Cadentia 3 Product Development thread / Audio First Designs

[Audiofirstdesigns_Harry]

Hi everyone, some of you might have seen my replies in the Fidelia DIY kit thread about a new 3-way product Cadentia 3. I reckon it would be better to move the topic over here, put in a post specifically about it.

Here is the very first prototype that went up to my Klippel NFS for the measurement:

Some of the results:

Spinorama:

PIR:

Directivity (Horizontal):

Harmonic distortion at 96dB/1m:

Spec:

Sensitivity - 88dB/2.83V
Size - W 30 cm x H 58 cm x D 41 cm

I spent a few months refining the design in between my other consultancy work, and now I have some more updates to share with you.

 

[Audiofirstdesigns_Harry]

Doing what is normally handled by a whole team of engineers and designers on my own has been a hell of a job—but I finally finished developing the Cadentia 3 last month!

I’ve placed orders for all the parts, and production is now in full swing. I’ll also be launching a matching speaker stand, since the required stand height (~40 cm) is probably lower than what most people already have at home.

The kit version will launch in mid-October, with pre-orders opening then at an early bird price of £2,480 (UK VAT included). Shipping will begin in late October / early November. The baffle will be matt black, like the Fidelia. It would be a nice winter project.

The finished version will also open for pre-order in mid-October, with an early bird price of £4,780 (VAT included). Estimated shipping is late January 2026.

I’m only making 25 pairs of cabinets in the first batch, with oak veneer and a matt black baffle—my preferred combination.

Other veneer options (Walnut and Rosewood) will follow later, depending on demand. Each unit will be assembled and undergo measurement QC here in Cambridge before shipping. Due to my limited capacity, production numbers will remain quite modest in the first year.

The matching stand (flat-packed) will launch alongside the kit version at £349 (VAT included). The package will include adjustable “flat” feet in addition to standard spikes—ideal for wood flooring and especially useful when moving the speakers around for fine-tuning.

Below are some more updated photos and data (let's still call them preliminary, although I doubt the data from the production sample will differ much)

 

[Curvature]

Can you please post vertical directivity polars as well?

 

[Purité Audio]

Harry kindly bought a prototype pair here and they were stunning, I ordered a pair.
It is pleasing to see another measurement led manufacturer particularly a UK based one.
Keith

 

[tonyrob]

great work, Harry!

 

[sceptical1]

We are starting to talk about some serious coin here, $6500 US or in my case close to $9k CAD for a 3 way monitor is a hard sell in a good economy. I would be rethinking the viability of this project considering the recent stiff competition.

Good luck anyway.

 

[jamescarter1982]

can't really agree with this i applaud this guy ,made something which seems technically excellent and why not there's always reasons not to give something a go , I think in the studio space these are probably similarly priced to the competition . look at kerr audio for example a 3way passive admittedly with 12inch bass driver but 20k gbp .
think the aesthetics could do with a bit more work but that's just personal taste .
brilliant job wish I could do something like this as a side hustle maybe one day

 

[Audiofirstdesigns_Harry]

Thanks for the comments and concerns! That's kind of why I am making such a small batch to begin with, which is not too risky. Fortunately, I have received many inquiries worldwide and quite a few units have already been reserved even before the pre-order and before seeing the photos of the final product (with painted baffle, nicer looking waveguide and wood veneer, etc). I appreciate that people are putting this much trust in me. So I still feel quite positive about the project, especially with the help of the dealers in the near future.

From my experience working at other UK HiFi brands in the past few years, where I gained some insight into the sales of these kinds of high-end products, it seems like people who would happily spend over $6000 in audio are not really affected by the economy (sales remain similar), it was the middle-level product that was affected the most. Hence why you see the market getting more polarized, companies need to either make more expensive stuff or mass produced consumer electronics with very heavy marketing to survive. I also looked at the price of all the similar products (in terms of performance and sizes, especially those which are also built in Europe, etc) before making the decision on the pricing. I believe it is still attractive for what it can offer!

 

[kemmler3D]

We are starting to talk about some serious coin here, $6500 US or in my case close to $9k CAD for a 3 way monitor is a hard sell in a good economy. I would be rethinking the viability of this project considering the recent stiff competition.

Good luck anyway.

It's definitely not cheap but it has really good directivity and probably good SPL capability from the look of it. A boutique brand will struggle a lot when affordability is prioritised, you can do low price or small runs but not both. And per @Audiofirstdesigns_Harry, people who can spend $5K+ on speakers can often spend whatever they want on speakers.

 

[DanielT]

Hi everyone, some of you might have seen my replies in the Fidelia DIY kit thread about a new 3-way product Cadentia 3. I reckon it would be better to move the topic over here, put in a post specifically about it.

Here is the very first prototype that went up to my Klippel NFS for the measurement:

View attachment 476601

Some of the results:

Spinorama:

PIR:

Directivity (Horizontal):

Harmonic distortion at 96dB/1m:

Spec:

Sensitivity - 88dB/2.83V
Size - W 30 cm x H 58 cm x D 41 cm

I spent a few months refining the design in between my other consultancy work, and now I have some more updates to share with you.

Really good speakers you designed and built. Good luck with the sale.

From my experience working at other UK HiFi brands in the past few years, where I gained some insight into the sales of these kinds of high-end products, it seems like people who would happily spend over $6000 in audio are not really affected by the economy (sales remain similar)....

If those buyers, some of them anyway, even care about how their speakers sound. As long as they look "High End", that's fine. Maybe an exaggeration to say but who knows. I mean look at these fifteen thousand pounds speakers. They do look High End I think:

But do they measure High End?:

Børresen C1 standmount loudspeaker Lab Report

Clearly, a flat or uniform axial response is not always critical to the ‘subjective experience’ [see Graph 1]. At the standard 1m, the C1 reveals a mode right at the top of its bass/mid driver’s range [also visible on the CSD waterfall, Graph 2] prior to a full 9dB drop in output over the...

www.hifinews.com

In any case I understand if you don't want to comment on a competitor. I mostly brought it up as an example of showing that High End looks seem to sell so it might be worth getting a really nice finish, high end looks so to speak. Having said that, you of course already know that.

 

[Raj21p]

Impressive start! 88dB sensitivity is solid for a 3 way of this size. Curious to see your crossover approach and how the Klippel data shaped the voicing keep us posted!

 

[Flaesh]

Nice directivity.
But I'm fan of concept like Type 1425
In any case, I wish you success in this business.

 

[Audiofirstdesigns_Harry]

The first batch of birch plywood parts for the DIY kit has arrived today!

Still waiting for the painted baffle and waveguide though... But we are making good progress here!

 

[Audiofirstdesigns_Harry]

Finally... A photo of the final version of the Cadentia 3 kit! I am still working on the website and other miscellaneous tasks but they should be ready to order in 2 to 3 weeks.

 

[Audiofirstdesigns_Harry]

Finally sort out some Klippel software module issue today and took some multi-tone distortion measurement of the Cadentia 3 engineering sample.

I used settings similar to Erin's, measured up to around 96dB/1m.

Distortion looks quite low to me.

 

[Open&Baffled]

Hi,
It seems like a very well designed and interesting product!
I'd like to ask what was the reasoning behind the woofer choice. An "obvious" companion for the rest of the pack would be the TX woofer as well and you decided on the paper version? Is it the cost-wise? Or the TX isn't significantly better for this application? Do you consider "full monty" version, all TX?
Good luck!

 

[berjine]

I guess the crossover must be low enough that it is not worth the cost

 

[Audiofirstdesigns_Harry]

Hi,
It seems like a very well designed and interesting product!
I'd like to ask what was the reasoning behind the woofer choice. An "obvious" companion for the rest of the pack would be the TX woofer as well and you decided on the paper version? Is it the cost-wise? Or the TX isn't significantly better for this application? Do you consider "full monty" version, all TX?
Good luck!

Yes, as a pure woofer, the TX isn't obviously better than the paper one, so not really worth the cost. However, at the very late stage of the development, I do find an interesting, potential advantage of using the TX one, which has nothing to do with the bass performance but something else... I am still looking into this. If this advantage is real, then I might provide an upgrade option for this product in the future.

 

[Audiofirstdesigns_Harry]

Hi guys! I am happy to share that the website for the Cadentia 3 kit is finally completed. You can now order the kit from the website directly!

https://audiofirstdesigns.uk/cadentia-3

I basically re-built my whole website using Squarespace since the webstore function of the previous platform I used was very limited...

Running this business, I am certainly learning a lot of new skills along the journey, including photography (far from perfect but usable for now), hahaha.

 

[digitalfrost]

I just got out the ruler and tried to find out how to fit this on my desktop. The height is perfect, my current Fidelias with the subwoofers below are also 59cm height. The width, yeah I can manage. Then I saw the depth . My whole desk is only 80cm deep . Obvious solution would be to put the speakers on stands behind the desk, but as my desk is height adjustable, I kinda need the speakers to move with the desk so...