A Case In Point: Acoustic Lens Technology and Panoramic Power Response

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	Computer rendering showing two Acoustic Lenses mated to their respective drivers.

At Sausalito Audio Works (one of the places I work), we have created a series of loudspeaker prototype designs using conventional drivers coupled with devices we call Acoustic Lenses. These devices cause the sound energy (and power) emitted by the drivers to be distributed evenly and smoothly across a wide horizontal angle (ca. 180°) and a narrow vertical one (ca. 30°), from approximately 400 Hz. (for a 3-way system) up to greater than 15 kHz. This means that the power response of our loudspeaker systems is reasonably consistent from 400 Hz. up (below 400 Hz. the long wavelengths dictate that the speaker output will continue to be omnidirectional), and that it is dispersed into the playback room in a way that has proved to be excellent for music playback. We call this performance quality Panoramic Power Response (PanPower, for short). Using these loudspeakers, we can easily work and listen in rooms that can closely and inexpensively resemble conventional end-user playback rooms, with superb results.

Meanwhile, we have found that the use of such dispersion yields some additional sonic benefits as well, sonic benefits that are neither obvious nor intuitive. We get great gains in the solidity and relative depth of phantom images. Depth is particularly enhanced as the speakers are moved out into the room. In a symmetrical room with flat reflective sidewalls, we get surprisingly strong envelopment (sense of surrounding spaciousness) from stereo signals, while maintaining great imaging and timbral quality. We believe that the improvement is general and fundamental, vis-a-vis conventional speaker topologies.

So, how can these things be? What is going on?