Technology: Coaxial speakers
DJ Carl Cox using a pair of Funktion One PSM318s as his monitors
throughout, yet levels can be precisely managed in each zone separately.” And, according to
THE HOW AND THE Y FROM ADAMSON
Toronto-based Adamson Systems Engineering has been pioneering large-format coaxial designs for some time, thanks to some clever work in the mid range.
“Adamson holds a patent on coaxial, or co-entrant, sound chamber designs with a co-linear exit. This generally stops the rest of the world from treading on this territory," claims Adamson’s marketing manager, James Oliver.
“The Y-18 system was built in 1999 and based around these patented principals. We fire the HF through the pole piece of a proprietary mid-range compression driver. The mid and high frequency wavefronts propagate coaxially, isolated by the walls of the high frequency sound chamber. Both wavefronts are allowed to change shape until they emerge from three parallel slots that run the entire height of the cabinet, at the Co-Linear exit.
30 l PSNLIVE 2013
The high frequency slot is in the centre with the mid slots flanking it. We then use advanced processing techniques to create a perceived single source from the low mids up to the extended HF. Our current Energia series (above) has taken these concepts and improved on them significantly.
“Typically in our competitors products the high frequency compression drivers are much more efficient than the mid-range drivers. Designers have to increase the ratio of conventional cone-based mids to the high frequency compression drivers to the range of 2:1. Clearly it is impossible to integrated this into a symmetrical coaxial system. But Adamson manufactures a series of extremely efficient mid-range compression drivers. This technology allows us to develop systems with a 1:1 mid/high ratio and still match, or even exceed the HF output. This is unique within the industry.”
Dapsanse, you can apparently mix and match coaxes under the right conditions. “Another way of increasing the throw is via a different method of coupling which places two coaxial loudspeakers one on top of the other,” he claims. “By shifting the angle of throw of the lower loudspeaker, interference in the high frequencies is avoided and a vertical vector coupling is achieved in the low and low-mids which focuses directivity in this plane. Coverage is therefore broadened in the horizontal plane and reduced in the vertical plane.”
AXIS ALL AREAS Mackie’s recent DLM Series uses the proprietary term TruSource Technology, a custom application of coaxial for this compact and powered range. Senior VP of product & market development John Boudreau says he was inspired by how Rat Sound founder Dave Rat encouraged EAW to develop the MicroWedge. “That was the first coaxial speaker I heard in a professional setting, and it blew me away,” he recounts. “Traditional 2-way and 3-way systems were fine, and I went through four generations of Mackie powered speakers. But
“If I had my way, I’d have coaxial six-deep with a 31” in the middle, a 15 in the centre of that and a 2 in the centre “ Jon Burton, FOH engineer
then I had a ‘what’s next?’ moment: it convinced me that there was a place for coaxial loudspeakers in the pro market.” He’s not alone. This year’s partnership between PreSonus and Boston-based Fulcrum Acoustic, the new venture for E-V and EAW veteran designer Dave Gunness, is a key statement in the development of coaxial solutions
for every application. For PreSonus, live sound is right on the agenda: the result of the deal announced at NAMM is PreSonus’ StudioLive Active Integration (AI) PA, alongside a range of studio monitors: a marriage of Gunness electro- acoustics and the latest “extreme” DSP developed by PreSonus CTO Bob Tudor. What that means is a range of enclosures that feature both Fulcrum Acoustic’s TQ ‘Temporal Equalization’ technology and PreSonus’ 32-bit, 96kHz dual-core processor – the benefits of which to each organisation are obvious. PreSonus gets a head start in the new-generation coaxial market, while Fulcrum, in the words of Gunness himself, is able to “reach customers that we can serve more effectively together than we could by ourselves.” At PreSonus, Steve Oppenheimer explains why coaxial is now such an attractive proposition. “Dave Gunness’ TQ technology is a breakthrough that solves thorny problems that prevented co-ax from reaching its potential. That was the first, key step in making coaxial more attractive now than it was in the past. It simply works a lot better. To this, we’ve added our own engineering capabilities to integrate extensive EQ and other customising capabilities, wired
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