XAMk 4

A World Class High Resolution Controlled Periodicity Monitor Speaker

Extended Frequency Response
+ /- 3 dB 20 to 20,000 Hz

Minimum Amplitude Periodicity
Smooth Phase Response
Minimum Phase Periodicity

Superb Transient Attack & Detail
Assymetric Crossovers & Source Alignment

Optional Room Response/Ambience Speaker
May be used to smooth room
response and augment ambience

Excellent Stereo Fusion, Fill & Depth
From Dayton Wright Design Techniques

Continuing (in a more serious vein) with our development of loudspeaker systems employing our proprietary Controlled Periodicity Design techniques, the XAM-4 Monitor Loudspeaker combines very wide and smooth amplitude response with unusually smooth phase response, superb transient attack, good efflclency and much higher power handling than the LCM-l's In a unit which also has remarkable stereo fusion, stereo Imaging, and depth of the stereo Image.

            This has been achieved through our employment of computer algorythms which emulate the process of audio perception, to process Amplitude/frequency response measurements made In our laboratory.  These programs help to reveal why It Is that many other loudspeaker designs while achieving flat phase response and low distortion do not sound entirely satisfactory because of Inherent coloration and poor stereo Imaging.  The result Is that these other speakers do not begin to produce an acceptable sense of realism.  The Insight provided by these computer analyses has allowed us either to modify or eliminate many design elements that actually degrade the listener's perception of sound by Introducing masking effects.  These artefacts, while subtle, nevertheless prevent the listener from perceiving properly scaled, tightly fused stereo, not to mention diminishing the amount of musical detail and texture that could otherwise be heard.  These masking effects also cause listening fatique and prevent a fully satisfactory enjoyment of the music Itself!

            Why should this be important to the listener?  Simply that foreverydesign there Is only a certain amount of timeand money.  It has been said that while the actual design of the parts of a speaker (drivers, crossover, cabinet, etc.) Is pretty much of a straightforward engineering tasks, but the decision of just how much time, effort and funds to spend on each of those elements Is the art of speaker design.  It is often very attractive to spend far too much of the resources on those aspects of a design which make for public Interest or which are of special Interest to the designer himself.  It should be no surprise that there are fads in design, but that Is to be expected when most designers spend much of their time wonderIng what thecompetition Is doing!  The scientific studyof allocation of resources lscalled Value Analysis, but It really means getting the biggest bang for the buck!  Therefore, It is very Important to concentrate resources on the really important elements of a loudspeaker design.  And that's what we have been doing at the Dayton Wright Group.

            The result is a speaker system which has been optimized for perception as well as for the more common concepts of flat response and low distortion.  What does this mean to the listener?

            Properly set up and used with good quality associated equipment and distortion-free source material, the XAM-4's will vanish from the sound field!  Now we recognize that this sounds presumptuous, and that there are some very real problems In set ting up a speaker system in the typical listening room.  We have tried to provide some flexibility here through the incorporation of an ambience speaker in the XAM-4.  Under proper conditions, this unit will not have to be used.  But, for example, consider the room with uneven and assymetric amplitude response.  While the normal reaction would be to equalize the speakers In an attempt to correct for the room, wejudge the response of the speaker primarily on the "first arriving sound front"; equalizing for unbalanced ambience should notthusbedonetothewholespeaker.  But, by incorporating a driver aimed to the upper rear of the speaker, much of the room can be excited by that speaker; judicious equalization of that speaker can serve to smooth the response of the listening room without compromising the sound of the main speaker.  Other rooms may be too "dry" sounding, and the caref ul use of one of the several ambience or time-delay units togetherwith the ambience driver can "open" up the room considerably.  Even the use of the ambience drivers connected in series across the "hot" leads of the power amplifier (with a resistor In series) can enhance an otherwise poor listening room.  This system Is similarto theonewe pioneered In our Model 15 back In 1979.  But we found that to make It work really well,

            We had to be sure ihat the listener's ear could lock onto the basic speaker first; artificial ambience enhancement can degrade the stereo Image quite badly If It Is not used with discretion and If the basic speakerdoes not haveexcelient stereofusion Initially!

            The XAM-4 Incorporates a sturdy sub-woofer that may be fed, If desired, from a separate power amplifier.  And the XAM-4 Is provided with threaded inserts which will accept either the standard screw-in glides or the rug-piercing points that are also provided.

YET ANOTHER WORD OF WARNING:

            While the XAM-4 loudspeakers are small enough to avoid most of the marriagedisruptive factors of our IBCM-l's, you may well find yourself spending so much time in listening to your recordings that you might just forget to eat, sleep or go to work to earn the money to pay our dealers for the XAM-4's and, needless to say, this would make our dealers unhappy.  So better you save up and buy the speakers before you take them home to the rest of your system.
 

SPECIFICATIONS

Finish:           Black Grille Cloth

Physical:       Height 122 cm (48 ins.)
                       Width  28 cm (1 1 ins.)
                       Depth 40 cm (16 ins.)
                       Weight 37 kg (80 lbs.)

 Drivers:        Sub-woofer  1) 25.5 cm (10 ins.)
                       Main             1) 15 cm (6 ins.)
                                            1) 2.5 cm (1 in.)
                                            1) 1.5 cm (.6 ins.)

                       Ambience:    1)  15 cm (6 ins.)
 
 

 Crossover:  Assymetric 1 00 Hz, 4,300 Hz, 11,000 Hz
 

 Impedance:  Minimum 4 ohm, Nominal 5.3 ohm
 
 

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© 1984, 1999 Wright Electroacoustics
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

© 1980, 1999 Wright Electroacoustics

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