Glossary – MartinLogan Monolith III User Manual

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Monolith III User's Manual

AC. Abbreviation for alternating

current.

Active crossover

Active crossover. Uses active

devices (transistors, IC’s,

tubes) and some form of power

supply to operate.

Amplitude

Amplitude. The extreme range of a

signal. Usually measured from
the average to the extreme.

Arc

Arc. The visible sparks generated by

an electrical discharge.

Bandwidth

Bandwidth. The range of frequencies

within a radiation band required

to transmit a particular signal.

Bass

Bass. The lowest frequencies of

sound.

Bi-Amplification

Bi-Amplification. Uses an electronic

crossover or line-level passive

crossover and separate power
amplifiers for the high and low

frequency loudspeaker drivers.

Capacitance

Capacitance. That property of a

capacitor which determines how

much charge can be stored in it
for a given potential difference

between its terminals, measured

in farads, by the ratio of the
charge stored to the potential

difference.

Capacitor

Capacitor. A device consisting of two

or more conducting plates

separated from one another by
an insulating material and used

for storing an electrical charge.

Sometimes called a condenser.

Glossary

Clipping

Clipping. Distortion of a signal by its

being chopped off. An overload

problem caused by pushing an

amplifier beyond its capabilities.
The flat-topped signal has high

levels of harmonic distortion

which creates heat in a loud-
speaker and is the major cause

of loudspeaker component

failure.

Crossover

Crossover. An electrical circuit that

divides a full bandwidth signal
into the desired frequency bands

for the loudspeaker components.

dB (decibel)

dB (decibel). A numerical expression

of the relative loudness of a

sound. The difference in decibels
between two sounds is ten times

the common logarithm of the ratio

of their power levels.

DC. Abbreviation for direct current.

Diffraction

Diffraction. The breaking up of a

sound wave caused by some

type of mechanical interference
such as a cabinet edge, grill

frame, or other similar object.

Diaphragm

Diaphragm. A thin flexible membrane

or cone that vibrates in response

to electrical signals to produce
sound waves.

Distortion

Distortion. Usually referred to in

terms of total harmonic distortion

(THD) which is the percentage of

unwanted harmonics of the drive
signal present with the wanted

signal. Generally used to mean

any unwanted change introduced
by the device under question.

Driver

Driver. See transducer.

Dynamic Range

Dynamic Range. The range between

the quietest and the loudest

sounds a device can handle

(often quoted in dB).

Efficiency

Efficiency. The acoustic power

delivered for a given electrical
input. Often expressed as

decibels/watt/meter (dB/w/m).

ESL

ESL. Abbreviation for electrostatic

loudspeaker.

Headroom

Headroom. The difference, in deci-

bels, between the peak and RMS

levels in program material.

Hybrid

Hybrid. A product created by the

marriage of two different tech-
nologies. Meant here as the

combination of a dynamic woofer

with an electrostatic transducer.

Hz (Hertz)

Hz (Hertz). Unit of frequency equiva-

lent to the number of cycles per
second.

Imaging

Imaging. To make a representation or

imitation of the original sonic

event.

Impedance

Impedance. The total opposition

offered by an electric circuit to the

flow of an alternating current of a
single frequency. It is a combina-

tion of resistance and reactance

and is measured in ohms.
Remember that a speaker’s

impedance changes with

frequency, it is not a constant