Technology
It all starts with an appreciation for accurate sound. We listened carefully and found that many speakers really don’t sound much like music. The music you hear in concert, in real life, this is the music you remember moving you, making the little hairs on your neck tingle. Then there is home theater, in real life maybe you have never heard a gunshot, maybe you have never felt an explosive blast with the harmonics and dynamics of which span an incredibly high ranges, but it should sound, and feel when appropriate, simply real.
Funk Audio's goal of existence is to correct that mismatch between the real and the reproduced. We believe that everyone who enjoys music and movies will find our speakers and subwoofers to be the most life like and dynamic available. Add to this that we firmly believe that a great speaker is also a great work of art. Our attention to detail in the arts of wood and metal working complement the acoustical design and performance.
How do we accomplish this? What technology do we, and have we, developed to further improve on this? If you want to find out keep reading;
Funk Audio's goal of existence is to correct that mismatch between the real and the reproduced. We believe that everyone who enjoys music and movies will find our speakers and subwoofers to be the most life like and dynamic available. Add to this that we firmly believe that a great speaker is also a great work of art. Our attention to detail in the arts of wood and metal working complement the acoustical design and performance.
How do we accomplish this? What technology do we, and have we, developed to further improve on this? If you want to find out keep reading;
LDLC The foundation of Funk Audio
LDLC stands for Low Distortion Low Compression and to understand LDLC, we have to back up to the 1950's and the introduction of Hifi. After the world regained some steam from WW2, there was money to be made and the industrial revolution was starting to morph into the age of technology. Hifi was created in answer to the rise of entertainment and over time, the science of audio became better with fine tuning design, materials technology, and manufacturing processes.
Our ethos, Future Forward Audio, is the dedication to the advancement of audio reproduction as it pertains to the human experience, and LDLC is the method behind this mission statement.The term LDLC was created by The Harbottle Audio Company as the definition, standards, and method of communicating the engineering philosophy and manufacturing practice of Funk Audio. This acronym serves as the fundamental of our collective engineering and is the vehicle for our ethos; Future Forward Audio.
LDLC is an engineering standard which consists of 5 fundamentals exercised within 4 principals of sound: distortion, compression, efficiency, and output. It is important to know that we consider bandwidth an end use parameter and is not a characteristic of sound, because it can be manipulated by other factors, whereas sound character is directly a result of driver function when all else is equal; source, interconnects, amplification, the room, and enclosure. This said, we use bandwidth to guide our design process to set system design goals for each specific application.
The following is the standard that we design to from the standpoint of the audio application that we solve for. From this standpoint we can see that Harbottle and Funk operate on a completely different level and design from a completely different position in relation to the rest of the audio industry. We start with the result we want for the application within the standards we have set, and engineer from that point back to get the small signal parameters vs. the common method of starting from the small signal parameters in simulation then trying to make it maintain the small signal parameters and meet the desired result under full power use.
Fundamental 1
F1 Threshold Curve: Distortion will only breach the threshold of audibility throughout the entirety of the design frequency response curve at as close to maximum output as possible. The audibility of many types of distortion change with frequency, this is what makes it a curve to determine at what point distortion becomes audible at each frequency.
This standard is based on extensive in-house testing that has resulted in the F1 Curve. This curve demands that the audio system, inclusive of the: driver, finished enclosure, and amplifier, will reach its maximum output right at the threshold of distortion audibility. The F1 Curve is based on all forms of distortion including but not limited to compression, and the harmonic distortion profile as they relate to the maximum output.
As a point of reference, many systems breach the threshold of audibility by as much as 10 dB or more below their maximum output. In terms of perceived output, what is being heard above that threshold might still be “loud” however, the ratio of distortion to clean audio is drastically altered, resulting in inaccurate audio reproduction.
Fundamental 2
Distortion and compression profile has to fall within the parameters of the first fundamental based on intended use and bandwidth.
Different driver uses have different character. The vS drivers, used in the 18.0 and 18.0E, are centered around studio listening, clean, uncolored, and at reference levels, over a very wide bandwidth. The vX and vXR drivers are centered around theater use with a smaller bandwidth, so they have lots in the low end and follow that idea of what cinema output should be, but with miles of room for dynamic content. This is our way of dealing with aspects of physics that limit driver design. This allows for personal preference within degrees of change to suit that preference based on intended use. The vU, used in the Ultra series, is the ultimate expression of bass and displays no weakness when considering the intended use and bandwidth. The reason bandwidth is included is because our drivers have a habit of being able to run up the Fr curve with steadily decaying distortion. This means that our recommended crossover points are often far higher than what you would expect.
To review driver specs visit the Ridge OEM Drivers menu.
Fundamental 3
The compression character has to prove to be linear and predictable, it must be controlled and with no sudden and dramatic decompression or compression behavior.
This form of distortion is more difficult to understand. Compression is one main factor that makes a subwoofer "difficult to blend" with main speakers, even at low volume levels. The effects of compression can: exaggerate the levels of other forms of distortion, cause localization problems especially when a driver suddenly decompresses, make the drivers usefulness more limited, and thus adding to the notion that the only way to benefit from a subwoofer is to have multiple subwoofers. By controlling the compression character within the design, we are inherently controlling the compression behavior of the driver's harmonic distortion profile. This fundamental now exercises control and direction over the first. This means that the decaying harmonic distortion combined with controlled compression results in predictable behavior to the maximum system output while: reducing localization issues, increasing ease of blending with an existing system.
Fundamental 4
All fundamentals must combine to create greater efficiency over the intended bandwidth.
Efficiency cannot be given a value because each intended use and application will determine the character of efficiency of the driver. We specify that the fundamentals must combine to create greater efficiency than what is normally designed for that size of driver in reality – real world measured results. What do we mean by efficiency? This does not refer to the simple sensitivity rating often confused with efficiency, this is actual efficiency and that means our drivers love voltage, they make better use of each watt when you give them the voltage they love without creating excess heat. We cannot publish measured results for the raw drivers because each bass system design will produce different results, but we can guarantee the result for the client. If you run simulations using our drivers, you can determine the efficiency of the driver in the system that you are designing, and this is where we can accurately determine that our drivers will hit intense levels of bass while retaining the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd fundamentals.
Within these fundamentals you will see a relationship, a recipe, and efficiency is a key ingredient that makes our products able to perform beyond their simulated limits. These fundamentals have varying degrees of influence and can be altered to suit the end result. This is why we offer customized drivers that take one of our designs and bias maximum efficiency, minimal distortion, minimal compression, or capitalize on all of these aspects to their full potential, within a specific bandwidth.
Fundamental 5
The materials used for the driver must prove to be of a specific grade and quality and tested and verified for use for every driver built. This is to ensure that each and every driver and system will conform to LDLC standards. This is our QC standard that makes our low variation targets possible and as a result each driver is inspected over 100 times.
Each part and materials are tested and verified for use before manufacturing begins.
Each part is inspected during manufacturing.
Each part is inspected during assembly.
Each part is verified for use during assembly.
Each assembled driver is tested, measured, and approved for use by Nathan Funk.
The relationship between performance variance and low distortion low compression character is that one cannot exist without the other. Taking these steps in quality control is actually necessary to ensure that each and every driver will work to the LDLC standard.
Conclusion
From the LDLC standard we are able tune a driver design to bias one of the 4 principals of sound while maintaining the 5 fundamentals. This means that our clients can experience linear performance regardless of application at a wide variety of manufacturing levels; one off custom to full frame order production, and all without having to buy a design or be subject to expensive prototyping. This saves tens of thousands of dollars or more. Again, this isn't a guessing game. We can predict changes in performance to within +/- 5% of TS parameters.
The industry has no set standard that includes as many forms of distortion as they relate to various frequencies and the audibility of them, and barely touches on efficiency. We had to set our own standards for each aspect and we treat all of them as equals in balancing the equation of driver design and extending into system design. Considering audio as a sum of all parts is what sets us apart. When the argument is made that we over engineer our product, the reality is that this statement couldn't be farther from the truth. The end result only appears like the driver is over engineered when it is stacked up against speaker drivers that are designed to small signal parameters. The result of our method is a perfectly balanced speaker according to 4 principals of sound. The application of this standard is not easily integrated into standardized design and production methods as it directly affects all processes of design, development, and manufacturing.
We are innovators as designers, engineers, and manufacturers. The mark of innovation is the ability to see the depth of a problem and resolve it by embracing change and new thoughts of what is actually possible when applying the full spectrum of science to audio in order to create a whole new level of audio science.
by Cody Hiebert and Nathan Funk
Neodymium Motors
Funk Audio designs and uses many drivers featuring “Neodymium” motors, in fact our subwoofer drivers are exclusively Neodymium. This is currently the best magnetic material to accomplish our design goals.
We firmly believe that a more efficient driver sounds clearer and more articulate. We carry this objective from the top frequency ranges all the way down to the sub bass levels. It is part of our sound ideology. A strong motor will provide a very firm grip on our diaphragms, be they cones or planar membranes. Think of it as horse power to get you moving quickly. And massive brakes to stop you on a dime. This translates into real world distortion figures that are much lower than our competition. And that you can hear from the moment you first hear our products. They have no real sonic signature. They are as faithful to the music as we can make them.
All of our motors have a high BL product or a ratio of motive force and the wire length in the voice coil. In fact our subwoofers have some of the highest BL figures you will find in the industry. We continue to refine and improve our drivers.
We firmly believe that a more efficient driver sounds clearer and more articulate. We carry this objective from the top frequency ranges all the way down to the sub bass levels. It is part of our sound ideology. A strong motor will provide a very firm grip on our diaphragms, be they cones or planar membranes. Think of it as horse power to get you moving quickly. And massive brakes to stop you on a dime. This translates into real world distortion figures that are much lower than our competition. And that you can hear from the moment you first hear our products. They have no real sonic signature. They are as faithful to the music as we can make them.
All of our motors have a high BL product or a ratio of motive force and the wire length in the voice coil. In fact our subwoofers have some of the highest BL figures you will find in the industry. We continue to refine and improve our drivers.
Funk audio DSP
Funk Audio incorporates AllDSP hardware into all our subwoofers and some active loudspeakers. We can also custom design and incorporate the technology into custom built amplifiers, both stand alone mono and multi channel units, as well as actively powered and signal processed, and full range speaker designs.
Planar Magnetic Tweeter
Planar tweeters are much different than conventional moving coil designs. Rather than a dome style tweeter that has a voice coil, suspension, and dome shaped diaphragm, the Planar tweeter uses an ultra thin high temperature polymer suspended in a magnetic field. This simple assembly performs all the necessary functions of a diaphragm, suspension, and voice coil, all in one very lightweight part. The high energy motor used in the Planar assembly coupled with the very low mass of the planar diaphragm results in very fast responsiveness. The exceedingly low inductance of the single plane voice coil facilitates an extended high frequency response. Planar tweeters, have a very detailed accurate sound. They offer some of the highest efficiencies available in high frequency reproduction. And they do this with the lowest possible levels of distortion.
Curve Laminated Speaker Cabinets
We build many of our cabinets using laminated curved wall construction. This style is very unique, attractive, and combines a classic and modern look. This type of construction can be significantly thinner and lighter with improved stiffness, resulting in superior dampening and sound detail. We also offer this capability for custom designs.
Vacuum pressing
We use the vacuum pressing method for applying veneers, and laminating carbon fiber for our cones. This is a very simple process where the cabinet and veneer are put in a sealed bag and a vacuum is pulled inside allowing the atmospheric pressure of up to 14psi to provide an even clamping pressure over the entire veneer surface to insure 100% adhesion of the veneer to the cabinet, providing a stable product that will last many years.
Void free Birch
Funk Audio uses zero MDF in the construction of our enclosures. We mainly use Void free Birch plywood. This material has very high strength and stiffness. For any loudspeaker, but especially high powered subwoofers Baltic Birch is one of the best choices.
Aluminum
Funk Audio uses aluminum extensively in our drivers and we can also use solid aluminum plate and billet for many of our cabinet designs. It is the most costly material for speaker cabinet construction but cannot be beat for strength and stiffness. With the variety of colors available in powder coat and anodized finishes, aluminum is a wonderful option for a edgy and modern look.