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1. Full Range Operation

The most significant advantage of				full range of frequencies. Instead, these		a division of the complex musical signal
Martin-Logan's exclusive transducer				drivers must be designed to operate		into the separate pieces (usually highs,
technology reveals itself when you look				within narrow, fixed bandwidths of the		mids, and lows) that each specific
at examples of other loudspeaker				frequency range and then combined		driver was designed to handle. Unfortu-
products on the market today.				electrically so that the sum of the parts		nately, due to the phase relationships
The MONOLITH III uses no crossover				equals the total signal. While nice in		that occur within all crossover networks
				theory, we must deal with real-world		and during the acoustical recombina-
networks above 125 Hz because they are				conditions.		tion process, nonlinearities and severe
not needed. The MONOLITH III consists						degradation of the music signal takes
of a single, seamless electrostatic				In order to use multiple drivers, a		place in the ear's most "critical zone".
membrane reproducing all	frequencies			crossover network is enlisted to attempt		See Figure 10.
above 125 Hz simultane-
ously. How is this possible?							The MONOLITH III's electro-
First we must understand that				Conventional Loudspeaker			static transducer can single-
							handedly reproduce all
music is not composed of							frequencies above 100 Hz
separate high, mid and low				Tweeter			simultaneously. So, you
frequency pieces. In fact, music					Critical Zone		have, in one transducer, the
is comprised of a single complex							ability to handle, in elegant
				Midrange	250 - 20kHz
waveform with all frequencies							simplicity, the critical
interacting simultaneously.							frequencies above 100 Hz.
The electrostatic transducer				Woofer			The crossover phase
of the Monolith essentially							discontinuities that are
acts as an exact opposite of				Martin-Logan	MONOLITH III		associated with traditional
the microphones used to							tweeter, midrange, and
record the original event. A							woofer systems are elimi-
microphone, which is a				MONOLITH III			nated. This results in a
single working element,				Electrostatic	Critical Zone		dramatic improvement in
transforms acoustic energy				Transducer	250 - 20kHz		imaging and staging
into an electrical signal that							performance due to the
can be amplified or pre-							minutely accurate phase
served by some type of							relationship of the full-range
				Woofer
storage media. The MONO-							panel wave launch.
LITH III's electrostatic trans-
ducer transforms electrical		Figure 10. Illustrates how a conventional speaker system
energy from your amplifier
		must use a crossover network that has negative affects
into acoustical energy.		on the musical performance unlike the MONOLITH III which
Due to the limitations of			needs no crossover networks in the "critical zone".
electromagnetic drivers, no

single unit can reproduce the

Page26 Monolith III User's Manual