ADD: It would be better if you see the TOTALLY UNRELATED ad linked below first
From a gaming speaker* ad (edited):
- Downward firing design creates an omnidirectional effect
- Sound waves originate from the same source
- Omnidirectional sound stage - by deliver sound in all directions, sweet spot is enlarged
- Special amplifier matches input power with power demand
Ok, here goes:
- The argument against normal, forward-firing speakers is that sound bounces off the wall and reaches the listening in different paths and time, also known in the normal world as echo
- By using a speaker that fires in all directions, wouldn't the sound bounce off in much more directions before reaching the listener?
- Then how is it supposed to help with the situation? It actually worsens it don't you think?
Didn't even think of using general knowledge before writing this one.
Now, onto the more technical ones:
- It actually sounds better because of the reflected sound. Or more technically it's called off-axis sound (as opposed to on-axis sound/coming straight from the driver), but I don't like to use technical jargons that make the writer seem more knowledgable to hide his lack of knowledge while confusing newcomers, when an easy layman term can mean the same thing and is much understood my everyone. Reflected sound tends to have more feeling of space as well as sound more natural and less harsh, with the downside of less accuracy and dependency on room acoustics.
- Reflected sound is so useful because the effects are nice sounding, that many speakers, more notably karaoke systems, and especially Bose systems, have drivers dedicated to firing sideways or even backwards. As mentioned, accuracy is compromised, but the benefits outweigh the costs.
Onto the next point:
- The "sweet spot" is greater because , ironically, of the refracted sound also. Think of two beams of light that are slightly spreading out. You have to stand in the middle to get both beams. Now think of two light bulbs. You can stand anywhere to get light from both sources. However, it'd be harder to ensure that the amount and distance from both light bulbs are equal when you factor in the reflection, that you won't even know where is the best spot, if any.
And the one after:
- Special amplifier matches input power with power demand
That's just a fuking class-H amp. It's nothing special, and no they (the company owning the ad) didn't invent it.
Is it good? Not sure, it's good if you need a huge amount of power and still stay efficient at low loads, but with a class-D amp typically found in these kind of speakers without a huge heatsink at the back, why would you even care about efficiency and insufficient power? And with another switched-mode power supply for the tracking rails that's basically useless at low volumes, *cough*.
BTW, Razor has a TOTALLY UNRELATED product here:
http://www2.razerzone.com/images/mako/mako-tech.php
*Gaming speaker suggests a system that's only good for gaming and nothing else - music, movies, serious sound production of any form
I for one don't believe in speakers being designed for anything, like 25% gaming, 50% movies, 30% music, and -5% Windows error messages. Good speakers faithfully reproduce anything that's thrown at them. If speakers are said to be "designed for something", more often than not it means the following:
Gaming - Huge amount of bass, nothing else
Movies - Huge amount of bass, huge amount of highs, nothing else
Music - Warmth and space, usually reflects a boost in the midrange, some boost in the mid-bass and usually insufficient deep-bass, reduced highs for less harsh
Strings - midtones and overwhelming bass (for the double-bass), some harshness in the highs for the violin's sonic character
Guitar (acoustic) - very good highs response (for the plucking of strings), very linear mid-bass response - so far I see that, on good systems, guitars really shine
Rock - Good dynamics, good bass, good highs, no detail required
Jazz - Good deep-bass, linear bass, good mids, good highs - an upgrade from guitar
And my favourite:
Vocals - Lots of mids without anything at the ends of the frequency spectrum (as you can see, that's the same sound signature as a cheapo speaker, apart from being clearer)
So, what kind of speakers do you have, and what do you like?
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