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Math and physics guarantee results
The image above is of work being done at the very top of the Empire State Building to direct the flow of radio waves. This is not done willy-nilly, as there is a type of mathematics that can show what must happen at the source (upstream), to get the right result downstream.
Fortunately, it can also be used to determine how sonic energy must be launched from a speaker, but only if we know what energy is required to appear next to our ears.
You'd think our eardrums would like to receive the natural sounds of live instruments and voices, but that's never going to happen because of how microphones 'hear' and from their unnatural positions near each artist. But we can say with assurance that we'd like the recorded waveform delivered to our ears uncorrupted by the speaker, modified only by the addition of our room's echoes (which the engineer expected).
Looking at the complex waveform of music on a `scope or computer, it's virtually impossible to tell what wiggle belongs to exactly what sound. We can use a computer or spectrum analyzer to break that complex wave into many different pure tones (sine waves) that come and go with different loudnesses and timings. Therefore, to re-construct that original wave, both the loudnesses and the timings of those individual tones must be reproduced. At your ear. Most all speakers scramble the timings because that's something extraordinarily difficult to avoid, because of crossover circuits and the limits of woofers and tweeters. And so they sound "like speakers" or worse, hurt your ears.
Our goal is perfect timing and loudnesses over at your ear. Together, those guarantee you will hear the most emotion, the sharpest images, proper timbres (textures) and best tone balances from any recording.
Given that we hear only when our eardrums move, under the impact of the air molecules right next to them, then our goal really is to move those particular molecules the correct sub-microscopic distances at the right times. Each molecule knows only that it was hit from behind, and so on... all the way back to the speaker. Which is where the math comes into play.
The physics of sound
Those math equations are called Green's Functions, and can tell us how the speaker must initiate the very first molecular collisions in front of its cones and domes, far from your ears. The math also tells us the size, shape and number of the speaker's drivers, along with their power handling and the tone range each must cover. The math can be adapted to determine the shape, size, and curvatures of the enclosures around each driver. When coupled with the principles of psychoacoustics, the math also tells us where to place the drivers in space.
We also found a way to use this math to guide our Balanced-Phase™ crossover circuit technology, by showing how to compare and contrast close-up microphone readings with what is heard out in the room.
Those measurements only get us close to the required result because they are limited by the resolution of any measuring system and the length of soundwaves. Our designer discovered a way to use the predictions the math makes regarding what the sound should be heard when perfectly combined at the ear to guide his final listening tests, achieving an audibly singular focus to the sound.
This refinement allowed him to then easily hear the clarity and dynamic accuracies of all the raw parts that make up a speaker. From the capacitors and wires to the drivers and cabinet materials, certain parts clearly stand out from others in their ability to transmit the small inflections that are the essence of musical expression. While those characteristics cannot be measured, they are clearly audible from any recording when those other aspects of the speaker's design have first been addressed.
While we admit his approach -- using applied physics and psycho-acoustic knowledge -- is unique, it is not unusual. Radio and television engineers use Green's Functions to deliver energy by first mapping the terrain of your area. They know that will alter your signal's strength and other parameters you require, and they use that information for their Green's Functions to determine the orientation and polarity of the electromagnetic field that must be generated by their antenna.
In speaker design, this approach results in speakers with predictable behaviors across a range of listener distances in the expected environments.
The result? You hear what we hear -- the smallest inflections of music, the slightest sound effects, the grandest dynamic expressions, the subtle sways and surges, ever-changing timbres and full range of emotions. You will hear all of the messages, all the time.
What is Time-coherent Sound? - How We Engineer It