Description
A speaker can have perfectly flat frequency response andyet sound dreadful because of the way it responds to change from equilibrium orsteady state. It is not enough to have flat frequency response; a first-ratespeaker must be able to handle the dynamics of sudden transients and complexpassages, without blurring the sound. This is a two-way system containing (4) 2 1/8” full rangedrivers mated to a dedicated 10”woofer, a phase-accurate first-order seriescrossover at 300 hertz without Zobel correction, elite-quality inductors andcapacitors, three dimensional power response, absence of comb-effect lobing,physical (non-electronic) baffle step suppression, and a non-resonantenclosure. WHY MAGNETIC ARC OXIDIZED FULL RANGE HIGH FREQUENCY DRIVERS(MAOP)? 1.The cones are made with a plasma electrolytic oxidation process, which is achemical conversion whereby the front and back surfaces of thealuminum/magnesium cone are converted into crystalline oxide, with the crystalgrowing inward and outward. The microscopic crystalline voids (not a coating)provide constrained-layer damping for a stiff and lightweight structure thatprovides the best attributes of both metal and paper cones. WHY SPIDERLESS FULL RANGE HIGH FREQUENCY DRIVERS? 1.The full-range driver has no corrugated spider. A conventional voice-coil/coneassembly is suspended between a flexible surround at the outer edge of the coneand a flexible spider at the base of the cone. Because the subject cone is solight (moving mass of 1.4425 grams) and has such a flat profile, the flexiblesurround at the outer edge of the cone works well without the inner spider. Theair contained in a sealed baffle, acting alone, provides a more linear andpredictable spring. WHY A FIRST-ORDER CROSSOVER? 1.Both parallel and series first-order crossovers are phase-accurate, i.e. haveperfect transient response. Time and frequency are not independent of eachother. Phase accuracy is necessary for a loudspeaker to correctly respond to changesto or from equilibrium, or to or from a steady state. WHY A SERIES (RATHER THAN PARALLEL) CROSSOVER? 1.Series crossovers are less sensitive to component variations (due totemperature and/or manufacturing tolerances) because in a series configurationsuch variations cause only a minor shift in crossover frequency with no effecton amplitude response (as with a parallel network). 2.Series crossovers effectively shunt the drivers outside their bandwidths.3. Series crossovers require no Zobelimpedance-correcting network. 3.Series crossovers provide better amplifier to loudspeaker damping. WHY THE 300 HERTZ CROSSOVER FREQUENCY? 1.Going much below this frequency requires an iron-core inductor, which due tosaturation outputs a saw tooth shaped sine wave. To go lower with air-coreinductors is impractical because the wire gauge required for a usably low dcresistance becomes too large. 2.Going much above this frequency involves shorter wavelengths that are prone tocancellation at the crossover frequency if not equidistant from the high andlow range drivers. 3. The300 Hertz crossover frequency can be executed with low distortion air-core foilinductors and low distortion polypropylene film capacitors. WHY A 2-WAY INSTEAD OF A 3-WAY? 1.As noted above, the relatively high frequency of a midrange to tweetercrossover can cause destructive interference due to driver offset. 2.Coincident midrange/tweeter drivers reduce destructive interference, but sufferfrom undesirable waveguide effects and intermodulation distortion. WHY FOUR (4) SMALL DIAMETER (2 1/8” DIAMETER CONE)FULL-RANGE DRIVERS? 1.Four 2 1/8” drivers have the equivalent radiating area of a single cone that is4 ¼” in diameter, which in a sealed .7 Q enclosure is ample cone area for a 300Hertz crossover frequency. 2.Four drivers axially opposed cancel reactive forces on the housing baffle,providing an infinitely rock-solid base for outputting sound. 3.Four small drivers mounted on each side of the smallest possible cabinet initiatesound at roughly the same position as that coming off the up-firing 10-inchwoofer. 4.Such high dispersion, small-driver/woofer configuration exhibits a coincidentspherical output bubble providing accurate power response. 5.The 360 degree, narrow and tall, full range-driver, sealed cabinet, virtuallyeliminates baffle step and edge reflection anomalies without employingelectrical compensation that would otherwise compromise transient response.WHY A PYRAMID SHAPED UP-FIRING WOOFER CABINET? 1.The pyramid shape of the woofer baffle provides a smaller reflective surface atthe inception of the sound bubble referred to above, and at the same timeprovides the volume necessary for low frequency tuning of a cabinet heightoptimal for a sitting listener. 2.The pyramid shape provides rock-solid support for the woofer driver as itsbasket pushes against the unyielding top of the vertical sides of the cabinet. 3.The pyramid shape has nonparallel walls, which suppresses standing waves.WHY A HARD-PAPER CONE WOOFER? 1. Thehigh-frequency breakup of a paper woofer is naturally damped, providing the outside-bandwidthsmoothness necessary with the moderate slope of a first order crossover.WHY A RELATIVELY SHORT PORT LENGTH? 1.Utilizing the shortest practical port length pushes pipe-resonant frequencies abovethe bandwidth of the sound being generated inside the baffle.WHY A CLOSE-TO 20 HERTZ TUNING FREQUENCY FOR THE WOOFER? 1.The lower the woofer resonant frequency, the more articulate bass response. Aloudspeaker woofer tuned to a fundamental resonance of 43 Hertz can providenice sounding bass, but going another octave lower can be exhilarating.WHY 8-OHM DRIVERS INSTEAD OF 4-OHM? 1.Higher impedance coupled with low phase shift is an easy load for partneringamplifiers, which typically have rising distortion and more demanding currentneeds when driving lower impedances, especially at higher frequencies. WHY SEPARATE CABINETS? 1. Separatecabinets are necessary to aim frequencies in the range of the crossover at acommon point in free space, which provides coincident output, which eliminatesdestructive interference.
Live search