Specifications

M&K Sales Training Outline
page 16
May 98
http://www.mksound.com
Small cabinet and front baffle
sizes mean sharper imaging
and less coloration than
large speakers
Midrange and high frequencies sound best when the speakers pro-
ducing them are mounted on the smallest possible baffle (as long as
the backward sound radiated from the driver is contained and ab-
sorbed, as in an acoustically stuffed sealed box). For this reason,
M&K Satellites have just about the minimum baffle necessary to mount
their drivers. This helps to provide the sharp detail and clarity M&K
Satellites are famous for.
On a large baffle, signals from the tweeter and woofer drivers travel
on its surface until they reach a cabinet edge. There they radiate into
the room—but time delayed in comparison to the direct signal coming
from the drivers. When these time-delayed signals reach your ear,
the sound becomes jumbled, with a loss of clarity and imaging, lead-
ing to the “canned” unnatural sound of conventional speakers.
With diffraction distortion reduced or eliminated, M&K Satellites have
much sharper imaging (which some have described as "holographic")
and detail.
Virtually all M&K Satellite cabinets are either trapezoidal in shapes
or have non-parallel walls. This is done to optimize sound in the criti-
cal midbass and midrange regions.
A trapezoid shape is used for the S-5000THX and SS-150THX. These
cabinets do not have the typical midbass irregularity of conventional
boxes that is caused by comb filtering. Precise angles were opti-
mized through time-domain measurements.
The trapezoidal cabinet shape also improves sound quality by mini-
mizing coloration caused by the energy produced by the back side of
the speaker cones by affecting the internal modes. Overall, the trap-
ezoidal cabinet reduces coloration and produces much flatter response
through the critical midbass region.
Other models (S-150THX, S-125, and S-85) are designed in mirror-
imaged pairs (with a separate center-channel design), using front
baffles angled to provide an automatic toe-in. For front channel use
this improves stereo imaging. When these speakers are used in the
surround channels, this angle can help to increase the diffuse nature
of the surround channel by reflecting sound off the side or rear walls.
Further significant sonic improvement comes from the fact that the
small left and right cabinet side walls are also non-parallel, meaning
that the only parallel surfaces of the cabinet are its top and bottom.
Satellite Speaker Cabinets & Treatments
Trapezoidal cabinets
and cabinets with
non-parallel walls
for optimum
sound quality