RCF N-480 (1983)
A high-flux compression driver that promised the world for half the money. The period press took the claim seriously enough to put it in print.
Overview
The N-480 is a 1-inch-exit compression driver. The pitch was more output, more bandwidth, less distortion, and a price that undercuts the established aluminum-and-titanium competition by a claimed fifty percent. RCF's advertising ran repeatedly through Mix in 1983 and billed it as the "High Technology Compression Driver." The spec sheet behind that phrase was aggressive for the money.
Start with the magnet, because that's the number RCF wanted you to notice. The N-480 uses a ferrite structure with a flux density of 19,000 Gauss in the gap. That's a serious figure for a ferrite driver, and it's behind the claimed high-frequency extension. The diaphragm is a composite type measuring 44 mm, paired with a self-canceling surround. That's RCF's answer to the breakup modes that plague harder metal diaphragms. The company's own copy is candid about the tradeoff: the composite diaphragm is described as "high dampening," which is the honest way of saying it trades a little ultimate extension for lower inherent distortion. Whether that trade pays off depends on the horn you bolt it to.
The N-480 was sold as a bare driver, so the horn matters a lot to what you actually get. Eastern Acoustic Works, which distributed the driver in the States as the EAW/RCF N-480, was explicit that top-end response varies by horn. The driver reaches its −3 dB to −6 dB point (depending on horn) at 18,000 Hz. That's a real qualification, not marketing hedging. On a short, wide horn you'll see the upper octave. On a longer constant-directivity flare the rolloff moves. The precision phase plug is the other half of the extension story. It keeps the high-frequency wavefront coherent as it leaves the diaphragm.
The power handling is specified in two tiers, so the crossover point does real work. Run the N-480 from 1,200 Hz and up and it's rated for 150 watts continuous program, or 75 watts RMS long-term sine wave. Cross it lower, from 800 Hz and up, and those figures drop to 100 watts program and 50 watts RMS. For a 1-inch-exit driver, even the 800 Hz numbers are respectable, and the 1,200 Hz figures put it in proper sound-reinforcement territory.
The mounting is flexible. The universal five-bolt pattern mates with all international standard 1-inch-entry horns. It also accommodates the 2-bolt "Altec Standard," the 3-bolt "IBL Standard," and the 4-bolt "European Standard" patterns. Collectors note that this is the most useful thing about the driver today. It will bolt onto almost anything with a 1-inch throat, which makes it a natural candidate for restoring or repowering older horn-loaded systems where the original driver has gone missing or died.
The period coverage treated the N-480 as a legitimate contender rather than a curiosity. Mix (January 1983, p.80) ran it in its new-products column. The same writeup confirmed the 19,500-Gauss gap figure for the EAW-badged unit. RCF's own advertising rounds to 19,000 Gauss. The discrepancy is small enough to be a measurement or rounding difference between the two parties, and either way it's a high-flux ferrite design. Mix also noted the universal bolt pattern and the precision phase plug as the driver's headline engineering features, which lines up with how RCF was positioning it.
The N-480 is not a plug-and-play hi-fi tweeter. It's a pro-audio compression driver built for sound reinforcement, and it wants a horn, a crossover and a proper high-pass filter to do its job.
The collectibility story is modest. The appeal is practical rather than nostalgic: a high-flux, low-distortion 1-inch driver with universal mounting that can bring a tired horn system back without a custom adapter. It suits someone restoring a period sound-reinforcement rig or building a horn-loaded system on a budget. The "fifty percent less" advertising was a price claim, not a promise of parity with the best aluminum drivers of the era.
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