ASCENDO Immersive Audio will debut a new loudspeaker at CEDIA Expo, built around full-range composite radiating surface technology.
Developed for the demands of immersive cinema, the Panoramic Surface On-Wall speaker addresses the increasingly narrow radiation patterns that occur as frequency rises.
The company says that, while conventional cone drivers, dome tweeters, compression drivers, and waveguide systems can be optimised to manage this behaviour, they cannot eliminate the physical tendency of high frequencies to beam.
ASCENDO adds that this limitation is particularly consequential for surround and height channels in immersive cinemas, prompting the development of its new proprietary speaker technology.
The Panoramic Surface On-Wall speaker aims to create a believable acoustic environment around the listener, with consistent tonal balance and spatial information across multiple seats.
According to ASCENDO, this extends to nearly 180 degrees into the high-frequency range, up to 20 kHz.
The company says, as a result, a listener seated closer to a surround or height speaker will experience less of a perceived loudness increase than with traditional designs.
It also claims the design can reduce front-boundary SBIR (speaker-boundary interference response), what it says is a common issue with angled or off-surface-mounted loudspeakers.
Geoffrey Heinzel, co-managing partner of ASCENDO, said: “We don’t take an existing loudspeaker concept and force it into an application it was never designed to serve.
“We start with what the acoustic environment actually requires and engineer the solution around those demands.”
ASCENDO will demonstrate Panoramic Surface and its latest immersive audio technologies at the show in a scalable home cinema system.
This will be delivered alongside Sound Room 10 partners AcustiMOD, Christie, madVR Labs, Moovia, Storm Audio, and Seymour-Screen Excellence.