THE MD6

Presenting The MD Series Bass Augmentation Speaker System

The audio spectrum that human beings can hear is listed as frequencies from 20 to 20,000 Hertz (Hz), or cycles per second. Doubling, or halving a frequency, equals one octave. There are ten octaves in this audio spectrum. Subwoofers usually cover the lowest two octaves of 20Hz to 80Hz. The main satellite speakers cover the remaining eight octaves. The objective of a sub/sat system is to acoustically blend together seamlessly creating the acoustic response of a very large full range system. Subwoofers are also incorporated into home theater systems to realistically reproduce the power of explosions and other visceral low frequency sound effects.

Physics dictates that to reproduce low frequencies with power and authority, a subwoofer driver must move (push & pull) a lot of air. Because a driver’s linear travel is limited by design constraints, a large diameter is the logical solution. Because of a large driver’s moving mass, the response is usually “slower” then that of the associated (much smaller driver) satellite system. This translates into compromising the transient response of the system as it cannot track
the incoming signal as faithfully as the smaller satellite system can. Therefore, a seamless acoustic result is usually unattainable. This is the main reason for the design of the MD6 Bass Augmentation Speaker System. There are additional benefits of this design as well.

The MD6 utilizes six 6.5” drivers. These drivers are designed for low frequency audio reproduction. These six drivers combine acoustically to move as much air as a 16” subwoofer while maintaining the reaction time of a 6.5” speaker. These drivers are mounted in an opposing configuration, three on each side of the enclosure. They are wired in phase which creates a vibration canceling effect. This also allows for a vertically designed enclosure taking up less floor space than a typical large cube shaped subwoofer enclosure.

This vibration canceling design also contributes to the system’s transient behavior because the enclosure cannot give way to the forces exerted on it.

Realistic low frequency audio reproduction requires large amounts of amplifier power. Typical subwoofer design must consider this in the design of the driver incorporated. Heavy duty voice coil assemblies add to a driver’s moving mass. The MD6’s six drivers split the driving amplifier’s power, allowing for effortless, low distortion performance.

Accepting “Hoffman’s Iron Law” (Josef Anton Hoffman), modern subwoofer designs usually incorporate extreme electronic manipulation, especially low frequency boost. This enables these systems to provide impressive measured results using low level signals. However, as the output demands increase, the system must respond with frequency limiting, as well as compression (volume limiting) to maintain safe operating parameters.

The MD6 operates strictly in the acoustic domain (It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature!). Utilizing a modified vented alignment provides flat acoustic in room response into the low 20Hz range. This type system exhibits impressive transient response. The modification incorporated ensures accurate low frequency performance in real world in-room conditions. Room gain has been taken into account.