JL Audio Fathom® v2 -
The challenges associated with designing high-output compact subwoofer systems can be quite daunting. In most cases, designers sacrifice low-frequency extension or output capability in order to keep the design small.
The Fathom® v2 subwoofers sacrifice nothing, thanks to the dynamic advantages of their proprietary JL Audio woofers. These exceptional drivers allow for a true subwoofer passband and very high output, while keeping distortion well below audible thresholds. To extract full benefit from the excursion envelope of its woofer, each Fathom® v2 employs an exceptionally powerful switching amplifier with a large toroidal transformer and a patented circuit designed to enhance control and fidelity.
The compact design and conventional form factor of the Fathoms apply beautifully to most home theater applications, including built-in designs. Front-mounted controls make them a dream to set up and adjust, while JL Audio’s exclusive Digital Automatic Room Optimization circuit makes sure that response is smooth, even in challenging rooms.
Simply put, Fathom® v2 is the compact subwoofer system for those who enjoy demanding program material and won’t settle for compromises.
JL Audio Fathom® v2 Technology -
W-Cone (U.S. Patent #6,496,590)
Summary:
The W-Cone is a unit-body cone assembly that delivers astonishing cone stiffness with minimal mass. The shape also provides superb torsional rigidity, which is critical to maintaining voice coil alignment at the suspension limits.
Detailed Information:
The more excursion and motor force a speaker has, the more important cone rigidity becomes. The acceleration forces are extreme, requiring the cone to withstand rapid changes in speed and direction without deformation. Deformation not only leads to distortion, but can also affect the speaker's mechanical integrity by allowing the voice coil to go out of alignment and rub on the top-plate and the pole-piece of the motor.
There are several approaches to enhancing cone rigidity. The obvious ones are using a thicker material and/or a stiffer material. In recent years, several manufacturers have used composite cone materials (Kevlar®, fiberglass, etc.) or metals (aluminium, magnesium, titanium alloys). The use of these exotic materials is typically accompanied by marketing claims that the material chosen has exceptional stiffness-to-mass characteristics. These are true statements, but can be misleading. While these materials have excellent stiffness-to-mass properties (compared to paper or poly), they are not lighter than paper or poly in practice. This means that their use accepts the compromise of added moving mass on the design. This leads to efficiency penalties and suspension complications (it's harder to keep a heavy mass aligned properly).
A simple poly cone diaphragm, while sufficient for lower power designs, would not remain rigid under the demands that the W7 design requires. Our engineering team knew that high levels of cone rigidity would be needed, but they focused on achieving rigidity without a huge weight penalty. This ultimately led to the design we call the W-Cone. The W-Cone assembly achieves its rigidity through architectural means, rather than through inherently stiff materials. The design addresses the stiffness issue by using two lightweight mineral-filled polypropylene skins, bonded together at the perimeter and the centre of the assembly. The lower skin's cross-section is shaped like a 'W', hence the name, and provides incredible rigidity when bonded to the dished upper skin. The effect is not unlike the trusses of a bridge or the unit-body construction of a modern automobile. In addition to the overall rigidity benefit, the lower skin's shape distributes the force generated by the coil and motor more evenly than a typical diaphragm. The force is not only applied to the apex but also distributed to the perimeter of the outer diaphragm for more linear behaviour. A further benefit of the W-Cone is that the upper skin (the one in contact with the listening environment), is isolated from the high air-pressure gradients of the enclosure, further reducing deformation (and distortion).
As a point of comparison, the W-Cone assembly of a 12W7 is 32% lighter than a typical aluminium-alloy 12-inch cone. If analysed in terms of weight per square inch of piston area, the W7 cone-body weighs 1.24g/sq.in., compared to 1.45g/sq.in. for an aluminium-alloy cone and 1.66g/sq.in. for a titanium-alloy cone.
So why polypropylene? As stated above, our patented W-Cone technology achieves all of the benefits of more exotic materials while better suiting the unique nature of the W7. Since the W7 surround is detachable, the moving system (including the diaphragm) is subject to mechanical stress unseen in conventional designs. Because the user can tug on the cone while manipulating the surround, the cone must be able to handle this without buckling or deforming. Paper, metal or brittle composite cones would not handle this well. Our two-skin unit-body cone design achieves outstanding axial and torsional stiffness to withstand all kinds of abuse, and will remain largely unaffected and unblemished.
JL Audio Fathom and Gotham Series drive unit
JL Audio Fathom Series active subwoofers
Unfathomable sub bass by JL Audio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0rGtHbdMWU#ws
JL Audio - Home Audio Introduction YouTube Video
JL Audio powered subwoofers will unleash the full dynamics of your audio experience.
Our award-winning line up of powered subwoofer systems begins with proprietary subwoofer drivers and amplifier designs, precisely optimized for their intended physical envelopes and design goals. Because of this, they are not limited by which sub-assemblies are openly available on the world market. Instead, each system is fanatically engineered and precision-built in our Miramar, Florida factory to reflect our passion for spectacular audio and product quality.
Gotham®: Your first look will tell you that you are looking at something special... your first listening session will confirm it beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Fathom®: Compact subwoofer systems for those who enjoy demanding program material and will not settle for compromises.
Fathom IWS®: There is no need to lower your expectations when selecting this remarkable in-wall solution... it's a real Fathom®.
E-Sub: These beautifully crafted powered subwoofers offer a compelling combination of high performance and outstanding value.
Dominion: Our latest solutions deliver a unique answer for applications that require a compact, more affordable subwoofer.
Unfathomable sub bass by JL Audio
JL Audio Fathom® v2 Technology -
Dynamic Motor Analysis - DMA Optimized Motor
Summary:
JL Audio's proprietary Dynamic Motor Analysis system is a powerful suite of FEA-based modelling systems, first developed by JL Audio in 1997 and refined over the years to scientifically address the issue of speaker motor linearity. This leads to vastly reduced distortion and faithfully reproduced transients... or put simply: tight, clean, articulate bass.
Detailed Information:
Since 1997, JL Audio has been at the forefront of Finite Element Analysis-based modelling of loudspeaker motors and suspensions. This research is aimed at decoding what we refer to as the "Loudspeaker Genome"... a project aimed at understanding the true behaviour of loudspeakers under power and in motion. A major component of this integrated system is DMA (Dynamic Motor Analysis). Starting with the 15W3 and the W7 Subwoofers in the late 1990's and early 2000's, DMA has played an important role in the design of all JL Audio woofers sold today, including our component woofers.
DMA is a Finite Element Analysis (FEA)-based system, meaning that it takes a large, complex problem, breaks it down into small solution elements for analysis and then assembles the data to form an accurate, "big-picture" solution. DMA's breakthrough is that it actually considers the effects of power through the coil as well as coil/cone position within the framework of a time-domain analysis. This gives us a highly accurate model of a speaker's actual behaviour under real power, something that the traditional Thiele-Small models or other low power measurements cannot do. Because DMA does not rely on a steady-state model, it is able to consider shifts in the circuit elements being analyzed. These modelling routines are intense, requiring hours to run for a whole speaker.
DMA is able to analyse the real effects of fluctuating power and excursion upon the magnetic circuit of the motor, specifically the dynamic variations of the "fixed" magnetic field. This delivers intensely valuable information compared to traditional modelling, which assumes that the "fixed" field produced in the air gap by the magnet and the motor plates is unchanging. DMA not only shows that this "fixed" field changes in reaction to the magnetic field created by current flowing through the voice coil, but it helps our engineers arrive at motor solutions that minimize this instability. Analysing this behaviour is critical to understanding the distortion mechanisms of a speaker motor and sheds light on the aspects of motor design that determine truly linear behaviour:
1. Linear motor force over the speaker's operational excursion range
2. Consistent motor force with both positive and negative current through the coil
3. Consistent motor force at varying applied power levels
Our ability to fully analyse these aspects of motor behaviour allows our transducer engineers to make critical adjustments to motor designs that result in extremely linear, highly stable dynamic loudspeaker motor systems.
The payoff is reduced distortion, improved transient performance and stellar sound quality.
JL Audio CR-1 Active Subwoofer Crossover -
JL Audio's CR-1 Active Subwoofer Crossover is at Musicraft (Derby)
The lucky few who have heard a well-integrated subwoofer in a great audio system know that the subwoofer's effect is profound. While everyone expects the bass extension to improve, most are shocked at the transformation that occurs in the main speakers. They simply open up, delivering improved dynamics, superior imaging and more low-level detail. Many describe it as the greatest speaker upgrade they have ever made.
Over the years, we have calibrated many subwoofer systems in highly critical listening environments, and we have been frustrated by the limitations of active crossovers we have worked with. Tired of struggling with "blunt instruments", we felt that a higher precision tool was needed, so we decided to build it and call it "CR-1". When properly set up, CR-1 creates a listening experience in which the subwoofers and main speakers become one, delivering a cohesive and compelling sonic presentation.
The CR-1 Active Subwoofer Crossover has been designed by audiophiles, for audiophiles. We believe it has no equal, offering a powerful combination of subwoofer/satellite tuning features, and a complete commitment to analogue signal purity.
JL Audio CR-1 Active Subwoofer Crossover UK RRP £3249
JL Audio's CR-1 Active Subwoofer Crossover is at Musicraft (Derby)
http://www.theabsolutesound.com/arti...r-1-crossover/
The Absolute Sound reviews JL Audio's CR-1 Active Subwoofer Crossover
http://www.canadahifi.com/worlds-fir...12-subwoofers/
Canada Hi-Fi reviews JL Audio's CR-1 Active Subwoofer Crossover
http://www.soundstageultra.com/index...ofer-crossover
SoundStage Ultra reviews JL Audio's CR-1 Active Subwoofer Crossover
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCp93wX2naw
rAVe Publications YouTube video - JL Audio R&D engineer Brett Hanes introduces their CR-1 Active Subwoofer Crossover
http://youtu.be/BEQ14UHC3P0
JL Audio's VP of Marketing Manville Smith introduces their CR-1 Active Subwoofer Crossover
JL Audio's CR-1 Active Subwoofer Crossover is at Musicraft (Derby)
JL Audio's CR-1 Active Subwoofer Crossover is at Musicraft (Derby)
CR-1 is built around two banks of precision Linkwitz-Riley low-pass and high-pass filters. Multiplying DACs with monolithic ratio matching are employed to adjust the analogue circuit's filter frequencies. This offers superior tracking behaviour and far more precise left/right channel balance, compared to conventional approaches.
Another of CR-1's unique and powerful features is a pair of rotary controls that control the damping of each filter bank. These damping controls dramatically improve the acoustic summing through the crossover region, by compensating for each speaker system's frequency response. At the center of the front panel, a single intuitive, rotary control permits quick adjustment of the relative level between the subwoofer(s) and main speakers.
To minimize distortion and noise, CR-1 employs top-grade component parts in its all-analogue audio circuitry: 1% precision resistors, JFET-input audio-grade op-amps, polypropylene film-and-foil capacitors and metallized-polypropylene film capacitors, to name just a few. We also build CR-1 right here in the U.S.A., to ensure top quality and dependability.
CR-1's input-output design makes it equally adaptable to studio, mastering suite or audiophile two-channel playback environments. To accommodate dual-mode systems, we also include a bypass feature that engages a pass-through from a dedicated "Managed Bass Input" on the rear panel, to the CR-1's subwoofer outputs. This makes it convenient to switch from two-channel to multi-channel mode.
CR-1 is the ultimate tool for subwoofer integration.
JL Audio E Series drive unit
JL Audio E Series drive unit
JL Audio E Series drive unit
JL Audio E Series drive unit
JL Audio E Series drive unit
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Rick @ Musicraft
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