Three demonstrations daily introduced listeners to the passively crossed over 24C and 24C-E column loudspeakers from the new xC-Series; fixed installation products aimed squarely at speech reinforcement in demanding acoustic spaces. This Series is specifically intended for the kind of highly reverberant environments where conquering acoustic challenges must balance with aesthetic considerations.
The xC-Series also includes the 16C, a smaller column using four 4" low/mid drivers plus a centrally mounted constant directivity HF horn with 0.75" compression driver. The 24C contains six 4" low/mid drivers and a HF array of six 1.1" dome tweeters. Passive filtering of the 4" drivers minimises unwanted lobes in the vertical plane and adds an approximate five degree downward tilt to the low/mid frequency dispersion. When attached to 24C, the 24C-E cardioid column extension, with a further six 4" low/mid drivers, increases the vertical directivity control by another full octave. Drawing on vast experience in passive loudspeaker design, d&b has developed column loudspeakers with effective horizontal dispersion control. This unique cardioid approach produces constant directivity in the horizontal plane with a broadband attenuation to the rear of 18 dB. Effective horizontal pattern control reduces unwanted reflections and allows increased gain before feedback when working with open microphones; characteristics virtually unknown for column loudspeakers.
Suspended in the centre of the demo room, a rotating combination of the 24C and 24C-E clearly demonstrated a unique horizontal dispersion control, while a pair of 24Cs were used to variously reproduce the presenter's voice, play recorded speech and ultimately, combined with a 27S subwoofer from the xS-Series, full range music programme.
Column loudspeakers with high directivity are a typical solution for reverberant spaces such as lecture halls and houses of worship, yet the xC-Series is a departure from the commonplace; natural, clear and transparent sound are d&b bywords, the xC-Series is no different.
"Introducing these products at ISE has been very exciting," commented Marcus Bäumler, Product Manager. "The feedback from visitors to the booth and demo room has been phenomenal."
