To provide high-performance surround sound reproduction usually requires different Surround Speaker configurations depending on the format the music or film sound was recorded in. For musical performances, the surround sound should duplicate the ambient sound or “air” of the concert hall, which requires a diffuse, non-localizable field of sound. For many film soundtracks on the other hand, the surround sound, especially from Dolby® Digital and DTS® sources, requires highly specific acoustic imaging from the surround speakers in order to locate the sound source precisely within the acoustic field of the viewing room.
While at first glance, these differing characteristics seem to be contradictory, analysis of the frequency content of these different kinds of surround sound -- diffuse versus localizable -- led to the development of the unique Artison LRS Surround Speaker. The analysis revealed that the ambient sound of musical performances (and of some film-track surround sound, as well) occurs primarily at very low and very high frequencies. At the same time, a film soundtrack’s localizable sound of specific acoustic images, such as cars passing by, airplanes flying overhead, and off-screen voices, falls primarily in the so-called “voice range,” of frequencies, from a few hundred Hertz to around three thousand Hertz.
Very low frequency sounds are inherently non-directional and are reproduced by the surround sound system’s subwoofer, which can be placed wherever it’s convenient in the listening / viewing room. For high frequencies above the voice range (> 3kHz), two tweeters are used in the Artison LRS. These tweeters are located on opposite faces of the speaker and are wired in a dipole configuration (i.e. out-of-phase). This arrangement creates a diffuse sound field that provides outstanding liveliness and “air” to the surround field. At the same time, a single woofer / midrange working in a monopole configuration (in phase with the front channels) gives the steering ability to the sound that movies and some multi-channel audio performances require. This hybrid solution enables two compact, high-performance surround speakers (5.1 system) or four surround speakers (7.1 System) to work in concert with the front speakers to recreate highly specific acoustic images throughout the listening / viewing space.
Artison LRS Surround Speakers create superior surround sound quality without the need for any adjustments, switches, or configuration changes by the user of any kind. Regardless of the surround sound format, decoding, and content, the LRS Surrounds deliver outstanding performance.
Artison • 2231 Meridian Blvd #1 • Minden, Nevada 89423 • (775) 783-4770