SOUND DISTRIBUTION Sound distribution is the practical aspect of directivity as described for the ideal piston and is a direct

function of both dimensions and frequency. The limiting conditions are shown in Fig 14, a, b and c. Fig. 14.

A point source (a) may be regarded as one having dimensions very much less than wavelength of the highest frequency being considered. Radiation will be spherical and omni-directional and the sound intensity will vary with the inverse square of the distance. The point source is the most easily located A flat diaphragm, (b), which is infinitely large or, in practice very much larger than the wavelength of the lowest frequency considered, will radiate plane waves parallel to its surface and the distribution will be extremely directional. There will be no definable location of the sound source, only its direction. The decrease in intensity with distance from the source will be due only to the frictional losses in the air, which, within the confines of domestic locations will be small. It should be noted that directivity and wave front curvature are inverse indications of the same cause and since the listener has two ears attached each side of a frequently moving head there is evidence to suggest that wave front curvature can be perceived and provides part of the information allowing us to judge the direction and distance of a sound source. This further suggests that the sound from loudspeakers might be interpolated back to point sources behind the actual radiating surface. Loudspeaker drivers fall between the above two extremes and the illustration, (c), shows the difference in wave-front curvature from both a cone driver and a dome tweeter respectively together with the predicted interference effects when the tweeter is placed at the acoustic centre of the cone and radiating the same frequency at the crossover point. This effect becomes worse for spatially separated tweeters.

SOUND LOCATION. Our ability to locate sound is due to the fact that we have binaural hearing wherein each ear receives a slightly different image of the sound source. These differences are principally in terms of time and intensity. . For a sound source immediately ahead of the listener, both ears receive the sound at the same time and at the same intensity. If the sound source is to either side then there will be a difference of both time and intensity between each ear. These are referred to as the intramural time difference, ITD, and the intramural intensity difference, IID. Binaural hearing, evolved as a natural survival mechanism and since pure tones were not part of the natural order, these are the most difficult to locate but this is still possible since our response to ITD embraces a response to extremely small differences in phase. The most easily locatable sounds are those that are transient with sharp leading edges such as snapping sounds or clicks. Binaural hearing also allows us to select and concentrate upon a one specific sound among a multiplicity of sound sources. A convincing demonstration of this is to listen to someone speaking in a noisy environment first using both ears normally and then with one ear covered. The immediate impression with one ear covered is that the wanted sound is being masked by the noise whereas the use of both ears results in a much greater separation and intelligibility of the speakers voice. STEREOPHONIC REPRODUCTION. The advantages of the single, wide band cone for stereophonic sound have already been outlined and, from the foregoing, can now be looked at in further detail. It has been seen that for a sound source immediately ahead of the listener, both ears receive the sound at the same time and at the same intensity. Therefore, if the listener is subjected to identical sounds from loudspeakers equidistant either side of his head he will perceive a virtual centre image. With conventional near spherical distribution, movement of the listener to a position half way between the centre and the left loudspeaker the sound intensity from that speaker will increase four times, due to the inverse square law of near-field spherical wave fronts whilst the intensity from the right will decrease to less than one half. In addition to this to this is the time delay difference with the result that even a small movement away from the centre will cause the image to smear to the nearest loudspeaker. Similar smearing will also accompany shifts in the reproduced image. Stereophonic imaging can be significantly improved by utilising the specific directional properties of the wide band driver where a preferred distribution is for the axial response to rise gradually with frequency, countered by a corresponding fall at about 30 degrees. The increased wave-front curvature reduces the square law effect and, if the speakers are then positioned so that their axes cross in front of the listening area, a movement of the listener either way will be toward the axis of the further speaker and away from the axis of the nearest speaker. This, in effect, tends to stabilize the imagery over a larger listening area. This is explained by reference to Figs 15, a, b and c.

Fig 15.

The vertical axes show magnitude and the horizontal axes show time. For illustrative purposes a simple step function is used, Fig 17a. It has been shown by Fourier that any repetitive waveform can be analysed into a series of harmonically related sine waves. Fig 17 b shows the result of adding the first, second and third harmonics. Fig 17 c shows the addition of adding up to the twelfth harmonic. This shows that the leading edge of the step is comprised of the upper harmonics. It therefore follows that any reduction in magnitude of these harmonics results in an effective reduction in both intensity and delay in time. THE VERTICAL LINEAR ARRAY. Multiple arrays of similar units offer number offer significant advantages over a single driver: 1) The power handling is increased in proportion to the number of drivers 2) A large radiating surface is provided whilst retaining the performance advantages of individual low mass cones thereby combining the qualities of both cone and planar systems. 3) Small wide band drivers are available designed specifically for array application. These are assembled into close fitting rectangular chassis to minimise the combing effect. 4) A vertical linear array of such drivers, correctly positioned, can offer an outstanding level of stereophonic reproduction. The feature of the vertical linear array is that it whilst that in directivity the horizontal plane is similar to that of a single driver, it is very restricted in the vertical plane. This increases the forward efficiency and minimises floor to ceiling room reflections. In addition, the near field distribution pattern for the upper harmonics tends to be cylindrical. At 2kHz the near field of a 30 centimetre vertical linear array is approximately 2 metres will maintain a near field cylindrical wave front up to a distance of at 2kHz. Above this the near field will extend in direct proportion to frequency. From previous argument it can be seen that this can result in further stabilisation of stereophonic imagery Again it is important for the axes of the arrays to cross well in front of the listening area. Whilst it is beyond the scope of this work to delve further into the relevant psycho-acoustic theory, the is no doubt that a vertical linear array of four small

wide band drivers is capable of an exceptional sound stage with total fill-in between the loudspeakers with no loss of positional integrity. This performance is effective over a large listening area. and together with the intrinsic sonic qualities of array configurations, this arrangement fully meets the loudspeaker reference standards specified on the first page of this work.