What 168,941 shipped drivers say about our production consistency
Three years of real end-of-line measurements from two high-volume OEM
programs — every unit, every test record, published as distributions rather than claims.
Every driver REDCATT ships passes an automated acoustic test before it leaves the line.
This page shows what those tests recorded for two OEM products manufactured continuously
from 2023 to 2026: 168,941 shipped units in total. The products are REDCATT's own
transducer designs, manufactured for OEM customers — anonymized here under the
confidentiality those programs require — and the data is untouched: it comes directly from
the test-station databases, unit by unit, with serial-number and timestamp traceability.
How the measurement works — read this first
Each production line ends in an in-line acoustic test station: a measurement
box of roughly 1.2 × 1.2 m with a microphone about 40 cm from
the driver under test. Every unit is placed in the box and measured automatically —
DC resistance, impedance curve, resonance frequency, output level, frequency response,
distortion, Rub & Buzz, and polarity.
This is not an anechoic chamber — by design. A small box with
a close microphone has reflections and boundary effects, so the absolute SPL values and
curve shapes here differ significantly from free-field datasheet measurements. That is
irrelevant to the question this station answers, because the test is comparative:
before production starts, a golden sample — a reference unit validated in the lab —
is measured in the same box, and every production unit is compared against it under
identical conditions. Acceptance limits are derived from the golden sample's measurement.
What you should read from every chart on this page is spread, never absolute values.
Who is in the data: all units that passed the end-of-line test — that is,
the units that actually shipped. Units that failed and were repaired or scrapped are
excluded, so these distributions describe what a customer receives.
Test temperature and humidity are recorded with every measurement.
How to read the charts. Histograms show how many units (vertical) measured a given
value (horizontal); a tall narrow shape means high consistency. σ ("sigma") is the standard
deviation: about two-thirds of all units fall within ±1σ of the mean. Red dashed lines are
acceptance limits; the red curve or line is always the golden reference.
Program A — high-frequency compression driver
A REDCATT-designed transducer manufactured continuously for an OEM
program since 2023-07. Every figure below
is computed from the individual end-of-line test record of every unit that shipped.
67,752
shipped units in this dataset
2023-07 – 2026-08
production period
15 / 40
production batches / test-station sessions
±0.19 dB
sensitivity spread (1σ) vs golden sample
99.1% of all 67,752 units measured within
±0.5 dB of the golden-referenced mean — and 100% within ±1 dB.
The worst single month in 31 months of production averaged 0.34 dB
from the golden sample.
Sensitivity, unit by unit
Each driver's output level is measured and compared with the golden sample
on the same station. This chart shows how far each shipped unit landed from its golden
reference — 0 dB means "identical to the golden sample". Mean deviation -0.04 dB,
spread ±0.19 dB (1σ); every unit fits inside the plotted range. Red dashed lines are the acceptance limits.
Resonance frequency (fs)
The resonance frequency of every shipped unit, against the fixed acceptance
window (800–1,300 Hz). Mean 1,074.9 Hz, spread ±63.9 Hz (1σ), i.e. ±5.9% relative.
A distribution well inside its window means consistent moving mass and suspension
stiffness — the parameters that drift first when a production process is not controlled.
Voice-coil DC resistance (Re)
Re reflects the winding process itself: wire, layers, tension.
Mean 12.838 Ω, spread ±0.370 Ω (1σ).
Month by month, 31 months
The blue line is the monthly average output level of production units; the
band around it is ±1σ for that month; the red line is the golden reference itself as
re-measured over time. Note the magnified scale: the total range of the monthly means over
the whole period is 0.63 dB. The
two lines moving together is the point — shared movement comes from the station and
its environment, and production tracks the reference through 31 months, seasons,
and material lots.
The same view for resonance frequency, with the fixed
acceptance limits in red — note how much headroom the production spread keeps inside the window.
150 drivers against one golden sample
The blue band shows where the frequency responses of 150 production
units from one batch fall: the darker band holds the middle half of all drivers, the lighter
band 90% of them. The red line is the golden reference they were tested against — it runs
through the middle of the band because production and reference are, in practice, the same.
Through the working band the unit-to-unit spread is about ±0.27 dB (1σ),
widening toward the very top of the range where cone/diaphragm break-up makes every
driver's response most individual — normal physics, not process variation. Remember from
"How the measurement works": the curve shape belongs to the 1.2 m test box and
the 40 cm microphone, not the driver's free-field response — read the band's tightness,
not the shape.
The engineer's view of the same data — every one of
the 150 units drawn individually, golden reference in red:
Program B — low-frequency woofer
A REDCATT-designed transducer manufactured continuously for an OEM
program since 2023-08. Every figure below
is computed from the individual end-of-line test record of every unit that shipped.
101,189
shipped units in this dataset
2023-08 – 2026-08
production period
14 / 61
production batches / test-station sessions
±0.21 dB
sensitivity spread (1σ) vs golden sample
98.4% of all 101,189 units measured within
±0.5 dB of the golden-referenced mean — and 100% within ±1 dB.
The worst single month in 34 months of production averaged 0.34 dB
from the golden sample.
Sensitivity, unit by unit
Each driver's output level is measured and compared with the golden sample
on the same station. This chart shows how far each shipped unit landed from its golden
reference — 0 dB means "identical to the golden sample". Mean deviation +0.09 dB,
spread ±0.21 dB (1σ); every unit fits inside the plotted range. Red dashed lines are the acceptance limits.
Resonance frequency (fs)
The resonance frequency of every shipped unit, against the fixed acceptance
window (56–76 Hz). Mean 64.1 Hz, spread ±2.5 Hz (1σ), i.e. ±3.8% relative.
A distribution well inside its window means consistent moving mass and suspension
stiffness — the parameters that drift first when a production process is not controlled.
Voice-coil DC resistance (Re)
Re reflects the winding process itself: wire, layers, tension.
Mean 2.021 Ω, spread ±0.087 Ω (1σ).
Month by month, 34 months
The blue line is the monthly average output level of production units; the
band around it is ±1σ for that month; the red line is the golden reference itself as
re-measured over time. Note the magnified scale: the total range of the monthly means over
the whole period is 0.92 dB. The
two lines moving together is the point — shared movement comes from the station and
its environment, and production tracks the reference through 34 months, seasons,
and material lots.
The same view for resonance frequency, with the fixed
acceptance limits in red — note how much headroom the production spread keeps inside the window.
150 drivers against one golden sample
The blue band shows where the frequency responses of 150 production
units from one batch fall: the darker band holds the middle half of all drivers, the lighter
band 90% of them. The red line is the golden reference they were tested against — it runs
through the middle of the band because production and reference are, in practice, the same.
Through the working band the unit-to-unit spread is about ±0.25 dB (1σ),
widening toward the very top of the range where cone/diaphragm break-up makes every
driver's response most individual — normal physics, not process variation. Remember from
"How the measurement works": the curve shape belongs to the 1.2 m test box and
the 40 cm microphone, not the driver's free-field response — read the band's tightness,
not the shape.
The engineer's view of the same data — every one of
the 150 units drawn individually, golden reference in red:
Questions this data usually raises
Why do the response curves look different from a datasheet?
Datasheet curves are measured free-field in an anechoic environment. These are
measured in a 1.2 m in-line test box with the microphone at 40 cm, where
reflections shape the curve. The station measures every unit the same way and compares
against the golden sample measured in the same box — so the spread between curves is
meaningful, while the curve shape itself is a property of the box.
What exactly is a golden sample?
A reference unit of the product, validated in the laboratory, kept at the line, and
measured on the same station. Production acceptance limits are derived from its
measurement, and it is re-measured over time — which is why the red reference line in
the monthly charts is itself flat.
Why show only units that passed?
Because that is the population a customer receives. Units failing any check are
pulled from the flow for rework or scrap and are not part of shipped product. (Their
records exist too — the test station keeps everything — but mixing retests and rework
loops into a shipped-product statistic would overstate variation.)
Why are there more test-station sessions than batches?
A production batch is often tested across several station sessions: a session is
opened whenever the line starts a test run, so line changeovers, multi-day batches and
re-test passes each add a session. Batches count what was ordered and built; sessions
count how the station recorded the work.
Are these all the units, or a sample?
All of them. The scalar statistics (sensitivity, fs, Re) cover
every shipped unit in the period. Only the curve-overlay charts use a sample of the
stored curves, and say so in their caption.
Can this be verified?
Yes. Every value traces to a per-unit test record with serial number and timestamp
in the production test-station database. Qualified OEM customers can review
project-specific records, control plans, and acceptance criteria under NDA — and
factory visits are welcome.