definitely like an egg, is quite surprising, even when one is aware of the Japanese inclination for such bizarre shapes in the high-tech design. Images of B&W's "Nautilus" design are floating, when comparing with European productions. The said egg is open... at the back, to act as a vent or exhaust. The designers of the Eclipse claim a 45Hz-20kHz frequency response, although their measuring rules appear quite flexible (-10dB at extremes). This is obtained using a single drive, since Fujitsu Ten engineers didn't even consider adding a tweeter. The device is amplified, and one wonders (again, the paradigm involving an egg...) which came first, the drive or the amplifier.
We said an egg... In the Eclipse T712z, the egg shape provides smooth changes of radius, whereas spheres are, contrarily to what is generally admitted, not an ideal profile for loudspeakers, because their radius is constant. The egg shape provides a smooth transition of the radius, unlike in a spheric form.
The construction of the enclosed space is, likewise, very innovative. The speaker is made of mineral stacked resin, which is supposed to drastically reduce the structural resonance. It measures 11.26X14.68X14.29 inches (286X373X363 mm). The egg shape -again- was chosen by Fujitsu Ten engineers, because it translates into very strong, vibration-resistant construction, with a minimum wavefront disruption, low cabinet diffraction, etc. In this perspective, adding a tweeter couldn't be an option, because of problematics of interference between the two units.
The egg family
Inside the egg, well no yellow and white, but again an original, innovative arrangement that only proves that Fujitsu Ten's engineers have though this out thoroughly. Last, the system comes with a strange-looking 30 Watts amplifier, dubbed TDA502. It is a cone, equipped with a volume control and one single input. Thin, phone-like cables are provided.
We do not provide reviews here, but we read them intensely. So what do you finally get for £3000? There is a consensus among reviewers about the Eclipse:
Don't expect deep, subterranean bass from such system and architecture, but it is far from ridiculous either; Good treble, quite extended; You should not buy this system if you wish to listen your music or watch your movie at levels that shake your windows... So, low, quiet levels of hearing... There's something else to the Eclipse, some subtleness and delicacy that is special to this system, and that is, as most reviewers express, the sense to entering a room "where musicians are making music," (*) especially when you're listening to solos or small ensembles. Some describe a "physical presence". Maybe it is why a musician like John Williams uses them at home.Conclusion: this combination has a truth of its own, not your deeply detailed bass, medium, and treble, rather some "inherent" quality of sound, and anyone willing to go for small, not physically intrusive system should give it a try and visit the next available dealer.
Specifications (source: Eclipse)
• Unit: 12cm
• Input Resistance (Rating/Max.): 35W/70W
• Impedance: 6Ω
• Efficiency/Sensitivity: 83.5dB/W.m
• Reproducible Frequency Band: 40Hz-20kHz(-10dB)
• Rated Output: 30W x 2ch(at T.H.D.=1%)
• Input Impedance: 10kΩ
• Input Sensitivity: 265mVrms
• Load Impedance: 6Ω
• Reproducible Frequency Characteristics: 10Hz-100kHz(-3dB)
• Harmonic Distortion: 0.05% max. (at 1kHz, 1/2 rated output)
• Power Consumption: 42W
(*): Source: Alvin Gold - Star online Audiofile