Something speaker nerds might like...

[Tbeers]

I just got to Princeton University, I'm a freshman, and I signed up for an unprecedented class called "PLOrk," for Princeton Laptop Orchestra. I didn't know what to expect.... The class met for the first time today, and I walked in the room and saw some of the coolest equipment ever! There are 15 students, and each one has a station, which is basically a laptop, hooked up to a rack case that has a bunch of stuff, and then to a really funky hemispherical speaker with 6 drivers on it. Check this out:
http://www.oddnoise.com/spheres.html

The professor, Dan Trueman, uses these to amplify violin and guitar. The drivers are sort of small.... But I thought it would be an interesting idea if someone ordered one of these with, say, a mix of larger drivers and maybe a tweeter. Perhaps a project for one of TB's wealthy gearheads.

Anyway, I just thought all this is so cool!

[Adrian Cho]

Well at least you don't need a cart to carry it long distances - you can just roll it along on the ground.

[Sonorous]

I find it pretty interesting. Thanks for the link.

[Tbeers]

That's what they actually look like.

[drurb]

Originally Posted by Tbeers

I just got to Princeton University, I'm a freshman, and I signed up for an unprecedented class called "PLOrk," for Princeton Laptop Orchestra. I didn't know what to expect.... The class met for the first time today, and I walked in the room and saw some of the coolest equipment ever! There are 15 students, and each one has a station, which is basically a laptop, hooked up to a rack case that has a bunch of stuff, and then to a really funky hemispherical speaker with 6 drivers on it. Check this out:
http://www.oddnoise.com/spheres.html

The professor, Dan Trueman, uses these to amplify violin and guitar. The drivers are sort of small.... But I thought it would be an interesting idea if someone ordered one of these with, say, a mix of larger drivers and maybe a tweeter. Perhaps a project for one of TB's wealthy gearheads.

Anyway, I just thought all this is so cool!

Thanks Tbeers. The "history" on that site starts, at the very least, 32 years too late. Around 1973, Design Acoustics was offering their D-12 dodecahedron loudspeakers. The history of so called "point source" designs goes back quite a way. You see, there just ain't nothing new under the sun. As one who has been an audiophile for about 35 years, I am continually amused at how many approaches are "re-invented" or reintroduced without so much as a nod to earlier attempts.

I also find the following statement on the site, referring to traditional front-firing speakers, rather odd:

Because these speakers emit sound in a highly directional manner, the sounds produced have a quality that is very different from acoustic instruments, which radiate sound in all directions and engage their environment more completely.

A trumpet hardly radiates sounds in all directions. In fact, most acoustic instruments of which I can think are rather directional.

None of this detracts from the value of the speakers at Princeton. I just think it is interesting to place them in the proper historical context.

[Ed Holmes]

Here is an informative link that gives some insight into why bass sound (amplified speaker or acoustic doublebass) is dependent upon where in the room the bass or amp is placed AND where the listener happens to be. http://www.harman.com/wp/index.jsp?articleId=1003.0