MartinLogan Aeon i [12/24] Three major types of dispersion

12 Dispersion Interactions

Figure 11–12. As can be seen here, point source

concepts invite a great deal of room interaction.

While delivering good frequency response to a

large listening audience, imaging is consequently

confused and blurred.

Figure 13–14. Even though they suffer from

“venetian blind” effect, angled multiple panel

speakers can deliver good imaging, but only

to specific spots in the listening area.

Figure 15–16. A controlled 30-degree cylindrical

wave-front, which is a MartinLogan exclusive,

offers optimal sound distribution with minimal

room interaction. The result is solid imaging with

a wide listening area.

In the field of loudspeaker design, it is a known fact that as

the sound wave becomes progressively smaller than the

transducer producing it, the dispersion of that wave

becomes more and more narrow, or directional. This fact

occurs as long as the transducer is a flat surface. Large flat-

panel speakers exhibit venetian blind effects due to this

phenomenon. This is why most manufacturers opt for

small drivers (i.e., tweeters and midrange) to approximate

what is known as a point source wave launch.

Historically, most attempts to achieve smooth dispersion

from large flat-panel transducers resulted in trade-offs.

After exhaustive testing of these different solution attempts,

we found an elegantly simple, yet very difficult to execute

solution. By curving the radiating surface, we create the

effect of a horizontal arc. This allows the engineers at

MartinLogan to control the high frequency dispersion

pattern of our transducers. That is why you see the gentle

curve on our products.

Three Major Types of Dispersion