Surround Channels Components

Dipole Loudspeakers

Dipole loudspeakers consist either of one or two diaphragms that allow sound to radiate in two directions, creating a directivity pattern of figure eight with nulls looking sideways. This directivity pattern can either be realized by one diaphragm built in an open baffle or by two diaphragms having one radiating to the front and a second diaphragm emitting sound backward with reverse polarization.

The directivity of this loudspeaker is used that the nulls aim the side walls to prevent redundant lateral reflections. One advantage of using a dipole loudspeaker is the little interaction with the room. Nevertheless, a “dipole” needs the front/back wall reflections which should be avoided in home theaters, therefore, the use as a surround loudspeaker is debatable among audio professionals.

Subwoofer

Subwoofers are used to reproduce frequencies up to a crossover frequency of usually 80 Hz. Frequencies below 80 Hz are impossible to locate by the listener due to the small phase and time differences between both ears which are usually used to evaluate the direction. Further, the wavelengths in this frequency range are long compared to the dimensions of the subwoofer.

Therefore, a subwoofer can be considered to be an omnidirectional radiator which has to be considered when it comes to the interaction with room boundaries. Subwoofers can be used to compensate for a weak low-frequency performance especially by small bookshelf-sized loudspeakers and for improving the room acoustics through active room mode cancellation.

Bass Management

“Bass management” is the separation of low-frequency content from a signal that is fed to each loudspeaker in a surround sound set up by using a surround processor delivering it to a low-frequency effect channel (LFE). This frequency content (below 80 Hz) is fed then to the output of a subwoofer. The frequency at which the separation occurs is also referred to as “crossover frequency”.

In this post, we explained Surround Channels Components ; Other types of these methods that need to be mentioned to improve the sound will be published in future posts. These will pave the way for creating a home theater of the highest quality.

Although, we explored two types of sound absorbers that are effective in controlling sound reflections; Other types of these absorbers and the things that need to be mentioned to improve the sound will be published in future posts. These will pave the way for creating a home theater of the highest quality.

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