For the first time in cinema history, a sound system now exists that can reproduce the auditory experience film creators wish the audience to hear.
The Sarabande is a fully integrated 4-way active sound-system. The electronics are housed in the elliptical aluminium plate on the front of the cabinet. The outputs of the 4-way active crossover can be independently managed from the front of the elliptical dress plate, enabling the Sarabande to be calibrated with ease.
This unique method of application was first proposed by the industrial designer Michael Dixon, who is responsible for the cabinet designs of the K4 system.
The K4 cabinets can be rotated to be flat against a wall. This approach is also ideal for theme parks and large dance-parties and is also a solution in applications that do not allow sufficient space for the sound system to be forward facing.
The K4's unique rotational configuration is ideally suited to cinemas. The centre-left-right speaker stacks are rotated 90deg occupying approx 70% of screen area. This method also acts as a baffle-wall creating a ddirectivity (dispersion) that is congruent across the whole frequency spectrum. This wide-band directivity projects the sound-field forward behaving similar to a plain wave front (minimising inverse-square law effect) hereby giving the illusion the sound is coming from half the distance it actually is. The audience no longer hear the sound as if coming from point-sources behind the screen. The audience now experience a synesthesia effect of being included within the sound-field and therefore within the film story, greatly enhancing the cinematic enjoyment.
This synesthesia effect cannot be created with conventional cinema speaker systems, regardless of how much software DSP trickery is applied. This effect can only be created (through fundemental physics) by increasing the radiation area of the sound-system and projecting a congruent directivity across the entire frequency spectrum.
System depth 18in and can easily fit behind any cinema screen. The research system in the pic is being tested before being placed behind the screen.
The Lenard cinema system is 4-way active and is possibly the largest cinema sound system in the world.
The experience of the system is similar to a plane wave front, where the acoustical image is projected forward 6dB giving the illusion the sound is coming from half the distance than it actually is.
This unique rotational approach was proposed by the industrial designer Michael Dixon. Michael is responsible for the cabinet designs of the Opal and K4 systems. Rotating the system increases the lower voice radiating area (100Hz - 800Hz) and improves propagation.
The way the system behaves is similar to a plane wave front, where the acoustical image is projected forward 6dB giving the illusion the sound is coming from half the distance than it actually is. The audience will experience being in the sound field, and therefore in the picture. The experience of synesthesia is greatly enhanced.
The sound disperses evenly throughout the cinema room. Every seat in the cinema experiences correct spacial positioning of the sound, as though the sweet spot is spread throughout the room. This approach can be argued as a superior method of application compared to forward facing systems. www.ddd.net.au