ADAPT©, the next step of Constant Directivity

Modern sound systems have reached exceptional levels of fidelity, but one persistent challenge remains:

Achieving a consistent, and immersive listening experience with a faithful brain interpretation of the sound.

This is where ADAPT, for Acoustic Constant Directivity Adapted to Psychoacoustic Technology, comes in, introducing a new approach to horn and waveguide loudspeaker design.

Limitations of Traditional Loudspeakers

Conventional loudspeakers often exhibit varying directivity patterns across the frequency spectrum or don’t take into account how the brain naturally interprets sound.

This means the way sound disperses changes depending on the frequency and don’t take account of brain perception, making it challenging to deliver a balanced sonic experience throughout a listening space.

High frequencies attenuate and become more directional sooner than low frequencies, leading to uneven and incoherent sound coverage.

Why is consistent coverage important?

In real-world environments, sound behaves in two ways:

• Direct sound: This is the sound that travels directly from the loudspeaker to the listener.

• Reverberated sound: This is the sound that reflects off walls and other surfaces before reaching the listener.

The critical distance that is not a single point, but rather a zone or region, is where the level of direct sound and the level of reverberated sound are equal or close to be.

For optimal sound experience, the ideal balance between direct and reverberated sound is around 50/50 or 60/40, it’s why our listening position should be inside the critical distance area.

Uneven coverage disrupts this balance, often causing an excess of reverberated sound, leading to muffled or distorted audio. This is why having the right uniform coverage adapted to our listening distance, even directly in front of the speaker, is crucial.

ADAPT technology addresses these challenges by focusing on achieving consistent directivity and respecting psychoacoustic principles, ultimately delivering a more balanced and immersive listening experience.

ADAPT: The Psychoacoustic Solution

ADAPT technology addresses this by focusing on three criticals areas:

• Constant Directivity: ADAPT-enabled loudspeakers achieve controlled dispersion across the frequency range through careful design, without relying on unintended diffraction or accidental anomalies. This ensures that every listener receives the same tonal balance and sonic character, see more about constant directivity.

• Psychoacoustic Adaptation: Psychoacoustics studies the complex relationship between sound and human hearing. ADAPT leverages established psychoacoustic principles, inspired by the research of Dr. Floyd E. Toole, to further optimize directivity. It considers factors like the human ear’s frequency sensitivity and spatial perception to create a listening experience that feels natural, immersive, and faithful to the original sound.

• Precise Propagation Wavefront Control: Leveraging advanced computer simulations (FEA) and meticulously designed fluid dynamics, ADAPT achieves flawless and consistent wavefront control across all frequencies throughout the entire horn profile, starting from the throat. This ensures a clean and consistent sound response, free from unexpected on and off-axis anomalies.
  By incorporating the (optionnal) full roundover return in the design, midrange narrowing and beaming are completely eliminated, further enhancing performances.

Benefits of ADAPT in Practice

• Uniform Sound Coverage: No more narrow “sweet spots”, ADAPT eliminates inconsistencies, ensuring every listener enjoys the same level of detail and clarity with a wide soundstage.

• Enhanced Clarity: By precisely controlling wave propagation within the horn, ADAPT delivers a clean and consistent sound across the entire listening area, free from variations in response.

• Immersive Listening: With consistent sonic character throughout the space, ADAPT creates a truly engaging sound field for live music or cinematic experiences.

• Reduced Acoustic Reflections: By precisely controlling dispersion, ADAPT minimizes unwanted sound reflections from walls and ceilings, promoting sonic accuracy and fidelity.

Transforming the Listening Experience

ADAPT represents a leap forward in loudspeaker technology and listening experience, delivering consistent fidelity, optimal intelligibility, and immersive soundscapes.

This is achieved by prioritizing both technical excellence and human auditory perception, recognizing the intricate connection between sound and human brain perception (psychoacoustics).