Everywhere, the general buzz is that tower speakers sound better than subwoofer satellite speakers. Also most companies’ towers sound better than their sub-sat speakers…Yet Lithos designs and manufactures only sub-sat combinations…
At Lithos, we have spent all our years of R&D exploring new ground…and it’s sure been an eye-opener. Our Q-balance technology has been driven by looking beyond making ‘better’ speakers - into human hearing mechanisms, measurement correlations studies and understanding of the complete audio chain - from recording studio to the listeners’ inner ear. The same is true of our philosophy of designing sub-sat combos.
Most high-end companies are caught in the age-old trap of not wanting to step on their own feet. When a smart speaker manufacturing company made waves with their tiny speaker system (the world’s first commercial sub-sat combo) - much to the disappointment of many audiophiles and speaker manufacturers - this company made megabucks again. High-end companies to counter this new wave of intelligent manufacturing, decided to condemn the sub-sat combo very publicly, not really bothering to look into the audiophile / engineering aspect. This public condemnation has been the bane of their existence - and even they have to prove that their own towers will typically sound better than their own sub-sat combos, so the lie goes on… Make no mistake; sub-sat combos from speaker companies are bad.
But not with a Lithos sub-sat. The fact is that many of the world’s best speakers are typically sub- sat combos in themselves. Take the celebrated Wilson Audio WATT- PUPPY system or the Genesis System - 5. Allison, NHT and other high-end companies have been desperately trying to combine the placement of the subwoofer and the mid-high drivers in such a way that they optimize their placement (by putting the woofer in the side panel on the bottom or in altogether different cabinets). These are nothing but attempts to incorporate the best aspects of the sub-sat combo into a tower.
And what about the disadvantages of a sub-sat combo that everybody audiophile talks about? Well, read our comprehensive technical write-up on Lithos sub-sat combos below - and find out for yourself why Lithos sub-sats are the only way to go!!! In addition, in the tradition of Lithos, we back up everything we say and do with publicly available technical theories and engineering methodology - so people can read, analyze and understand - discuss and correspond with us. And like our Q-balance technology - the world’s only ear-fatigue elimination technology, we are going to open your eyes again.
And the ultimate test - listen to our products - you will once and for all learn and understand. As hundreds of customers have already done, and might we add - appreciated to their own pleasant surprise.
1. Optimised placement to make the best of different sound wavelengths.
Anyone in high-end audio knows a single, simple fact. For the speakers to image well - for the mids and highs to sound their best - the speakers should be placed away from the wall boundaries. Yet when speakers are placed away from wall boundaries, the bass weakens, thins out and gets uneven. In other words, the ideal placement for the mids and highs is not always the same for the bass. In most rooms, the bass sounds best, when it is placed nearest to the wall boundaries. When the bass, mid and highs are in the same cabinet, you compromise on the sound of either the bass or the mid-highs, depending on the final placement.
In this respect, the 3-piece combination is the best. The mids and highs can be conveniently placed where they image the best with minimum room reflections (early reflections) and the subwoofer can be placed where it sounds the best - near the corner of the room, in line with the mids and highs.
This optimization is not possible in a tower, as where the mids and highs go, the bass follows - when you try to optimize the bass by putting the speakers near the wall boundaries, you loose out on mid and high clarity.
2. Elimination of Doppler distortion.
Most people, who have done elementary physics, will know of the term Doppler effect. The classic example is of the siren or horn on a moving vehicle, the sound of which increases in pitch as the vehicle heads towards you, and reduces in pitch as it heads away. This is called the Doppler effect, and is true of any body generating sound, if there is relative motion between the generator and listener.
Now consider the sound coming from a woofer in a typical 2-way or 3-way system. The woofer in a two way system generates sound all the way to 3 kHz, while for the bass, it must generate sound only up to 125Hz. The woofer has to vibrate (move) a great deal to generate bass notes from 20Hz to 100Hz. While they are moving, the woofers in these systems also generate midrange sounds. Since these midrange sounds are coming from a moving object - which is moving back and forth - the midrange sound that we hear is subject to Doppler distortion. The sounds we hear from a 3-way system are also the same (since a typical woofer for a 3way system crosses over between 300-500Hz). Thus in typical tower speakers where the woofer is made to generate midrange sounds all the way from 125Hz - 3kHz, these sounds are distorted as per the Doppler effect.
In Lithos sub- sats, the midranges take over all the way from as low as 100Hz. Since bass filters are used below this frequency, there is no visible movement of the midrange to generate sound. As a result and because midrange sounds are only generated from dedicated midrange drivers all the down from 100Hz while the bass is generated solely from the woofers up to 100Hz, the sound from a Lithos Midrange is free from the effects of Doppler distortion…- in other words, cleaner and more natural.
While Doppler distortion takes place in the frequency domain (peak velocity = max distortion), we should be able to measure it in the frequency response tests. Some measurements have shown this distortion also in the phase domain (peak displacement)…and many call this phase modulation distortion…in either case, the solution is to filter bass from the midrange generator, not possible in 2 way bookshelves and most 3-way speakers.
3. Elimination of intermodulation distortion.
Intermodulation is the effect by which, a severely vibrating element (woofer) interferes with and causes sympathetic vibration of the other components (midrange and tweeters) in the same cabinet. When this occurs, the woofer colors / distorts the sound of the midrange and the tweeter by making them vibrate in sympathy.
Intermodulation distortion is a typical pitfall of 2 way and three way towers due to the cabinet size and weakness of large cabinet formats.
In a 3 piece system, the woofer is independent, with it’s own cabinet. The vibrations of the woofer are thus contained in this standalone cabinet. Since the mid and high frequency drivers are housed in completely separate cabinets, they are not sympathetically affected by the vibration of the woofer, thus minimizing Intermodulation distortions.
4. Smaller, more rigid, optimized cabinets.
The bass from a Lithos three-piece system is generated from a cabinet that is optimized for bass reproduction. The cabinet doesn’t generate any other sound. Also this cabinet doesn’t need to house the mids and the highs - typically which have to be at ear level. Placing mids and highs at ear - level increases the size of conventional (2-3way) cabinets - and consequently - reduces rigidity. In a Lithos, the mids and highs are placed in small, well-manufactured monocoque-shell cabinets that are obviously more rigid than large cabinet formats.
The overall price to performance of a Lithos three-piece cabinet system allows for a more rigid, correct and optimized speaker cabinet construction.
5. Fuller, deeper bass.
Perhaps the bane of the 2 - way bookshelf is its lack of any real bass. Now that’s fine if you listen to chamber music for the rest of your days, but at Lithos, we believe that any speaker has to generate a full range sound. That’s another great advantage of the Lithos sub-sat combo. By optimizing bass cabinetry - in well-designed bandpass / isobaric and triple chamber bandpass designs, Lithos speakers generate ample bass. Wall to wall, room filling and clean bass. Now just compare that to you regular 2-way bookshelf or tower where your immediate next upgrade is to buy a powered subwoofer!
6. Pinpoint imaging.
Large cabinets are subject to greater energy storage and diffraction effects - these effects blur the sound image and deter from good imaging. The diffraction effects are minimized from small cabinets that are the exact size of the drivers. (That is why you see many speakers’ cabinets in high-end speakers - read expensive - that taper towards the top - to minimize the size of the cabinet around the drivers). No such problem here with a Lithos 3-piece. Because of small mid-hi cabinets, time alignment and vertical-in-line point source designs - further coupled with matched pairing - the imaging is rock solid and pinpoint.
7. Cost effective.
Making a sub-sat combo system is similar to biting the bullet - or not towing the line. Either way, the passion and high-end philosophy that Lithos incorporates in it’s models allows us to develop cost effective - and practical high end solutions for the consumer Yes, there are stereo tower speakers that do things right - there have to be - but at what cost??? At Lithos, we can for sure say that note for note - A Lithos speaker will give you better sound than speakers - towers or otherwise - that cost double - if not three times as much.
8. Making good products cheap - now that’s the real challenge!
We have always maintained it is relatively easy for a world-class design / manufacturing company to make products sound good on a cost - no - object basis. Use better input materials, high-end drivers, make cabinets of cement / steel and what have you…use expensive crossover components - and use the same design expertise - you will get a better sounding speaker…But try doing the same thing, when you want to price everything practically, and make your products affordable. We have applied the passion and knowledge of high end speaker design, coupled with our Q-balance crossovers and our sub-sat systems and have developed world-class high-end sound at affordable prices.
9. Phase problems in 3-piece systems.
Many audiophiles think that because the subwoofer and satellite in a 3-piece system are in different positions, phase differences are generated between the 2, causing uneven sound reproduction. Though this may be theoretically correct, practically, this couldn’t be more from the truth. The wavelength of a bass note (from 20Hz - 100Hz) ranges from 17m to 3.4m. This, coupled with the fact that bass is hugely omni-directional, means that these wavelengths interact with the room before they interact with anything else - the other drivers or the listener. In fact, our studies and listening tests show that for below 150Hz, the type of room mostly dictates the sound of the bass. In other words, the positioning of the bass in your room is more critical than the phasing between the bass and the mid-hi driver - all the way up to 150Hz. So it’s important too work the bass into the right position, rather than worry about phase. No wonder, high-end companies today, have their bass drivers in the side cabinet at the bottom, and the mid-highs in the front at the top! Desperately trying to optimize, you got it - room interaction, not phase!
