MartinLogan EFX Manuel De L'utilisateur page 28

Full Range Operation
Another significant advantage of MartinLogan's exclusive
transducer technology reveals itself when you look at examples
of other loudspeaker products on the market today. The EFX
uses no crossover networks above 530 Hz because they are
not needed. The EFX consists of a single, seamless electrostatic
membrane reproducing all frequencies above 530 Hz simulta-
neously. How is this possible?
First we must understand that music is not composed of separate
high, mid and low frequencies. In fact, music is comprised of a
single waveform with all frequencies interacting simultaneously.
The electrostatic transducer of the EFX essentially acts as an
exact opposite of the microphones used to record the origi-
nal event. A microphone, which is a single working element,
transforms acoustic energy into an electrical signal that can be
amplified or preserved by some type of storage media. The
EFX's electrostatic transducer transforms electrical energy from
your amplifier back into acoustical energy.
Due to the limitations of electromagnetic drivers, no single
unit can reproduce the full range of frequencies. Instead, these
Figure 21. This diagram illustrates how a conventional
speaker system must use multiple crossover networks
that have negative effects on the musical performance.
28 Electrostatic Advantages
drivers must be designed to operate within a narrow, fixed
bandwidth of the frequency range, and then combined electri-
cally so that the sum of the parts equals the total signal. While
nice in theory, we must deal with real-world conditions.
In order to use multiple drivers, a crossover network is enlisted
to attempt a division of the complex musical signal into the sep-
arate pieces (usually highs, mids, and lows) that each specific
driver was designed to handle. Unfortunately, due to the phase
relationships that occur within all crossover networks and during
the acoustical recombination process, nonlinearities and severe
degradation of the music signal take place in the ear's most criti-
cal zone (see figure 21).
The EFX's electrostatic transducer can single-handedly repro-
duce all frequencies above 530 Hz simultaneously. You have
in one transducer the ability to handle in elegant simplicity the
critical frequencies above 5305 Hz.
The crossover phase aberrations that are associated with tradi-
tional tweeter, midrange, and woofer systems are eliminated.
The result is a dramatic improvement in imaging and staging
performance due to the minutely accurate phase relationship of
the full-range panel wave launch.