Abstract

Equalization of loudspeakers and enclosed sound fields has been a topic of considerable interest for decades. Confusion has often arisen among audio professionals regarding the feasibility of simultaneously equalizing a loudspeaker and the enclosed field (i.e., the “room”) it excites. Because of frustrations encountered in such efforts, some have advocated abandoning simultaneous equalization altogether. This dissertation discusses the drawbacks of this approach as well as traditional in situ equalization methods. It demonstrates that many problems with traditional equalization stem from the use of measured acoustic pressure at a discrete point in a sound field as the system output. The dissertation presents analytical models and experiments involving the equalization of loudspeakers and both one-dimensional and three-dimensional sound fields. Equalization using total energy density at a point in either a one-dimensional or three-dimensional field produces better global equalization of the pressure field. In the one-dimensional case, it allows simultaneous correction of spectral loudspeaker and global sound-field response anomalies in a nearly optimal sense.

Degree

PhD

College and Department

Physical and Mathematical Sciences; Physics and Astronomy

Rights

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