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2.2
Room Size Specification
Probably the first known factor when designing a new Home Theater is the space where the Home
Theater will be. Product selection is based upon the cubic volume of the listening environment. If it is an
irregular shaped room, it is best to use the larger set of dimensions, that is, to play on the safe side.
See Section 2.10 Selecting the Right Model for a chart to select the correct loudspeaker model for a
given room volume.
2.3
Listening Distance
One of the first decisions that should be made is what is the size of the video image and how far is
the screen from the center of the seating area? This will affect which Genelec models are selected. All
Genelec models (except subwoofers) feature the DCW
The DCW
is used to control the dispersion pattern of the tweeter driver (and the midrange driver in
TM
three-way systems) in both the horizontal and vertical axis. Moving to larger models in the Genelec
product line increases the possible distance from the loudspeaker to the listening area as the dispersion
characteristics are optimized for longer listening distances.
See Section 2.10 Selecting the Right Model for a chart to select the correct loudspeaker model for a
given listening distance.
2.4
Front Loudspeakers - A Model for Every Requirement
The Genelec Active Home Theater range is a little different than the offering of conventional hi-fi loud-
speaker manufacturers. The Genelec range is application specific. In other words, if your room is a certain
size, the listening distance is a certain length or a particular SPL is required in the listening area, then
there is a model in the product line to satisfy most needs. The Genelec range has a consistent design
philosophy from the 6020A all the way up to the 1036A. This is clear from the outside but is also true
of the parts that cannot be seen. Modern design methods give modularity benefits that enable efficient
manufacturing techniques to be used in production. This ensures that all the products have a consistent
performance straight out of the box and are reliable in use.
2.5
Center Channel Loudspeakers
There are three main factors to consider when choosing and using center loudspeakers:
2.5.1 Center Loudspeaker Design
Conventional two-way 'center' loudspeaker designs are inherently compromised in the power response
(the total radiated energy into the room). The driver spacing leads to horizontal off-axis cancellations
around the high-pass crossover in the horizontal direction. In addition, the use of three drivers positioned
in a line narrows the directivity in the plane of the drivers, i.e. horizontally. This severely compromises the
sound quality for people sitting to the left and right of the center of the room, i.e. off-axis.
Given these two-way center loudspeaker design compromises and the recommendations from Dolby,
DTS and others that, in an ideal surround sound system, the front loudspeakers are all the same for
good timbre matching, the best choice for a center loudspeaker is another loudspeaker that it is the same
as that used for the left and right loudspeakers. For example, the best match for an HT208B is another
HT208B!
In three-way designs, the bass/midrange driver crossover frequency is much lower so the above acous-
tical problems are far less significant as the DCW
maintained in the midrange/treble driver crossover region.
TM
(Directivity Control Waveguide
can be rotated so that the horizontal directivity is
TM
TM
) technology.
7
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