JourneytoJupiter AttheheartofDynaudioLabsin Denmark,thecompany’sengineers haveteamedupwithagiantrobot thatonlytelsthetruth… Designing a new speaker and testing itisincredibly laborious, particularly when it’s done by perfectionists.Theonlywaytogetit rightisthroughtesting.Lotsofit.In fact,testing isonlypartofthe package.Fine-tuning,designingand actualylistening to thespeakers (themostimportantthingofal)al Jupiterisbig.Verybig.It’sagiant holowcube,measuring13metresin every dimension,thatformsthe core ofthe dedicated Dynaudio Labs building.It’s packed with technologythatalowstheroomto provide infinitesimaly smal measurements: the monolithic Confidence 60, the Core profesional reference monitors, Evoke,Emit… they’vealbeenin there. The way the room works is fascinating. A speaker can be measuredindividualyor,giventhe room’ssize,engineerscaninstal severalspeakersatoncetosimulate thetypicalhomeaudiosetup(not manyhigh-endHi-Fiownershave justonespeaker).Then,therobot arm –withits31microphones– takesa360-degreemeasurement. ThatmeanstheR&Dteamnotonly knowhowaspeakersoundsinthe sweet-spot,butfrom everywhere elsetoo. addtimetotheproces. Sizerealydoesmater
Theold-schoolwayofdoingthatwould’vebeentousean anechoicchamber–aroom fulofsound-dampeningmaterial thatalmostcompletelyeliminatesechoesandreverberations. Clapyourhandsrightnow;unlesyou’reactualyinananechoic chamberthisverysecond(andifyouare,thenwhy?),you’lhear thesound tailof.Anechoicchambersgetrid ofthatby absorbingthatextraenergyandremainingtotalyquiet(some to the pointwhere,unsetlingly,you can hearyourown heartbeatandjointscreaking). Theproblemis,anechoicchambersdon’ttendtoworksowel whenyoudelvedownrealydeepintothefrequencyrange. Theirweirdwedgesandfoamybitsonlyrealyworkwelinthe midrangeandtreble.Theonlywaytogetaroundthatistomake theroombigger–whichmeansmoreacoustictreatment,much morecost,andnotthatmuchgain. Jupitercansimulatethegoodpartsofananechoicchamber withouthavingtodealwiththeundesirableonesthankstoits sheersize.Simplyput,thehugearayshutsofthemicrophones betweentheirmeasuringtheimpulsesound(aninstantaneous ‘click’thatcontainsalfrequencies)andthereflectioncoming backofthewals.It’ssplit-secondstuf,butitefectivelytakes theroomoutoftheequation.
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