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Bowers And Wilkins
Bowers & Wilkins, commonly known as B&W, is a British company that produces consumer and professional loudspeakers and headphones. B&W was founded in 1966 by John Bowers in Worthing, West Sussex, England. In October 2020, B&W was acquired by Sound United, a holding company who owns several other audio brands. Technology, research and development Research and development has been a core activity within B&W, stimulated and exercised by its founder John Bowers (1922–1987). From the start of the company, earnings were invested in new product development. In 1982 the company opened a dedicated, purpose-built research centre titled 'SRE' or 'Steyning Research Establishment' in Steyning, about 10 miles from Worthing. The buildings were fit for audio-related work since they were previously used by SME, the English tonearm designer who felt the downturn in tonearm sales due to the introduction of the new digital media CD. SRE housed a prototype shop and listening rooms, ranging fro ...
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Consumer Electronics
Consumer electronics or home electronics are electronic (analog or digital) equipment intended for everyday use, typically in private homes. Consumer electronics include devices used for entertainment, communications and recreation. Usually referred to as black goods due to many products being housed in black or dark casings. This term is used to distinguish them from "white goods" which are meant for housekeeping tasks, such as washing machines and refrigerators, although nowadays, these would be considered black goods, some of these being connected to the Internet. In British English, they are often called brown goods by producers and sellers. In the 2010s, this distinction is absent in large big box consumer electronics stores, which sell entertainment, communication and home office devices, light fixtures and appliances, including the bathroom type. Radio broadcasting in the early 20th century brought the first major consumer product, the broadcast receiver. Later produc ...
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Anechoic Chamber
An anechoic chamber (''an-echoic'' meaning "non-reflective") is a room designed to stop reflections of either sound or electromagnetic waves. They are also often isolated from energy entering from their surroundings. This combination means that a person or detector exclusively hears direct sounds (no reflected sounds), in effect simulating being outside in a free field. Anechoic chambers, a term coined by American acoustics expert Leo Beranek, were initially exclusively used to refer to acoustic anechoic chambers. Recently, the term has been extended to other RF and Sonar anechoic chambers, which eliminate reflection and external noise caused by electromagnetic waves. Anechoic chambers range from small compartments the size of household microwave ovens to ones as large as aircraft hangars. The size of the chamber depends on the size of the objects and frequency ranges being tested. Acoustic anechoic chambers The requirement for what was subsequently called an anechoic ...
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Bass Reflex
A bass reflex system (also known as a ported, vented box or reflex port) is a type of loudspeaker enclosure that uses a port (hole) or vent cut into the cabinet and a section of tubing or pipe affixed to the port. This port enables the sound from the rear side of the diaphragm to increase the efficiency of the system at low frequencies as compared to a typical sealed- or closed-box loudspeaker or an infinite baffle mounting. A ''reflex port'' is the distinctive feature of this popular enclosure type. The design approach enhances the reproduction of the lowest frequencies generated by the woofer or subwoofer. The port generally consists of one or more tubes or pipes mounted in the front ( baffle) or rear face of the enclosure. Depending on the exact relationship between driver parameters, the enclosure volume (and filling if any), and the tube cross-section and length, the efficiency can be substantially improved over the performance of a similarly-sized sealed-box enclosure. Ex ...
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Fibre-reinforced Plastic
Fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP; also called fibre-reinforced polymer, or in American English ''fiber'') is a composite material made of a polymer matrix reinforced with fibres. The fibres are usually glass (in fibreglass), carbon (in carbon-fibre-reinforced polymer), aramid, or basalt. Rarely, other fibres such as paper, wood, or asbestos have been used. The polymer is usually an epoxy, vinyl ester, or polyester thermosetting plastic, though phenol formaldehyde resins are still in use. FRPs are commonly used in the aerospace, automotive, marine, and construction industries. They are commonly found in ballistic armour and cylinders for self-contained breathing apparatuses. Process definition A polymer is generally manufactured by step-growth polymerization or addition polymerization. When combined with various agents to enhance or in any way alter the material properties of polymers, the result is referred to as a plastic. Composite plastics refers to those types of plastic ...
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Horn Loudspeaker
A horn loudspeaker is a loudspeaker or loudspeaker element which uses an horn (acoustic), acoustic horn to increase the overall efficiency of the driving element(s). A common form ''(right)'' consists of a compression driver which produces sound waves with a small metal diaphragm vibrated by an electromagnet, attached to a horn, a flaring duct to conduct the sound waves to the open air. Another type is a woofer driver mounted in a loudspeaker enclosure which is divided by internal partitions to form a zigzag flaring duct which functions as a horn; this type is called a ''folded horn'' speaker. The horn serves to improve the coupling efficiency between the speaker driver and the air. The horn can be thought of as an "acoustic transformer" that provides impedance matching between the relatively density, dense diaphragm material and the less-dense air. The result is greater acoustic output power from a given driver. The narrow part of the horn next to the driver is called the "throat" ...
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Dipole Speaker
A dipole speaker enclosure in its simplest form is constructed by mounting a loudspeaker driver on a flat panel. The panel may be folded to conserve space. The term dipole derives from the fact that the polar response consists of two lobes, with equal radiation forwards and backwards, and none perpendicular to the axis. (By comparison a ''monopole'' response consists of one lobe.) This can be useful in reducing the stimulation of resonant room modes at low frequencies. It also results in high frequencies being reflected from any rear wall, which can enhance the naturalness of the sound in typical listening rooms by creating more diffuse reverberation, though in theory it could detract from stereo localization. For this reason dipole speakers are often used as surround channel speakers, where a diffuse sound is desired to create ambience. A dipole speaker works by creating air movement (as sound pressure waves) directly from the front and back surfaces of the driver, rather ...
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Tweeter
A tweeter or treble speaker is a special type of loudspeaker (usually dome, inverse dome or horn-type) that is designed to produce high audio frequencies, typically deliver high frequencies up to 100 kHz. The name is derived from the high pitched sounds made by some birds (tweets), especially in contrast to the low woofs made by many dogs, after which low-frequency drivers are named (woofers). Operation Nearly all tweeters are electrodynamic drivers using a voice coil suspended within a fixed magnetic field. These designs operate by applying current from the output of an amplifier circuit to a coil of wire called a voice coil. The voice coil produces a varying magnetic field, which works against the fixed magnetic field of a permanent magnet around which the cylindrical voice coil is suspended, forcing the voice coil and the diaphragm attached to it to move. This mechanical movement resembles the waveform of the electronic signal supplied from the amplifier's output ...
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Damping Ratio
Damping is an influence within or upon an oscillatory system that has the effect of reducing or preventing its oscillation. In physical systems, damping is produced by processes that dissipate the energy stored in the oscillation. Examples include viscous drag (a liquid's viscosity can hinder an oscillatory system, causing it to slow down; see viscous damping) in mechanical systems, resistance in electronic oscillators, and absorption and scattering of light in optical oscillators. Damping not based on energy loss can be important in other oscillating systems such as those that occur in biological systems and bikes (ex. Suspension (mechanics)). Not to be confused with friction, which is a dissipative force acting on a system. Friction can cause or be a factor of damping. The damping ratio is a dimensionless measure describing how oscillations in a system decay after a disturbance. Many systems exhibit oscillatory behavior when they are disturbed from their position of sta ...
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Composite Material
A composite material (also called a composition material or shortened to composite, which is the common name) is a material which is produced from two or more constituent materials. These constituent materials have notably dissimilar chemical or physical properties and are merged to create a material with properties unlike the individual elements. Within the finished structure, the individual elements remain separate and distinct, distinguishing composites from mixtures and solid solutions. Typical engineered composite materials include: *Reinforced concrete and masonry *Composite wood such as plywood *Reinforced plastics, such as fibre-reinforced polymer or fiberglass *Ceramic matrix composites ( composite ceramic and metal matrices) *Metal matrix composites *and other advanced composite materials There are various reasons where new material can be favoured. Typical examples include materials which are less expensive, lighter, stronger or more durable when compared with commo ...
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Speaker Cone
In the field of acoustics, a diaphragm is a transducer intended to inter-convert mechanical vibrations to sounds, or vice versa. It is commonly constructed of a thin membrane or sheet of various materials, suspended at its edges. The varying air pressure of sound waves imparts mechanical vibrations to the diaphragm which can then be converted to some other type of signal; examples of this type of diaphragm are found in microphones and the human eardrum. Conversely a diaphragm vibrated by a source of energy beats against the air, creating sound waves. Examples of this type of diaphragm are loudspeaker cones and earphone diaphragms and are found in air horns. Loudspeaker In a dynamic loudspeaker, a diaphragm is the thin, semi-rigid membrane attached to the voice coil, which moves in a magnetic gap, vibrating the diaphragm, and producing sound. It can also be called a cone, though not all speaker diaphragms are cone-shaped. Diaphragms are also found in headphones. Quality midran ...
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Kevlar
Kevlar (para-aramid) is a strong, heat-resistant synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed by Stephanie Kwolek at DuPont in 1965, the high-strength material was first used commercially in the early 1970s as a replacement for steel in racing tires. It is typically spun into ropes or fabric sheets that can be used as such, or as an ingredient in composite material components. Kevlar has many applications, ranging from bicycle tires and racing sails to bulletproof vests, all due to its high tensile strength-to-weight ratio; by this measure it is five times stronger than steel. It is also used to make modern marching drumheads that withstand high impact; and for mooring lines and other underwater applications. A similar fiber called Twaron with the same chemical structure was developed by Akzo in the 1970s; commercial production started in 1986, and Twaron is now manufactured by Teijin. History Poly-paraphenylene terephthalamide (K2 ...
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Morten Villiers Warren
Morten Villiers Warren (born 1967) is a British industrial designer. Warren founded Native Design, a design and innovation company, in 1998 and remains the principal creative and CEO. Education Warren attended Kingston University (1985–1988) completing a BA in Furniture Design. Warren is a member of the IDSA and has countless patents to his name. He spoke and represented the British Council at numerous design conferences, including Beijing China, Essen Germany, Mumbai India and São Paulo Brazil. Career Prior to founding Native, Warren was a principal designer at Bowers & Wilkins between 1989 and 1992. He was responsible for the loudspeaker brand Solid. He has worked for Philippe Starck as well as Aldo Cibic in Milan. At Native, Warren oversees product and user experience for a range of sectors, including medical, automotive, FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods), and consumer electronics. Native's clients include Anheuser-Busch InBev, Audi, Bang & Olufsen, Baxter Internati ...
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