soundstage

SOUNDSTAGE SSX / SSCS Series

	NRT (NeoRadial Technology) Motor The first difference you will notice about the Soundstage is the motor. All Soundstage models use a neodymium powered motor that consists of eight curved pieces of neodymium placed directly in the voice coil gap. This design was developed by Aura Systems and the radial charging of the neo magnets was patented by Aura Systems. The NRT motor generates up to five times the magnetic energy of a standard ferrite powered ceramic motor. The NRT motor also has virtually zero magnetic leakage when compared to a ferrite motor. To prove this, place a standard ferrite motor speaker close to your TV or monitor and you will see a distortion of the colors on the screen due to the magnetic leakage of the motor. When you place the NRT motor of the SSX directly on the screen of your TV you will see no color distortion, so, in addition to being five times more powerful to begin with, all of the magnetic energy of the NRT motor is directed to the voice coil and not lost outside of the speaker.

	The Heat sink The next difference we would like to point out is the sixteen spoke heat sink surrounding the NRT motor on the SSX. This heat sink helps to dissipate the heat build up in the NRT motor and allows the SSX to accept higher levels of input power than standard speakers using ferrite motor systems. The higher power handling goes hand in hand with the ability of the NRT motor to produce higher levels of magnetic energy.

	KEVLAR® Woofer Cone To convert the magnetic energy of the NRT motor into sound waves, we couple the motor to a Kevlar® fiber cone. Kevlar® is a patented material from Dupont that is five times stronger than steel but is still lighter in weight than many polypropylene cones. This combination of NRT motor and Kevlar® cone makes the SSX very responsive to subtle changes within the music and capable of reproducing instrument detail that is not possible from today’s typical car audio speaker. The Kevlar® cone also has an additional benefit when coupled to a high power NRT motor, it can change its shape when reaching the extremes of its excursion causing a softer form of distortion than the popping sound made by a polypropylene cone.

	Outboard Two-Way Crossover All Soundstage models are actually separate components. The SSX is configured with a separate tweeter mounted on a bridge assembly that allows the SSX to be mounted as a coaxial speaker. To control the frequency separation of the woofer and tweeter we use an outboard 2-way crossover that applies a 6dB slope to the woofer and a 12 dB slope to the tweeter. Many speakers in this price range use only a high pass filter on the tweeter stage and run the woofer full range which causes phase interaction at the crossover point.

	TITANIUM Tweeter The tweeter used in the SSX is a dome type made of Titanium film. Titanium is superior to Poly and Silk in it’s ability to reproduce extremely high frequencies in the 20K cycle range and is also capable of handling higher levels of power without distorting. Reproducing frequencies in the 20K range is important to the overall sound of a speaker because it allows each instrument’s harmonic structure to be accurately reproduced which audibly separates one instrument from another. The downside to Titanium is that it can have a tendency to "ring" causing some frequencies to be over-extended. To minimize this side effect, we use a dome that has ridges on the surface of the dome. These ridges not only make the dome even stronger but also breakup surface waves to eliminate the "ringing" effect. We have also placed a phase cap in the center of the dome to reduce the on-axis dispersion of the tweeter. The crossover of the SSX has been designed to flatten the tweeter’s frequency response on the off-axis because the majority of coaxial mounted speakers will be placed low in door panels firing into the customer’s knees, or on rear decks firing into the rear windshield.

	BASKET The basket used in the SSX is designed to fit directly into existing factory mounting holes. This allows for the sound quality of separate components to be realized without the need for cutting into the dashboard or pillars of the vehicle.

	The TRIM RING The tweeter is mounted on a molded bridge that attaches to a circular trim ring around the outside of the basket. The bridge places the tweeter flush with the outer edge of the basket. To improve overall dispersion of the speaker system we have flared the edges of the tweeter mounting cup and the outer edge of the basket trim ring. The trim ring also helps to reduce any cavity that might be formed behind a factory door panel grille and the actual door frame behind the grille.