User Guide

Table Of Contents

To get the best from your loudspeakers, it’s important to make sure the amplier

you are using is up to the job. Several factors have to be considered, and it’s

worth clarifying what they mean and how they affect the performance of a

loudspeaker.

Loudspeakers tend to be quantied using Watts, but this is purely a measure

of the amount of power a loudspeaker can take at its input over time, and not

necessarily a measurement of how loud it might go.

Optimal Audio loudspeaker power handling is therefore quoted as Watts (AES)

and Watts (Peak), Peak delivering 6dB(SPL) acoustic output higher than AES

(AES2-2012 standard) and referring to the loudest transients a loudspeaker can

handle without distortion.

In Watts, this means that the peak power handling of a Cuboid 8 for example is

800W, four times its continuous power handling of 200W.

So, give a Cuboid 8 200W of continuous power and you will get 115dB(SPL)

out of it if you are standing 1m away from it. It will however be able to deliver

transient peaks in the audio signal at 121dB(SPL(@1m)) without distortion or

damage.

What this all means is that for the best performance from your loudspeaker,

make sure you have an amplier that is capable of delivering more than a

loudspeaker’s rated AES power handling ability at the nominal impedence of

the loudspeaker – 8 Ohms in the case of all Cuboid speakers. A 200W amplier

will deliver 115dB(SPL) from a Cuboid 8 and nothing more, but a more powerful

amplier will have the headroom to deliver short musical transients at higher

levels, thereby ensuring that faithful reproduction of the program material is

maintained.

Matching Speakers and Amplifiers

12/16

Cuboid

Loudspeakers

USER GUIDE

Introduction

Overview

Wall mounting

Horn rotation

Ceiling

mounting

Connecting up

Matching

speakers and

amps

Safety

information