Loudspeaker arrangement.

LOUDSPEAKER ARRANGEMENT

The invention relates to a loudspeaker arrangement defined in the introductory section of the appended patent claim 1.

In principle a stereophonic sound effect is nowadays created so that a musical performance or the like is recorded with two microphones that are advantageously located at a distance from each other, the said distance corresponding to the interval between human ears. The voltage signals from the microphones are amplified in respective amplifiers, and recorded, generally each sound channel separately, to a suitable means such as a record or tape. Correspondingly, the obtained record is played by amplifying the sound signal recorded in each channel in respective amplifiers, and by reproducing the sound via loudspeakers placed at a suitable distance.

The problem with the current system is that a stereo effect is generally formed only if the loudspeakers of the separate channels together with the listener form an isosceles triangle, so that the listener is located at the point of the triangle. Thus the creation of a depthwise expanded stereo effect within a large space is difficult.

Another problem is that the current arrangements require at least two loudspeaker units.

In the prior art there is known, from the FI patent publication 35,014, an arrangement where two normal stereo channel signals are electrically transformed into three different outlet signals, which are amplified and fed out via three loudspeaker units. To a certain degree this type of arrangement creates a stereophonic impression of depthwise extension within the given space.

The problem with the aforementioned arrangement is that it requires three loudspeaker units and a special amplifier for producing three outlet signals out of two normal stereo channel signals.

The biggest drawback with the present-day stereo loudspeaker arrangements is that they are difficult to place within the given space so that the listeners on different sides of the space could get a clear stereophonic impression of the record being played. On the other hand, if the arrangement according to the above described Finnish patent publication is applied, special equipment is required.

A further drawback with current stereo loudspeaker arrangements is that the created stereophonic sound effect hardly gives an impression of a depthwise expanded sound. The sound field seems to come flat out of the wall. In a system of two loudspeakers, it is true, it is to some degree possible to create a depthwise extension of the sound field, particularly within the medium level of the loudspeakers, but the impression of the space of the performance remains, however, inadequate, and greatly dependent on the imagination of the listener.

GB-A-2 016 863 discloses a compact loudspeaker arrangement for reproducing in living rooms sounds transmitted via at least two channels by means of loudspeaker combinations in which the loudspeakers radiate in different directions and are disposed physically near one another and in which arrangement a single physically concentrated loudspeaker combination is provided for each two channels.

The object of the present invention is to eliminate the above mentioned drawbacks. The loudspeaker arrangement of the invention means a substantial improvement in the creation of a threedimensional stereo sound effect within a given space.

The loudspeaker arrangement of the invention characterized by the features enlisted in the patent claim 1.

The loudspeaker arrangement of the invention for creating a three-dimensional stereo sound effect is to be placed at a suitable distance from sound-reflecting surfaces. According to the invention, the loudspeaker elements of the left and right channels in the loudspeaker arrangement are located within one and the same loudspeaker unit, where they are separated from each other by means of a zone corresponding at least to the size of the interval between human ears, and where they are arranged to radiate towards different sides of the said zone, in a similar fashion, within 180° circle sectors, so that the sounds reflected from the surfaces, together with the sounds coming directly from the loudspeaker unit, create a depthwise expanded, threedimensional stereo sound effect, mainly within the sector expanding away from the loudspeaker unit.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the bass elements of the left and right channels are placed vertically with the cones towards opposite directions, so that in between them there is placed a sound reflection plate.

The most important advantage of the invention is that by employing only one loudspeaker unit, there is created a stereophonic, depthwise expanded impression of the original space of performance. Thus the impression that the listener receives of a musical performance or the like comes close to the real impression experienced by the listeners present at the original performance.

Another advantage of the present invention is that the loudspeaker arrangement renders a three-dimensional stereo effect within a radiation sector of advantageously 45 - 50 degrees. Thus the position of the listener with respect to the loudspeaker arrangement is fairly free. Hence the listener obtains a depthwise expanded, stereophonic sound impression in the biggest part of the given space.

Yet another advantage of the invention is that the loudspeaker arrangement is compatible with all regular stereo systems.

In the following the invention is explained in more detail with reference to the appended drawings, where <ul id="ul0001" list-style="none"><li>figure 1 is an illustration of a loudspeaker arrangement of the invention, seen from the side in partial cross-section;</li><li>figure 2 in an illustration of the loudspeaker arrangement of figure 1, seen from the top in partial cross-section; and</li><li>figure 3 is an illustration of the operation of the loudspeaker arrangement of the invention within a given space with sound-reflecting walls.</li></ul>

Figures 1 and 2 represent a schematical illustration of a loudspeaker arrangement of the invention. The loudspeaker elements 12a, 13a, 14a and respectively 12b, 13b and 14b, of the left 2 and right 3 channels are placed within one and the same loudspeaker unit 1. The loudspeaker elements of the left 2 and right 3 channels are separated from each other by means of a vertical zone 4. In this case the zone 4 is a soundpenetrating space, which is arranged particularly in between the medium sound elements 13a, 13b and the treble sound elements 14a, 14b. The width a of the zone 4 is within the range of 15...25 cm, which corresponds to the interval of human ears from each other.

The loudspeaker elements of both channels 2, 3, particularly the medium and treble elements 13a, 14a; 13b, 14b, are located in the form of a semicircle within the loudspeaker unit 1, so that they radiate towards their respective 180° circle sectors A, B.

The bass elements 12a, 12b are located in the bottom part of the loudspeaker unit 1. They are placed vertically, with the loudspeaker cones towards opposite directions, and installed in the support plates 16a, 16b. In between the bass elements 12a, 12b there is placed the sound reflection plate 11. Thus the low sounds are directed from the bass elements 12, through the spaces in between the sound reflection plate 11 and the support plates 16a, 16b, via the openings 15a, 15b, each to their respective sectors A, B to different sides of the zone 4.

In the loudspeaker arrangement of figures 1 and 2, at least part of the treble elements 14a, 14b are located in the conical top part 17 of the loudspeaker unit 1.

In the loudspeaker arrangement there can also be utilized double-cone loudspeakers, which have a large sound frequency range. They can be placed in their own loudspeaker unit, for instance in the same fashion as the medium sound elements 13a, 13b in the loudspeaker unit of figure 2, and a vertical zone 4 is arranged in between the loudspeaker elements of the left and right channels. Thus separate treble and bass loudspeaker elements become unnecessary.

In figure 3, the loudspeaker arrangement of the invention is located within the given space. The loudspeaker unit 1 is at a suitable distance from the sound-reflecting surfaces 8. Thus the sound wave fields produced by the sound elements 12a, 13a, 14a; 12b, 13b, 14b of the two sound channels 2, 3 arrive both directly, via the paths 6, and as reflected from the surfaces 8 of the space or from furniture, via the path 7, to the ears of the listener 5. The sound waves of the separate channels arrive to the ears of the listener at somewhat different times and in slightly different phases when compared to each other. This creates a sound effect which gives the listener 5 the impression that he is present at the original performance.

Owing to the influence of the zone 4, the loudspeaker elements 13a, 13b; 14a, 14b of the separate channels create an acoustic feedback to each other. Because the width of the zone 4 is chosen to be at least the length of the interval between human ears, i.e. the same distance as between the microphones during the recording, there is created, together with the sounds reflected from the surfaces and the sounds coming directly from the loudspeaker unit 1, a depthwise expanded, three-dimensional stereo sound effect, mainly within the sector, parallel to the zone 4, expanding away from the loudspeaker unit, which sector is advantageously about 50°. The dotted lines in figure 1 designate the radiation sector 10.

In the above described preferred embodiments of the loudspeaker arrangement of the invention, the feedback between the loudspeaker elements of the separate channels of the loudspeaker arrangement is acoustic. The feedback can alternatively be carried out at least partly electrically, by feeding a small part of the sound signals from the channels crosswise to opposite channels. Thus the zone 4 can be a suitably wide, sound-proof space a in between the loudspeaker elements of the separate channels.