Unboxed Sound
Introducing minimum diffraction loudspeakers by Avid.
In the quest for accuracy, cabinet loudspeakers, regardless of price, still generally suffer from a common failure--they still sound like loudspeakers, or more precisely their sound obviously comes from a box.
Your brain hears the box.
Without going too deeply into psycho-acoustics, cabinet speakers tell us their sound is emanating from a box because the brain has been conditioned to recognize the characteristics ... size, shape, etc. ... of any sound source.
What creates the boxy effect? Diffracted or re-radiated sound waves, those that bounce off the sharp edges of the speaker and grille assembly, are the clues interpreted by the brain as "box-like." No diffraction, no box.
The problem is graphically illustrated in the drawings. By eliminating sharp cabinet edges and grille panel obstructions, you reduce diffraction effects ... which means you eliminate the boxiness of the sound. And that's exactly what we've done with our new line of Avid Minimum Diffraction Loudspeakers.
To open the box, we closed the cover.
The solution was deceivingly simple.
By engineering the drivers, cabinet enclosure and, importantly, the grille assembly to create a totally integrated acoustic system, we eliminated cabinet diffraction and the boxy sound quality inherent in typical cabinet loudspeakers.
Our new tweeter and midrange drivers have specially engineered coupling devices (we call them Optimum Dispersion Couplers) which transmit sound waves with minimum diffraction.
"Solid front" grille panels perfectly mate with each coupler eliminating grille panel diffraction. And, the grille panels have rounded edges creating a smooth, gradual transition from the grille to the cabinet, significantly reducing cabinet edge diffraction-a major cause of boxy sound.
These three simple, but audibly significant, features, coupled with Avid's critically acclaimed accuracy, assure you a new level of performance and sense of reality.
Of course there's a lot more to the Avid story--like our new drivers and Q-Span testing.
Write us for literature and a full description. We invite your comparison.
(top) Unwanted cabinet/grille diffraction effects (B) give listener clue as
to the size shape of sound source--in this case a box First arrival signals
(A) locate source, while brain uses delayed room reflections (C) to identify
listening environment. (above) The careful integration of special engineered
Optimum Dispersion Couplers (1), and solid front grille panels (2) with rolled
edge design (3), significantly reduces the unwanted cabinet diffraction effects-a
principal contributor to "boxy" sound. These design principals are
incorporated in all Avid Minimum Diffraction Loudspeakers.
AVID -- 10 Tripps Lane East Providence R.I. 02914, USA
(Source: Audio magazine, Feb. 1979)
Also see:
Avid Model 110 Minimum Diffraction Loudspeaker (Sept. 1979)
= = = =