Abstract:
A simple design goal for any loudspeaker cluster would be to provide even sound pressure levels and consistent frequency response for any seat in a listening space. To achieve this goal, many clusters are currently being designed around trapezoidal cabinets promising array ability. However, the resulting lobing, beaming, and comb filtering these types of arrays typically produce, make it nearly impossible to realize the design goal stated above. Even the best implementations of this type, using a trapezoidal cabinet or horn with consistent dispersion characteristics, result in a system whose low-frequency dispersion in the vertical plane does not match the level of controlled directivity of the mid- and high-frequency range. A new method has been developed that provides a systems approach to building coherent point source clusters with frequency invariant coverage from below 100 Hz to 18 kHz in both horizontal and vertical planes.