IMPROVED PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS for the new PC units were strategically balanced
so that low resonant frequencies could be achieved along with high sound pressure levels.
Cone mass is held to a minimum for high efficiency yet its Acrylic Resin Laminate (ARL) design
yields tremendous rigidity. The lighter the cone the easier it is for the magnet to move it in and
out; therefore, higher sound pressure levels for a given amount of amplifier power input.
Additional loudness is achieved through longer cone travel so we designed the PC units with
0.25 to 0.35 inches (6-8 mm) of peak-to-peak excursion which is rarely found in component
woofers of this price range.
INCREDIBLY FLEXIBLE INSTALLATION is the real benefit to the new Pro Components. The
PC woofers work well in sealed, vented, and
boxes. Due to the low resonance
values, they also work quite well in infinite baffle installations where the woofer is mounted on
the rear deck of a car and uses the trunk for its enclosure.
The best investment in system design is planning time. Before building a house an architect
completely draws building plans. Although small modifications are often made throughout
construction, 99% of the home is built as planned. Exactly the same attitude must be
in the design of a car audio system and we therefore refer to it as “System Architecture”.
MULTI-WAY SYSTEMS
Although a simple head-unit with four
speakers will provide reasonable sound, a
really good system almost always requires
some kind of subwoofer. In order to include
the subwoofer speakers a dividing network
must be installed that keeps the low
frequencies out of the midrange speakers.
“Two-way” “crossovers” have a crossover
point set of 80 to 100 Hz for example. You
can go crazy with additional crossover points
and amplifiers (three-way, five-way, etc.) but
these should be left to the better retail
installers or high-end hobbyists.
SOUND QUALITY VS. SPL
A well designed sound system can provide good sound quality and still play loud. Above about
120
(decibels) the sound isn’t perceived as getting much louder due to the non-linearities of
the human ear. A speaker with reference value of 90
1 watt/l meter will usually offer about
11 O-l 15
inside a car if driven by an amplifier of about 100 watts (more than enough for most
listeners).
Good sound quality is achieved when a system offers several sonic attributes. IMAGING is the
accurate rendition of instrument placement which can only be achieved with proper loudspeaker
placement. STAGING is an extension of imaging where a perceived listening event is recreated
with well defined height, width, and depth as with an actual sound stage. Correct FREQUENCY
RESPONSE implies that all frequencies within the range of human hearing (20-20
are
audible and balanced in relation to one another. TIMBRE (pronounced Tam-burl) is the
system’s ability to reproduce the sound signature of a trumpet so that it doesn’t sound lik
trombone. LINEARITY is the systems ability to provide consistent frequency response
regardless of volume setting. Some systems sound “shrill” at high levels if the tweeters are
over driven. They may also sound weak at low volumes due to our psychoacoustic hearing
effects which we perceive
loss at low levels.