Thus the "Voxativ by Schimmel Pianos" logo, made of brass and set into a finish comprising 13 layers of lacquer, plus a protective coat of polymer finish. After listening to the Ampeggios, Schimmel-Vogel declared that he'd never before heard such realistic sound from a loudspeaker, and asked to be a partner in the venture, rather than merely a behind-the-scenes supplier of cabinetry.
Consequently, the Ampeggio's cabinet is made from a variety of woods from Schimmel's own selection: The side panels are made of the same three-layer sandwich used to make piano lids, medium-hard particleboards form the inner surfaces, and carefully aged tonewoods are used for the baffle and the surfaces immediately behind the driver.Īt the end of the development phase, company CEO Hannes Schimmel-Vogel asked Adler to bring her reference audio gear to his piano factory so that he could hear the finished product. Schimmel's engineers were intrigued by the project and made some contributions of their ownincluding the advice that, because any music-making device oscillates, it might be best to make a loudspeaker in such a way that its oscillations can be predicted and controlled, rather than try to kill them off altogether. "I was disappointed at first," she says, "because all of the companies I asked say their stuff is made in China." But Adler eventually discovered Schimmel, a 125-year-old, family-owned company in Braunschweig that also happens to make the best-selling German piano in America.
While developing the Ampeggio, Adler decided to approach some piano companies for help in transforming into reality the now-complex cabinet design.