TMD - TUNED MASS DAMPER

THE OBSESSION WITH THE MIDRANGE

The midrange register is no doubt the most complicated to control in a sound system. On one hand, there must be a smooth transition with the bass. On the other hand, it must be tuned to the tweeter in terms of dispersion and acceleration. This determines the homogeneity of the timbre and spatialisation.

For the past 20 years, we have been working on mastering the "break up" (the frequency at which the cone becomes deformed, leading to distortion) of our 3rd generation "W" cones and on drastically reducing the resonance of the tweeter with the IAL 2. Today, thanks to the power of finite element analysis, our teams have developed simulation software to visualise the dynamic behaviour of the suspension which connects the cone to the basket, thus revealing the performance issues requiring attention.

TUNED MASS DAMPER

Following the discovering of these issues, we had to conceive the equipment to solve them. The solutions already known for increasing the damping properties of the suspension all result in an increase of the mass which consequently alters definition. The answer came from a technology used in earthquake-resistant skyscrapers and which is also used for the suspension on racing cars! This technology is called a "Tuned Mass Damper": an additional mass oscillate in opposition to the resonance frequency to control it.

Applied to the speaker driver, the solution consists in simply two tubular rings on the suspension whose dimensions and position have been judiciously determined. They form our Tuned Mass Damper (TMD) and they stabilise the dynamic behaviour of the surround according to resonance, thus avoiding deformation of the cone without afflicting the dynamics. This innovation is patented.

VISUAL ANALOGY OF THE SURROUNDS 

Our Tuned Mass Damper (TMD) consists of two tubular rings moulded onto the surround. On the left the default suspension, on the right, the TMD suspension. This simple solution, perfected thanks to our new software, stabilises the dynamic behaviour of the surround according to resonance, thus avoiding deformation of the cone without afflicting the dynamics.