In this blog article we look at the dispersion requirements for ceiling speakers in a Dolby Atmos system. We consider the example of a system with 4 ceiling speakers and two seating rows and show how dispersion requirements change for: Speakers firing straight down vs. angled at the listening area. Different ceiling heights (9’6″, 8’6″ and 7’6″). […]

This will be a quick article that explains how to interpret manufacturer published speaker dispersion specifications and in particular how these relate to what you might see on an off axis response plot. The Importance of Speaker Dispersion To properly position speakers in a home theater, you must understand speaker dispersion. An important goal in […]

This article provides a conceptual basis for understanding speaker toe-in and how it relates to the subject of speaker off axis response. Speaker toe-in has a significant effect on the sound – in terms of soundstaging, imaging and tonal balance – and we think it is important to understand some of the facts and data […]

ATC and many other pre-eminent manufacturers of what we call “forward firing cone / dome speakers” believe that for optimal speaker off axis response any given woofer or midrange driver should not be operated above ka=2. The reason is that above ka=2 the driver gets increasingly directional resulting in an off axis suckout at the […]

This blog article is the seventh in a series on speaker directivity and off axis response. This article will consider the off axis response of constant beamwidth transducers (CBTs) and consequences for acoustic design. Previous articles in the series established the theoretical foundation in terms of the psychoacoustic as well as subjective importance of speaker off […]

This blog article is the sixth in a series on speaker directivity and off axis response. This article will consider the off axis response of omidirectional speakers (“omnis”) and consequences for acoustic design. Previous articles in the series established the theoretical foundation in terms of the psychoacoustic as well as subjective importance of speaker off […]

This blog article is the fifth in a series on speaker directivity and off axis response. This article will consider the off axis response of coaxial speakers and consequences for acoustic design. Previous articles in the series established the psychoacoustic as well as subjective importance of speaker off axis response, different ways to measure speaker […]

This blog article is the fourth in a series on speaker directivity and off axis response. This article will consider the off axis response of constant directivity speakers and consequences for acoustic design. Previous articles in the series established the psychoacoustic as well as subjective importance of speaker off axis response, different ways to measure […]

This blog article is the third in a series on speaker directivity and off axis response. Previous articles in the series established the psychoacoustic as well as subjective importance of speaker off axis response and looked at different ways to measure speaker directivity.  Today we will look at the directivity characteristics of forward firing cone / […]

This article focuses on why speaker directivity and off axis response is important to the quality of sound reproduction that we get in our home theaters, two channel listening rooms and project studios. It is the second in a mini-series of articles – the first article covered the theory of speaker directivity and different ways […]