Design History of La Modesta

When we started Cathode Bias as a company, for our first project we asked ourselves "what would we build if we were building a listening bar?" We started with some pretty grand plans, including hacking up a well known Onken style cabinet – Cafe Sound was born. A significant amount of time (and money) was spent tuning the cabinet, building the cabinet, and adjusting the crossover for a 3-way design.

The final design was big, beautiful, and sounded great. And was expensive to build and sell. We eventually sold that design to a commercial customer, but we realized we were likely pricing ourselves out of the market by building such a complex speaker. So late last year I started researching drivers and simpler bass reflex box designs which would be a good match to high efficiency horn speakers.

During that process we acquired a large HiFi collection from So Cal. That collection included some old JBL PA cabinets. On a cold day this past winter, we stripped the cabinets, repainted them, and then went searching for modern drivers which would work in the cabinets. We were stoked by the result, and La Modesta was born.

La Modesta is short for The Modest Horn Speaker System.

After 6 months of experimentation we are now increasing production of the Modesta bass cabinets and offering different horn options. While La Modesta is a simple bass reflex design, when matched with drivers of high quality and efficiency it works surprisingly well.

What I think is missing from many modern speakers is a solid low-frequency foundation. As speakers have gotten smaller, we've come to expect less bass response from our systems. I think that's where Modesta shines. By going back to the basics (there is no replacement for displacement), but keeping the design simple we are able to bring a high quality experience, at reasonable price point.

Some of the benefits of La Modesta include:

• Vintage / Craft audio design aesthetic
• High quality professional drivers and horns
• Baltic Birch with MDF or solid hardwood baffles
• Custom finishes to spec
• 15" drivers tuned to 50hz provide bass output that is realitively uncommon in modern HiFi speakers
• High Efficiency which is easy to driver with the smallest SET tube amps
• Solid off axis performance in larger rooms (provides room-filling sound in larger commercial or residential spaces)

We are currently rolling out La Modesta speakers and working with local partners to scale our production. Pricing starts at $3200 which we feel lis a bargain in today's market. If you have any questions, as always, feel free to DM on IG or e-mail baus@cathodebias.com