Why is the Clarisys ribbon a true ribbon — and not a planar-magnetic?

The word "ribbon" is used loosely in the audio industry. Many speakers described as ribbon or planar are, technically, planar-magnetic drivers — sometimes called quasi-ribbons. Clarisys builds true ribbons — bass ribbons, midrange ribbons, and treble ribbons. The distinction is not semantic; it is a difference in the physics of the transducer.

The planar-magnetic (quasi-ribbon) driver

A planar-magnetic driver uses a thin film — typically Mylar or a similar polymer — as its radiating surface. Bonded to or etched onto that film is a serpentine conductor: a long, thin trace of aluminium or copper that winds back and forth across the film. The film is what radiates; the trace is just the conductor that drives it. Because the trace is long and thin, it has a relatively high impedance — often several ohms — and can be driven directly by an amplifier, with no transformer.

The true ribbon

A true ribbon is fundamentally different. The conductor is the ribbon. A strip of aluminium foil spans the full width of the magnetic gap and carries the signal current as a single, wide, low-resistance path. The foil itself is the radiating surface — there is no separate film doing the radiating. Because the foil spans the full width of the gap, the current path is physically wide — the full width of the ribbon — rather than a narrow, winding trace. And because the foil is a single, short, wide conductor, its impedance is very low — a fraction of an ohm — so it requires a step-up transformer to be driven by a normal amplifier. The transformer reflects that sub-1-ohm impedance up to a comfortable load; the amplifier itself never sees the raw fraction-of-an-ohm.

Why the Clarisys ribbon is a true ribbon

The Clarisys ribbon — whether a bass ribbon, a midrange ribbon, or a treble ribbon — is an aluminium foil that spans the gap and carries the current. In the midrange and treble sections the foil is pure aluminium — no substrate at all. The bass ribbon alone bonds that aluminium foil to a Kapton substrate for dimensional stability, so it does not sag or creep under the large excursions of low-frequency reproduction. In every section the aluminium is the driven element and the radiator. The midrange and treble ribbons present a sub-1-ohm impedance and are each fed through their own step-up transformer; the bass section is engineered to present a manageable load directly. The defining signature of a true ribbon is a full-width conductor that is itself the diaphragm — the transducer that gave the category its name.

Why it matters

• Moving mass. A true ribbon's moving mass is the foil alone — milligrams. A planar-magnetic driver's moving mass is the film plus the trace, which is heavier. Lower mass means higher acceleration and faster transients.
• Drive uniformity. A true ribbon is driven across its entire width at once. A planar-magnetic driver is driven only where the trace runs, so the film between traces is driven indirectly and can flex.
• Current path. A true ribbon carries high current over a short, wide path; a planar-magnetic driver carries lower current over a long, narrow serpentine. The true ribbon's path is electrically and mechanically simpler.

So when Clarisys says "ribbon," it means the real thing — bass ribbons, midrange ribbons, and treble ribbons — the transducer that gave the category its name, not the planar-magnetic design that most of the market sells under the same label.