Sonos Introduces New Flagship PLAY:5 Smart Speaker and Trueplay Tuning Software

The pioneer and market leader in whole-home audio connected solutions announced the all-new flagship Sonos PLAY:5 smart speaker and a new speaker-tuning software called Trueplay. The announcements signal a new series of innovations in hardware and software from Sonos with which the company intends to respond to increasing competition, while leveraging the latest technology advancements.

Loudspeaker and audio systems manufacturer MISCO has acquired Warkwyn Associates, an independent acoustic design, measurement, and testing lab. MISCO president Dan Digre says that Warkwyn will continue to provide its same high level of services for current Warkwyn customers. Warkwyn has relocated from Pakenham, Ontario to MISCO’s home base of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

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.

The application of acoustic resistance as a design element in the optimization of transducers and enclosures has been given short shrift in audio engineering. Controlling the acoustic resistance of the driver radiation is a quality factor that is overlooked in most loudspeaker predictive modeling software. This article explores applications of acoustic resistance for audio.

Following the presentation at the High End 2015, the Concept 4F loudspeakers from Canadian company Paradigm are being hailed as one of the highlights from the Munich show. A great result, following more than five years’ research and development in conjunction with fellow Canadian and sister company Anthem.

The amount of flux running through the pole in a conventional “Hamburger” motor structure is a key loudspeaker design element that is often a limiting factor in the design process. PoleSolver is a design tool from Redrock Acoustics that makes all the different calculations quick and easy. An article originally published by Voice Coil, August 2010.

All-pass filters are perhaps one of the most overlooked and misunderstood tools for the general audio practitioner. Much has been written about their use to yield more linear phase response through the majority of a loudspeaker’s passband. They can also be used to optimize the directivity and magnitude response of a loudspeaker system. Perhaps we should first look at exactly what an all-pass filter is.

Horns are often used in loudspeaker systems for a variety of reasons. One may be to provide increased acoustical loading to the driver attached to the horn. This helps to increase the sensitivity/efficiency. Another may be to provide some control over the radiation pattern of the driver attached to the horn. Article originally published by Voice Coil, November 2010.

In this Q&A, Charlie Hughes credits his success to knowledge, contacts, friendships, and his wife. He earned a physics degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology in1988. After graduation he worked for Peavey Electronics in Meridian, MS as a loudspeaker design engineer where he remained for 14 years. In late 2004, he started his own company, Excelsior Audio, located near Charlotte, NC. Excelsior Audio primarily provides consultation and design services to loudspeaker manufacturers. This article was originally published in audioXpress, February 2013.