Engineering
Engineering notes
Short technical papers on loudspeaker physics and system design: the mechanisms behind the specifications, written for engineers and system designers.
August 2026 · 6 min read
Cardioid subwoofer arrays: putting low-frequency energy where the audience is
A subwoofer on its own radiates in every direction, and at low frequencies walls and stages offer no shelter. This note explains how driving front and rear sections with controlled delay and polarity produces a cardioid pattern, and what that buys on stage, off site and in the audience.
Read the note SS-EN-006
August 2026 · 7 min read
Speech intelligibility in reverberant rooms, and what a loudspeaker can do about it
Music forgives a reverberant room; speech does not. This note explains where intelligibility lives in the speech signal, how reverberant energy destroys it, why the Speech Transmission Index is the measure that matters, and which loudspeaker properties actually move it.
Read the note SS-EN-007
August 2026 · 5 min read
Repeatable rigging geometry: why the hang must match the prediction
Array prediction software commits a design to specific splay angles before the truck is packed. This note explains why the mechanical rigging must reproduce those angles exactly, what detented hardware contributes, and why captive components matter at load-in.
Read the note SS-EN-008
August 2026 · 5 min read
Networked control and monitoring: knowing what every amplifier is doing
At show scale the amplifiers are distributed, busy and invisible. This note explains what continuous monitoring of gain, delay, limiter activity and faults changes about operating a system, and how SNet carries control alongside networked audio on one infrastructure.
Read the note SS-EN-009
August 2026 · 6 min read
Why line arrays curve: splay angles and the shape of an audience
A straight column throws a beam; an audience is not shaped like a beam. This note explains how cylindrical spreading changes the level-versus-distance law, why arrays are curved at all, and how splay angles distribute energy from the front row to the back wall.
Read the note SS-EN-010
August 2026 · 8 min read
Reading loudspeaker specifications: the conditions behind the numbers
An SPL figure without its measurement conditions is not a specification. This note explains the conventions professional data sheets use for sensitivity, maximum SPL, power ratings and subwoofer figures, and how to compare numbers between manufacturers without being misled.
Read the note SS-EN-004
August 2026 · 5 min read
Amplifier loading: why cabinets per channel is a designed number
How many cabinets one amplifier drives is set by section impedance, and section impedance is a design decision. This note walks the arithmetic connecting driver impedance, parallel loading and amplifier capability, and explains why different SSOUNDS series make different choices.
Read the note SS-EN-003
August 2026 · 6 min read
Phase-linear crossovers and the coherence of the impulse response
Conventional crossovers rotate phase around every crossover point, spreading a transient's energy in time exactly where two ways must sum. This note explains the mechanism, the audible consequence, and the FIR implementation behind PhaseTrue.
Read the note SS-EN-005
August 2026 · 6 min read
Power compression, and why loudspeakers change sound as they heat
Voice-coil temperature rises with drive level, resistance rises with temperature, and sensitivity falls with resistance. The result is a loudspeaker whose tonal balance at show level is not the balance it was tuned to at soundcheck. This note quantifies the mechanism and describes the compensation approach behind DynaControl.
Read the note SS-EN-001
August 2026 · 7 min read
Coherent wavefront summation in line-source high-frequency sections
A line array only behaves as a line source if its high-frequency sections couple into one continuous wavefront. This note explains the physics of coherent summation, the role of the waveguide mouth, and what the IsoPhase geometry is designed to achieve.
Read the note SS-EN-002
Each note is issued as a referenced document and can be saved as a PDF from its page. Requests for topics, and questions the notes raise, are welcome at support@s-soundspro.com.