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| Continuous Innovation and Technology to Solve the Problem of Time and Phase |
LF spacing to match beamwidth through crossover within a horn
The goal: Consistent power response across sub-system transitions from LF cone drivers into horn-loaded MF drivers.
The breakthrough: A precise formula for calculating the LF driver spacing required by an MF horn of a given mouth size.
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Radial Phase Plug
The goal: A midrange driver that could couple to a horn without
path length differentials, multiple arrivals or frequency response anomalies.
The breakthrough: A redesigned cone driver with a small-radius mirror profile dust cap, and the patented Radial Phase Plug that equalizes path lengths from the entire driver surface to the horn throat.
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Concentric Summation Array Technology (4MB .pdf)
The goal: Coaxial MF/HFdriver that could function as an Acoustic Singularity when coupled to a horn.
The breakthrough: A new sealed coaxial driver whose cone and compression driver share the same magnet structure, and a new radial phase plug with a waveguide that allows MF energy to pass through while guiding the expansion of the HF wavefront.
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CSA Cutaway - Click for larger image |
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Apparent Apex Error is the Problem.
CSA Technology is the Solution.
Loudspeaker engineers have long had to deal with a phenomenon called Apparent Apex Error - an effect resulting from the physical distance between drivers and horns in a loudspeaker enclosure. With Apparent Apex Error, arrival times from the drivers change as you move off axis, creating frequency response problems. These problems are greatest at the edges of a loudspeaker's coverage pattern, especially for arrays in the overlap area between array modules. The end results are uneven coverage and less-than-clear sound.
Solving this long-standing problem, EAW's revolutionary Concentric Summation Array (CSA(TM)) technology employs several patented concepts - including precise low to mid pattern control matching and the Radial Phase Plug(TM) - to deliver symmetrical off-axis response. Based upon CSA technology, our new AX Series(TM) are the first installation loudspeakers which array smoothly and predictably, horizontally or vertically, providing the results you've always wanted for your applications.
The First Loudspeakers with CSA™ Technology
The AX Series is an outgrowth of CSA technology. While EAW products, such as the KF750, provided major improvements in off-axis performance, these results were limited primarily to one plane. CSA was developed to improve off-axis performance in BOTH planes. We decided that applications needing high output capabilities would benefit most from CSA. The reason is that large loudspeakers are required. This usually means greater driver spacing resulting in decreased off-axis performance.
3 Reasons why AX is the Best-Sounding Installed Speaker Ever
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 | Reason One: A new, sealed, coaxial, mid/high driver. This features an 8-inch cone mid and a 2.5-inch/1.4-inch exit compression driver sharing a single magnet structure. This makes them as close to coincident as the laws of physical structure allow, creating a near-perfect Acoustic Singularity in the process.
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| Reason Two: A radically new waveguide/phase plug that couples our mid/high coaxial to a single horn. Without our patented Radial Phase Plug, this might have been impossible. The Radial Phase Plug delivers temporally coherent midrange energy to the horn. But, for the high frequencies, we needed a cone-shaped waveguide to create a continuously expanding horn flare. Because this waveguide was within the Radial Phase Plug, it had to be "acoustically opaque" to high frequencies while being "acoustically transparent" to mid frequencies. Which brings us to...
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 | Reason Three: The Fibonacci Spiral. This is a spiral pattern found throughout nature, from seashells to sunflowers to pine cones. It's derived from the numerical sequence known as Fibonacci Numbers. by crisscrossing Fibonacci Spirals along the high frequency waveguide's surface, we laid out holes that make its wall 20% open and 80% solid through any cross-section. The waveguide acts simultaneously as two mechanical filters: a low-pass filter for the mids and a high-pass for the highs. The holes are evenly distributed for symmetrical midrange response off axis, yet their randomized shapes and sizes avoid audible high frequency nulls.
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Ultimate Array Flexibility
To give array designers the most flexible, predictable, and powerful modules ever, EAW Engineers coupled their patent-pending CSA device to high-Q and medium-Q horns. With a single driver and horn flare, AX horns can occupy the maximum amount of front baffle area and exercise broadband pattern control. Dual 12-inch woofers on either edge of the flare extend the Acoustic Singularity into the low frequencies. Finally, they made the horns rotatable and packaged the entire system in a dual-trapezoidal enclosure. With all these options, you can use the symmetrical beamwidth of AX Series modules to build arrays that cover almost any audience perfectly.
Building on Our Innovation
The sound of the AX Series' Concentric Summation is unmistakable. And only EAW could have created it, because we own the patents on the ideas that make it possible. We urge you to experience the AX Series for yourself before you design your next array.
Want to Learn More About Concentric Summation?
The AX Series White Paper is available
as a downloadable PDF file. For more information on how to design
arrays using AX modules, get in touch with our Application
Support Group at 800-992-5013. Or, better still, call your EAW
rep for a demo.
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