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Acoustics misrepresented (Reply to this comment)
by bpprice
While I appreciate the thoughtfulness that the reviewer put into the Kloss 88 review, I agree that it is an excellent product, the technical comments on bass reproduction are rather off the mark. Allow me to clarify, if I may:
The Bose and Kloss radios do not use "new technology" per se; in fact, very little that is "brand new" in speaker design has been done since the 1940s. Rather, both devices represent the typical evolution and refinement of older ideas that for one reason or another were not fully realized in earlier incarnations.
The waveguide idea that Bose has is NOT there to "dampen vibrations" of the speaker cone. It IS a refinement of the 1950's idea of a labyrinth, but with refinements unthought of at the time. The waveguide, as with the ported enclosure, serves to create points of high-efficiency resonance in order to REDUCE the necessary travel of the speaker cone. What Bose did new was to properly calculate the phase and volume velocity relationships between the port and the speaker and create active electronics to maximize performance. This is essentially an ultra-high efficiency little speaker for low frequencies, thus enabling use of a very small driver for acceptable performance.
Kloss used a more conventional approach, albeit a good one; a separate subwoofer with a tuned port. This is NOT a high-efficiency arrangement; Kloss throws wattage at the problem in order to achieve the desired bass, and like Bose applies active electronics in the mix to adjust EQ and dynamic response.
Are big drivers always better at low frequencies? Not really. Because they require less travel to achieve the desired amount of air volume moved, they can use less power. But there is nothing inherently wrong with trading off that efficiency with longer travel, smaller drivers. It is a matter of design goals with regard to cost and size. The classic "bookshelf" speakers use similar ideas along these lines, trading efficiency for bass response. That's fine, since wattage is cheap and home users don't usually play the speakers at really high volumes.
I have both the Bose and Kloss products here at home. Both work very well and are great radios that far surpass other small boxes. Both represent achievements due to evolutionary , not revolutionary changes in speaker design.
- bpprice
MIT BSEE '89
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Dec 25 '01
11:50 am PST
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I Love Any Rewiew That Teaches... (Reply to this comment)
by trustedun
Good revue. I must admit that I'm a technobabble fan, it's nice to read a reviewer who knows his equipment.
-trustedun
http://www.epinions.com/user-trustedun/show_~View_Profile
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Oct 22 '01
1:08 pm PDT
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