Array speakers, Sound beams and Sonowave
March 7, 2007
After the introduction of Yamaha Sound Projector YSP-1000 and Philips Sonowave technology based HTS6500 home theatre system, it is now the time to get rid of your 6 speaker/8 speaker systems without compromising on cinema surround effect.Yamaha’s YSP-1000 is largest selling speaker system, known as “best-ever Digital Sound Projector single-speaker surround system”. Actually the truth is it has got 40 small speaker drivers, fed by 40 separate digital amplifiers, but all in a single speaker box. YSP-1000 is a fantastic product, and is based on Phased Array Speakers. Yamaha is coming with its new version named YSP-1100.
These speakers provide the listeners with the perception that sound is coming from additional speakers placed throughout the room. This is done by focusing the sound into ”beams” and controlling the speaker delay times.
Philips’s Sonowave technology also is based on the same theory. Philips’s new home theatre models, named hts6600 and hts8100 are based on Sonowave technology.
In wave theory, a phased array is a group of active elements in which the relative phases of the respective signals feeding the elements are varied in such a way that the effective radiation pattern of the array is reinforced in a desired direction and suppressed in undesired directions. This theory was used in the “phased array antenna”, developed by Luis Alvarez during World War II.
By digitally processing (phase-shifting, delaying and filtering) the audio signal inputs to these individual power amplifiers it is possible to project a beam of sound in a particular direction. It is even possible to make these multiple driver units simultaneously project two different sound beams in two different directions.
Normally, in such a setup, the two outer drivers project the rear sound channels outwards so that they bounce off the side and rear walls of the room to enter the sound stage from behind. Simultaneously, they project the front sound channels directly forward to create the stereo sound image. The innermost loudspeakers are driven in parallel and directed inwards to deliver the center channel.
Above this technology, the manufacturers are implementing proprietary algorithms for “Psycho-acoustics”. These algorithms decide the precision with which the sound beams are directed and controlled.
With many such similar products plunging into the market, the key differentiator across products will be these proprietary algorithms.
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