The October 2016 issue of Voice Coil includes a preview of the presentations of particular interest to the speaker industry at this year’s 141th Audio Engineering Society (AES) International Convention in Los Angeles, CA. And this year’s AES event clearly promises to be very strong in this domain, with lots of sessions for the loudspeaker industry, multiple transducer sessions, workshops, engineering briefs, tutorials, and paper presentations - certainly, an important event for the loudspeaker engineering community.On the topic of industry events, this issue reminds industry professionals about the Loudspeaker Sourcing Show, which takes place from October 7–9, 2016, at the Nansha Grand Hotel in Guangzhou, China, and of course, the 13th edition of Rocky Mountain Audio Fest (RMAF), being held at the Denver Marriott Tech Center Hotel in Denver, CO, from October 7–9, 2016.
This month, Spotlight by Mike Klasco (Menlo Scientific) focuses on Integrated Amplifier/Signal
Processing Speaker Vendors. As Klasco comments, “The audio business has dramatically changed over the years. Back in the early 1960s, mainstream home audio often consisted of an automatic turntable, an amplifier, and speakers in a large wood console.” With this introduction, he revisits the evolution of traditional home components, from tube amps and DIY kits to integrated amplifiers or “receivers,” to modern soundbars and portable active systems, which have generated exponential growth in OEM business for electronics integration across the consumer, prosumer, and pro-audio industries, with many vendors offering power amp and DSP modules for any application, and OEM and ODM vendors offering one-stop shops for mainstream audio products.
Klasco’s article is followed by our annual Directory update on Amplifier and DSP Vendors, Integrated Electronics, and Finished Powered Speakers. For additional information and more comprehensive listings, our readers should also visit The Loudspeaker Industry Sourcebook website at www.loudspeakerindustrysourcebook.com.
In this month’s Acoustic Patents, James Croft (Croft Acoustical), looks at recently awarded patents, starting with the recently published “High Displacement Acoustic Transducer Systems” patent, awarded to David Russell (Toronto, CA); and John French (Caledon, East, CA) on behalf of Audera Acoustics, Inc., Schomberg CA. The patents describe generic acoustic high displacement transducer systems, containing a diaphragm position sensing module, a controller to receive an input audio signal and generate a control signal based at least on the input audio signal and the position signal; and transmit the control signal to a voice coil operably coupled to the diaphragm so that the voice coil moves within an air gap within the acoustic driver at least partially in response to the control signal. In his review, Croft acknowledges previous work from the same Russell/French duo on this domain, creating a series of solutions, which he believes will be able to “achieve state of the art performance.”
In this same issue, Croft reviews a second patent, of a generic “Loudspeaker” concept, recently granted to Teppei Yamada, of Tokyo, Japan, on behalf of Zorzo Co., Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan), and which describes a somewhat surprising concept of a loudspeaker that includes a hermetically sealed enclosure, with a first driver arranged at outside of the enclosure and along a wall of the enclosure, and a second driver arranged at inside of the enclosure and parallel to the first driver across the wall of the enclosure from the first driver, and a pipe communicating the first driver and the second driver. The second driver is configured to output a signal of opposite phase to that of the first driver. Croft reviews the concept, contrasts it with prior art and adds wonders how this “rather cumbersome structure” might work and whether it actually provides an advantage.
For this month’s Test Bench, Vance Dickason characterizes Wavecor’s new 8.75” high XMAX subwoofer, model SW223BD03. As Dickason reminds us, this new subwoofer is part of a rather extensive line of subwoofers — 20 models in all, ranging in size from 2.75” to 12”. Accompanying this lineup of subwoofers, Wavecor also includes a broad range of passive radiators with sizes from 6.25” to 12”. Voice Coil featured the 4 Ω version of this device, the SW223BD02, in the April 2015 issue. Wavecor’s SW223BD03, which is the 8 Ω version, has a generous feature set that includes a proprietary eight-spoke cast aluminum frame that has minimal reflection surfaces and is completely open below the spider mounting shelf. In past issues of Test Bench, Dickason was positively impressed with the design, quality, and excellent consistency of Wavecor’s well-crafted transducers, motivating him to look at another of the brand’s products.
This issue concludes with the usual mix of updates on people, companies, and products on Industry Watch. Download the October 2016 issue now!
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