audioXpress September 2016 Speaker Focus Edition is Now Online!

It’s that time of the year again. September means our Speaker Focus edition is here and once again we have a powerful selection of articles, starting with a great recap from Mike Klasco on the Evolution of Compact Deep Bass Subwoofers. We follow with three great DIY articles from Ward Maas, Ken Bird, and Perry Marshall. Of course, there’s also the second part of Richard K. Mains’ techniques on how to eliminate room reflections in woofer measurements, and a great interview with David MacPherson, owner of Studio Electric. Read on!

Anyone attending T.H.E. Show (The Home Entertainment Show) at the Hotel Irvine, Irvine, CA (June 3-5) will not want to miss the opportunity to listen to the fourth all-new loudspeaker from Wilson Audio in as many years. Alexx combines a new modular MTM driver arrangement, adjustable on the time domain, with all-new ten-and-half-inch and twelve-and-a-half-inch woofers, following Wilson’s design philosophy and form factor. U.S. MSRP price is $109,000.00 for the pair.

It was recognized early on that the speakers benefited from having separate low-frequency and high-frequency drivers, each optimized for its own frequency range. Consequently, names were needed to easily identify the various speakers in a cabinet. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, January 2012.

Mackie continues to expand its range of solutions addressing the needs of performance musicians with innovative and affordable designs, now introducing an all-in-one professional PA system that delivers ultra-wide coverage for the entire audience and powerful built-in personal monitoring. The new Mackie Reach Professional PA System features ARC (Amplified Radial Curve) high frequency array technology.

Mike Klasco explains the evolution of speaker cone materials, from paper to the first experiments in plastics and finally to Polypropylene (PP), which became the preferred resin sheet material for thermoformed speaker cones. The article also discusses recent trends in woven composite cone fabrication. This article was published in Voice Coil, February 2014.

This interview was published in Voice Coil August 2013. Nearly 10 years since Patrick Turnmire, of Redrock Acoustics, had started providing Voice Coil with valuable Klippel data for Vance Dickason’s the Test Bench column. In this interview Patrick Turnmire explains his work with his company, Redrock Acoustics.

Some speaker designers approach their creations based purely on self-acquired knowledge and research, deliberately trying to distance themselves from existing trends and debates. Others, base their work on team efforts, industry partnerships, and sometimes market-oriented options. These are the people who I’ve started to categorize as the Wizards and the Cooks.

Oberton recently introduced new neodymium and ferrite compression drivers, two impressive 12” and 15” neodymium midbass units for multi-way PA speakers, and the new 15HCX coaxial transducer, designed for use in compact reflex enclosures and stage monitors. A great set of new options at reasonable prices, manufactured in Bulgaria.

This article shows an easy way to control baffle diffraction using a stepped baffle example. The author experiments with the use of felt, directly applied to the baffle and measures the results. Each piece of felt and its placement has different results. The article clearly demonstrates the diffraction effect on speakers and the benefits of having it under control.

Calling it “the Shape of Things to Come”, British company Martin Audio announced a major new dedicated installation loudspeaker range at the 2015 Prolight+Sound show in Frankfurt. The CDD Series introduces an interesting design, combining distinctive curved enclosures with Coaxial Differential Dispersion drivers.