MartinLogan Monolith III, User Manual

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Monolith III User's Manual
1. Full Range Operation 1. Full Range Operation
1. Full Range Operation 1. Full Range Operation 1. Full Range Operation
The most significant advantage of
Martin-Logan's exclusive transducer
technology reveals itself when you look
at examples of other loudspeaker
products on the market today.
The
MONOLITH III
uses no crossover
networks above 125 Hz because they are
not needed. The
MONOLITH III consists
of a single, seamless electrostatic
membrane reproducing all frequencies
full range of frequencies. Instead, these
drivers must be designed to operate
within narrow, fixed bandwidths of the
frequency range and then combined
electrically so that the sum of the parts
equals the total signal. While nice in
theory, we must deal with real-world
conditions.
In order to use multiple drivers, a
crossover network is enlisted to attempt
a division of the complex musical signal
into the separate pieces (usually highs,
mids, and lows) that each specific
driver was designed to handle. Unfortu-
nately, due to the phase relationships
that occur within all crossover networks
and during the acoustical recombina-
tion process, nonlinearities and severe
degradation of the music signal takes
place in the ear's most "critical zone".
See
Figure 10.
The
MONOLITH III
's electro-
static transducer can single-
handedly reproduce all
frequencies above 100 Hz
simultaneously. So, you
have, in one transducer, the
ability to handle, in elegant
simplicity, the critical
frequencies above 100 Hz.
The crossover phase
discontinuities that are
associated with traditional
tweeter, midrange, and
woofer systems are elimi-
nated. This results in a
dramatic improvement in
imaging and staging
performance due to the
minutely accurate phase
relationship of the full-range
panel wave launch.
Critical Zone Critical Zone
Critical Zone Critical Zone
Critical Zone
250 - 20kHz 250 - 20kHz 250 - 20kHz 250 - 20kHz 250 - 20kHz
Tweeter Tweeter
Tweeter Tweeter
Tweeter
Midrange Midrange Midrange Midrange Midrange
Woofer Woofer
Woofer Woofer
Woofer
Critical Zone Critical Zone Critical Zone Critical Zone Critical Zone
250 - 20kHz 250 - 20kHz
250 - 20kHz 250 - 20kHz 250 - 20kHz
MONOLITH III MONOLITH III MONOLITH III MONOLITH III MONOLITH III
Electrostatic Electrostatic Electrostatic Electrostatic Electrostatic
Transducer Transducer Transducer Transducer Transducer
Martin-Logan
MONOLITH III
Conventional Loudspeaker
Figure 10. Figure 10.
Figure 10. Figure 10. Figure 10. Illustrates how a conventional speaker system
must use a crossover network that has negative affects
on the musical performance unlike the MONOLITH III MONOLITH III MONOLITH III MONOLITH III MONOLITH III which
needs no crossover networks in the "critical zone".
Woofer Woofer
Woofer Woofer
Woofer
Martin-Logan Exclusives
above 125 Hz simultane-
ously. How is this possible?
First we must understand that
music is not composed of
separate high, mid and low
frequency pieces. In fact, music
is comprised of a single complex
waveform with all frequencies
interacting simultaneously.
The electrostatic transducer
of the Monolith essentially
acts as an exact opposite of
the microphones used to
record the original event. A
microphone, which is a
single working element,
transforms acoustic energy
into an electrical signal that
can be amplified or pre-
served by some type of
storage media. The
MONO-
LITH III
's electrostatic trans-
ducer transforms electrical
energy from your amplifier
into acoustical energy.
Due to the limitations of
electromagnetic drivers, no
single unit can reproduce the