Siltech is specialised in high quality loudspeaker systems based on silver technology. If you listen to music on their loudspeaker you can recognise the quality of their systems. Silver is always optimising their products to stay at the top of its segment. Physixfactor has analysed the influence of the positioning of several internal panels in the loudspeaker and their resonance.
Loudspaeker and resonance curves with coupled panel. | |
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Determine the effects of acoustic absorption and resonance in a new loudspeaker and the influence of the orientation of diagonal internal panels. To what extent do the panels resonate, and how can we get an insight on its influence on the frequency spectrum? Which dimensions should the panels have to satisfy the desired quality standards of Siltech? As the use of damping material in the loudspeaker influences the characteristics of the system, analyse the location where the material has the greatest effect on its sound.
A new loudspeaker design was discussed to prepare the loudspeaker simulation, for which several components were variable in the acoustic model. Panels in the loudspeaker box were coupled to the vibrating air in the system to calculate coupled resonances. The damping material was defined in the model, for absorption properties were known. The simulation was executed in small parts, because the analyses needed a close attention for every detail. A frequency scan was performed in the FEM model for different panels and plotted as graphs.
The influence of the reflector position on the sound field could simulated well. The coverage ratio of the absorption material has a specific influence on the sound spectrum. With these insights several adjustment were made to the design. The loudspeaker could perform more balanced at lower frequencies and several resonance peaks of the panel were reduced. Both panel position and coverage ratio were plotted in frequency spectra.
Siltech can now handle panels and absorption material more efficiently. The quality has improved. This resulted in good reviews by experts:
“It did indeed seem less than usually affected by room modes, as Siltech claims, and it played bass melodies with a clarity and alacrity that eludes most other speakers.” Hifi News
“There was never a hint of the cabinet ‘bloom’ that most box speakers display somewhere in the lower midrange as a result of internal air resonances and/or structural resonances within the enclosure. This means that the Pantheons create a stereo image that really does appear to hang in space independent of the speakers themselves.” Hifi News
“What makes COMSOL so special? After all, CAD/CAM technology isn’t actually new and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is fast becoming just another item in the designer’s toolbox, a shortcut in the prototyping process. But where FEA allows designers to model the mechanical form and behavior of parts without actually making them, COMSOL goes a stage further, allowing analysis of fluid and gas dynamics.” The Audiobeat
“What’s not so obvious is that COMSOL has enabled the company to look at the behavior of both the cabinet and the air pressure inside it simultaneously, using the dimensions, shape and venting of the enclosure to dissipate structural and air-mass resonance, virtually eliminating the need for damping materials to deal with either problem. In fact, the internal damping element has been reduced to a single, dome-like pincushion placed in the base to handle the vertical mode between the only two parallel surfaces in the whole structure.” The Audiobeat