Snell Acoustics SR30THX Unique Cabinet Design, Speaker Elements, Hand-TunedCrossover, Connectors

F E AT U R E S O F T H E S R 30 T H X S U R R O U N D

Unique Cabinet Design

A sealed enclosure above and a unique matrix array below project sound in three distinct polar patterns. The truss panel bottom reduces the detrimental effects of standing waves within the cabinet.

Speaker Elements

Three 1-inch aluminum-dome tweeters cover frequencies above 3kHz. Two 3.5-inch (89mm) extended-range drivers are responsible for frequencies between 400Hz and 3kHz. One omnidirectional 6.5-inch (135mm) dual-voice coil bass unit handles all frequencies from 60Hz to 400Hz.

Hand-Tuned Crossover

The filter network is optimized to provide a smooth and flat power response in diffuse mode. Each crossover is tuned by our technicians to 0.5dB of the Master Reference, assuring pre- dictable performance in your home. Furthermore, a sophisticated switching network enables the SR30THX to perform in any application.

Mounts to Walls

Our unique locking bracket keeps the SR30THX securely mounted to walls. One person can install the SR30THX simply, securely, and easily.

Family of Sound Connectors

The SR30THX ’s are tuned with a flat, optimized power response, to match the spectral balance of Snell front speakers. The use of common Snell driver units and careful optimization provide a direct mode frequency response that is an excellent match with Snell front speakers.

Five-way gold-plated binding posts allow quick connection to speaker cables and connections. Furthermore, removable jumpers accommodate the use of SR30THX in 7.1 channel applications, now or for future system upgrades.

H O W T O P L A C E YO U R S R 30 T H X S U R R O U N D S

Theory of Operation Placement

Today, surround speakers are called upon to do one of two disparate tasks. For some movies, you may want a surround to create an all-enveloping diffuse field. Sound should arrive

at your two ears by bouncing numerous times off of all your listening room walls.

Conversely, with multichannel music, you may want the musical stage to widen beyond the front speakers by having a spread of five near-identical speakers over a semicircular arc around you.

You may want movie effects to pan solidly off the screen and to the sides. This demands the side speakers to be well matched to your front speakers both in frequency balance and in their more focused directional characteristics.

Until now, surround sound speaker designers had to choose between satisfying one requirement or the other, or perhaps choosing a middle-ground compromise. The SR30THX provides a choice of surround sound modes, allowing performance to be tailored to program material.

Although often mistakenly referred to as rear speakers, your surround speakers should ideally be placed to the left and right of the listening area. In the diffuse mode, internal switching converts the radiation pattern of the super surround to a fore and aft radiating dipole (see Figure 1A). This null will reduce the amount of direct sound at the listener’s ears. The radiation along the length of the room will maximize the reflected sound heard. For this reason, the speakers should be placed so that the listener is within the null of the speaker. Efforts were made to widen the angle of the response null so that the ”phasiness”

of regular dipoles and their critical positioning requirements were reduced.

Proper room placement is perhaps the most important factor contributing to home theater sound quality. Take a few minutes to place your speaker system correctly to ensure that it sounds its best.

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