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A Speaker That Adjusts for Furniture That’s in the Way

02.19.2004 @ 07:04 AM PT | Marc Erickson

“…The speaker, Bang & Olufsen’s top-of-the-line model (with a top-of-the-line price tag, $16,000 a pair), is equipped to overcome a common audio problem. Design engineers may be able to control most of the elements that make for great sound from a pair of speakers, but they have no control over perhaps the most important one: the person who buys them. That consumer may have a living room with poor acoustics or may otherwise harm the sound by hiding the speakers behind furniture or shoving them against the walls.

‘Especially in the low-frequency region, placement of the speaker has a big influence on sound,’ said Poul Praestgaard, senior technology manager of Bang & Olufsen, which is based in Struer, Denmark.

Audiophiles who want to optimize their speaker setup often use a microphone placed in the listening area and a computer to analyze the sound and then adjust the response over ranges of frequencies, a process called equalization, to compensate for the room’s deficiencies.

The Beolab 5 does a similar job on its own. As its downward-facing deep bass driver, or woofer, emits several test tones, an onboard microphone at the bottom of the speaker picks them up. Then a servomotor moves the microphone several inches so that it protrudes from the bottom and can pick up reflections from the room, and the tones are emitted again. A signal-processing chip within the speaker analyzes the difference between the two tests and digital equalization circuitry, also on board, adjusts the sound.”

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