16
Opus²
-M1:
Hor
izont
al
Dir
ectivity
M E A S U R E M E N T A N D A N A LYS I S :
Frequency response plots may tell
you a lot about what you might hear
from a loudspeaker when you listen to
a speaker ‘on-axis’ or straight in front
of the speaker, but do nothing to tell
you how a loudspeaker will integrate
into a real room environment.
Anomalies in the off-axis response
can cause reflections from side walls
or room objects to create unpleasant
interference effects
By analysing the ‘Polar Response’
across a wide range of frequencies,
it’s possible to design a loudspeaker
which not only has a text-book ‘on-
axis’ response, but one which can
integrate superbly into the listening
environment. Whilst this is important to
the performance of a stereo speaker
system, in multi-channel or home-
cinema systems it is nothing short of
essential - yet so many manufacturers
overlook this key design stage.
