Linkwitz Lab - Loudspeaker Design

                       
----- Experience in your own room the magical nature of stereo sound -----

 

 

What's new

 

LX - Store

 

BLACKLIST

 

Conversations
with Fitz

 

OPLUG
Forum

 

Basics

The Magic in 2-Channel Sound

Issues in speaker
design

Dipole models

Active filters

Amplifiers etc

Microphone

FAQ's

Loudspeakers

Crossovers

Room acoustics

Stereo Recording and Rendering

Audio production

Conclusions

 

Projects

Your own desig

LXmini

LXmini+2

LXstudio

LX521.4

LX521
reference

ORION
challenge

ORION-3.4

PLUTO-2.1

WATSON-SEL

PLUTO+
subwoofer

THOR
subwoofer

PHOENIX
dipole speaker

Three-Box active
system (1978)

Reference
earphones

Surround
sound

Loudspeaker
& Room

 

Resources

Publications

Sound recordings

Links

Other designs

My current setup

About me

Site map

 

HOME

 

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Digital Photo
Processes

 

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The
Sea Ranch

 

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My Daughter
the Jeweler

 

What's new

 

LX - Store

 

Conversations
with Fitz

 

OPLUG
Forum

 

 

                

 

"Have fun, create memories!" (Siegfried Linkwitz)

 

I feel very honored, that Siegfried Linkwitz (1935-2018) picked me to continue his audio business by handing over the "keys" in December 2017.

It“s about carrying further the flag of open baffle dipole speakers and keeping this exceptional website alive! 
Frank Brenner/Linkwitzlab
®

 

 

 

 

Turnkey loudspeaker systems (as well as quality kits & parts Construction plans) for LINKWITZ®LAB designs from LINKWITZ.store.

Worldwide shipping with    andUPS.

Find more pictures of turnkey systems on Linkwitz.com and LINKWITZ.store.

Plans and parts kits are also available from www.madisound.com

The Construction plans are required license to purchase parts kits and assembled systems. | Terms & Conditions |

The OPLUG Forum is the place for advice and help  

CDs (e.g."Sound Pictures") and construction plans are no longer available as hard copies, but as downloads from the webshop.

 

Meet us in 2023

2 US Shows and 1 German Show, read more

AXPONA, hifideluxe, T.H.E.show

 

Capital Audio Fest 2022.
 

Nov 11th-13th we displayed the LINKWITZ LX521.4MG system
with PowerBoxes 6pro NCore precision analog.
New cascaded ASP inside.

Thanks for the many individual "Best of Show" compliments.


Read more...

 

 

 

Pacific Audio Fest 2022.
 

Suite 1370, 13th Floor.


July 29 - 31 2022, SEATTLE Doubletree Hilton Sea-Tac Washington.

Enjoy the "uncanny" (TheAudioCritic) sound stage illusion of Linkwitz LX521.4,
the new LINKWITZ22MG driver and PowerBoxes 6proNCore precision analog.

Read more....

 

 

 

 

AXPONA 2022, finally, life is back, we enjoyed it, ....others, too:

  Frank Doris (Copper Magazine) was visiting our LINKWITZ room at AXPONA 2022 read more..

Thank you: The BEST OF SHOW award for LINKWITZ   read more..


 

April 22 - 24, 2022, Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel & Convention Center | Schaumburg, IL

Contact us via email info@linkwitz.com for a ticket discount code 25% off.

ROOM #725

     

 

 

Enjoy LX521MG with our new low-distortion magnesium midrange driver and
new PowerBoxes 6pro NCore precision analog with cascaded ASP V2.0

Catalina, Suite #137

JANUARY 14-16, Hyatt Regency, Newport Beach/CA

### AUDIOcon LA has been postponed ###

www.audioconla.com

 

 

NEXT AUDITIONs

OpenHouse, Saturday, Nov 13th 2021 10.00h-1400h

After a pandemic pause, Eike Linkwitz likes to invite you to our first OpenHouse event this year. Listen to LX521 and LXsirius in Corte Madera / 8mi north of Golden Gate Bridge. This event is available exclusively for fully COVID-vaccinated participants.
Get your seats via email to info@linkwitz.com. Driving and parking details will be provided. Pandemic rules (FFP2 masks) apply.

Extension of this event:
Additional LX521.4 audition Sunday, Nov 14th 2021 10.00h in Healdsburg/CA, Sonoma Valley. Get free tickets via email to Don Naples

 

 

   Be a guest at the 22. European Jazztival at Schloss Elmau / Southern Germany and audition LXspeakers in the Foyer of the Konzertsaal.  CANCELLED!

   Thereafter, enjoy the presentations of :

   Michael Wollny, Nils Landgren, Joel Lyssarides, Tord Gustavsen, RYMDEN, Mathias Eick, Cęcilie Norby, Lars Danielsson, Johanna Summer... 

   You may pre-register via email for audition on Nov.18th,19th,20th or 21th in the Konzertsaal Foyer.

 

 

 

Meet us at AXPONA , room #725.

April 22 - 24, 2022, Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel & Convention Center | Schaumburg, IL

Contact us via email info@linkwitz.com for a ticket discount code 25% off.

 

AXPONA 2020 has been cancelled !
Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel &
Convention Center | Schaumburg, IL

ROOM #725

Meet us at

      

 

 

The LX family of active and DSP or ASP controlled

electro-acoustic transducers

for rendering realistic sound scenes

in a wide range of rooms

 

Here are four loudspeaker systems, which are designed to deliver The Magic in 2-Channel Sound  
when properly set up:

 

A 2-way loudspeaker that can be built for around $1200 including miniDSP 2x4HD equalizer/crossover and 4 power amplifiers in the 50 W to 200 W range. 

The speaker has a unique polar pattern, starting out as omni at low frequencies from the infinite transmission line woofer, going through a cardioid region around the 800 Hz crossover to an unbaffled, fullrange driver with dipolar behavior. Due to the low crossover frequency and acoustically close proximity of drivers the polar pattern is identical in vertical and horizontal directions, like in a coaxial design, but it has much wider dispersion at higher frequencies. The frequency range extends from 45 Hz to 20 kHz with 12 dB/octave roll-off at the low end. 

LXmini Construction Plans: $105

 

Read:  LXmini+2 at Burning Amp 2016

 

A 3-way loudspeaker that combines the LXmini with two, compact LXsub2 dipole woofers.

It requires addition of two 50 W power amplifiers and a miniDSP 4x10HD unit to form a system that covers the 20 Hz to 20 kHz frequency range with excellent clarity and dynamism. With an LR2 crossover at a low 60 Hz the woofers can be placed against the side walls of a room and the LXmini used as near-field monitors. Path length differences to the listener can be compensated for in the DSP unit. Dipole woofers have the advantage of less room mode excitation and thus preserve articulation in bass sounds.

LXmini Construction Plans: $105  + 
LXsub Construction Plans: $55 

 

 

A 3-way loudspeaker that combines the LXmini with two LXsub4 dipole woofers, which have 10 dB higher output capability than the LXsub2.

 It requires addition of two 200 W or four 50 W power amplifiers and a miniDSP 4x10HD unit to form a system that covers the 20 Hz to 20 kHz frequency range with excellent clarity and dynamism. With an LR2 crossover at a low 60 Hz the woofers can be placed against the side walls of a room and the LXmini used as near-field monitors. Path length differences to the listener can be compensated for in the DSP unit. Dipole woofers have the advantage of less room mode excitation, which matters even in a highly damped recording/mixing studio.

LXmini Construction Plans: $105  + 
LXsub Construction Plans: $55 

 

 

A 4-way loudspeaker, designed as full-range dipole, for flat on-axis and off-axis response in the horizontal plane and frontal hemisphere. It requires between 8 to10 power amplifiers of 50 W to 200 W and a miniDSP 4x10HD.

The speakers need breathing room of at least 1 m to the nearest large reflecting surfaces and a room with a minimum floor size of 25 sqm.

LX521 Construction Plans: $155   
(The LX521.4 is documented on the included LX521 Owner Support page)

 

I consider each one of the four systems as state-of-the-art for rendering a convincing stereo illusion, that touches one's emotions, that is analytically revealing of flaws in the recording, yet at the same time forgiving them, if the art comes through. I therefore recommend building these speakers not only to the DIY community, but also to professional recording/mixing/mastering engineers and especially to the designers of consumer products to hear for themselves what they have been missing. Hopefully these designs inspire a fresh look at what is possible in terms of believable 3D from two speakers before everyone launches off into 3D over headphones with their unnatural distance distortion.

For further details about these speaker systems, about ordering plans, construction materials, active crossovers and amplifiers, start with the LXmini, LXmini+2, LXstudio or LX521 page.

 

Complete systems

After you have received the Construction Plans you may realize that you do not have the time, skill or confidence to build the speaker system yourself. Or, you may know this from the outset and want to buy a professionally assembled and finished system. Here then are licensed manufacturers:

From Germany: www.LINKWITZ.store for LXsirius, LXsirius+2, LXstudio, LX521.4 with PowerBox, shipping worldwide with    andUPS.

From USA: LXspeakerfactory.com for LXmini, LXmini w/Subs, Orion4d

See Terms & Conditions to guarantee that you receive a genuine LINKWITZ LAB product.

LX - Store

 

>>> My current setup <<<

 

  

  

    

  

That will take some effort on your part and I recommend to find a LXmini or LX521 owner in your corner of the world. I have sent construction plans to many countries and www.LINKWITZ.store has shipped turnkey systems. See also www.linkwitz.com

Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burma, Canada, Chile, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mozambique, Netherlands, New Guinea, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, Uruguay, UK, USA

I will not give out names or email addresses, but you could try to make contact via the OPLUG forum with one of the many DIY builders who frequent the forum. I have had Open House events to hear the loudspeakers here in Corte Madera and at The Sea Ranch earlier this year, but nothing is upcoming. 

I can assure you, though, that even if you have not heard LXmini or LX521 before making your decision, that you will be extremely delighted with their sound once you have built or acquired them.  Either one will give you a completely new experience of your music collection. You are in for a treat. With these speakers you move to a new paradigm for stereo sound reproduction.

Have fun, create memories!

 

The Magic in 2-Channel Sound Reproduction
Why is it so rarely heard?

 

 

 

 

Issues in loudspeaker design

 

 

 STEREO - From live to recorded and reproduced -
What does it take?

 

 

 <<<<<<<  Links  >>>>>>>

 

 

<<<  Other Designs  >>>

 

 

>>>  LX - Store  <<<

 

 

... Have Fun ... Create Memories ...

*****************************************************************

 

<<<<<<  2014 and earlier  >>>>>>

 

15 Years of www.linkwitzlab.com

A Retrospective

 

 

LXmini... 
Reference Quality Sound in any size room

The LX521 loudspeakers are no longer alone in their ability to render in stereo a detailed 3D auditory scene with clarity, dynamism and neutral timbre for any kind of music. 

The LXmini, at smaller size and lower cost, is a close match to its bigger brother, except for lower maximum sound capability below 200 Hz and rolling off the bass below 45 Hz. While the LX521 needs at least a 25 m2 room and open space around it, the LXmini was designed to work well in any size room. The standard stereo triangle formed by loudspeakers and listener can be as small as 1 m for each side and be close to a wall. But unlike with headphones the auditory illusion is in front and stays there with head movement as is natural. Of course the size and distance to the auditory illusion increases with spreading out the triangle, limited only by the space available. 

The LXmini is easy to build. No soldering is required, just sawing, sanding, drilling holes, screwing parts together and crimping wire connections.

The LXmini is in reach of every music lover! 

 

LX521 - Reference Loudspeaker

Few people have ever heard the detailed 3D rendering and realism that the stereo format is capable of when the loudspeakers are designed to illuminate the room evenly for all sounds and are properly set up in the room. 

The LX521 Reference Loudspeaker is an open-baffle, constant directivity radiator for the enjoyment of any type of music in the home and also for final judgment of work in the recording studio. The LX521 is designed to minimize the influence of the listening room upon the stereo image, which is formed in the listener's mind. The loudspeakers themselves disappear from aural perception, leaving in front of you a phantom acoustic scene to enjoy and study, and not just from the "sweet spot". Ultimately you are likely to get lost in the music. That is what I experience with a good recording.

Most of my involvement with audio was about designing and building loudspeakers for my own use, for my own home. I have tried to push the state of the art, because I was never quite satisfied with commercial products, or could not afford what I liked at the time. I also discovered that even the best professional loudspeaker designers had unanswered questions and that I was not alone in my search. My education in electrical engineering, my work in electronic test equipment design and in microwaves had given me a good opening for designing broadband acoustic radiators that cover a range of wavelengths, which is equivalent to the range from 20 MHz to 20 GHz in electromagnetic terms. 

I have developed a deep appreciation of how the brain constructs an aural scene from the multiplicity of superimposed sound streams, which impinge upon each eardrum all the time. The brain's working suggests how to design a loudspeaker so that it can withdraw attention from the loudspeaker as the source of sound and the listening room as the real place, thus leaving an aural scene, an illusion floating in front of the listener.

     Sound as close to Live -
     as the Recording provides!

     

      MAGIC is my other name for the LX521.

      My search is over!

 

ORION-3.4 Loudspeakers

In 2002 I put out the challenge to build yourself a high performance open-baffle loudspeaker system with electronic crossover/equalizer and multiple power amplifiers. The ORION incorporated what I had learned from designing loudspeakers for Audio Artistry and the follow-on PHOENIX. Soon after, Don Naples from Wood Artistry joined to supply precut wood parts and then complete, custom finished ORION systems. Today you can find hundreds of delighted ORION owners all over the world. 

The loudspeaker's design changed somewhat over the years. The midrange driver was mounted by its magnet. A rear tweeter was added. The frequency response was tweaked after hearing the first PLUTO. Don Barringer, a trained musician and former recording engineer with the US Marine Band, helped me in this process with many hours of listening. I am not touching the design anymore. The ORION has reached its full potential.

 

      
      ORION with optional THOR subwoofers in back

 

PLUTO-2.1

PLUTO came about in 2005 after I had used its AURA tweeter as a small loudspeaker for low frequency room mode studies in a 10:1 scale model of my listening room. The tweeter opened the possibility of building a fairly decent omni-directional loudspeaker. I needed it as a reference source for studying baffle diffraction effects of the ORION.

PLUTO evolved to the 2-way full-range loudspeaker that it is today when SEAS supplied me with a custom woofer/midrange driver. The loudspeaker is now ideally suited for smaller living spaces or as a lower cost alternative to ORION in larger rooms. PLUTO delivers great sound to hundreds of audiophiles worldwide, following ORION's example.

PLUTO-2.1 is a great father-son/daughter DIY project. The speaker has built-in power amplifiers, hooks up to the iPod or laptop and is easily moved. It provides an introduction to high quality sound.

     

 

PHOENIX

I launched this website in 1999 after I had separated from Audio Artistry. I left behind three proud design accomplishments: Vivaldi, Dvorak and Beethoven, all open-baffle loudspeakers. Much had been learned about loudspeaker design with passive and active crossover/equalizers. It added to what I had gathered from my audio hobby activities with other engineers at Hewlett-Packard Co. Especially Russ Riley, Lyman Miller and Brian Elliott had inspired me. So on leaving AA I wanted to write it all down, that it might benefit others and not get lost.

The PHOENIX project was meant to be an illustrative exercise for others to judge the validity of what I was claiming. A study of the material will give you useful insight into the theory, design and construction of an open-baffle speaker, the necessary line-level crossover/equalizer and electronic filters. 

For the later ORION design I combined the separate dipole woofer with midrange and tweeter in a single cabinet. I also avoided the MTM driver arrangement.

PHOENIX main panel and
separate dipole woofer in W-frame

 

  

Recording, Rendering

If you want to learn about the theory behind stereo, about what it takes to create a phantom acoustic scene between two loudspeakers in your living room, then read Stereo Recording and Rendering - 101.

 

                    

Publications, Talks, Links, CD's

To get a taste of the large number of considerations that enter into the design of a loudspeaker you might read a ground breaking "Loudspeaker System Design" article. It was published 1978 in Wireless World magazine and describes a three-enclosure loudspeaker with active delay and crossovers using drivers that were highly regarded at the time, KEF T27, B110 and B139.

   

And then listen to a talk given 30 years later about accurate sound reproduction from two loudspeakers in a living room, to hear and see what more has been learned. Or see my take on loudspeakers in 2013.

On the Links and Other designs pages you will find relevant and interesting material. It will show you that there is still much to learn about the optimum configuration of  loudspeaker, room, setup and recording in order to create a "realistic sound illusion".

I offer recordings of useful test signals for room analysis and sound tracks to evaluate your loudspeakers.

Look at the Site map to orient yourself when searching for specific information.

Check out the ORION/PLUTO/LX521 User Group for the exchange of ideas, for questions about LX521, ORION and PLUTO and to make contact with owners. 

 

  www.LinkwitzLab.com

You have come to a website with a wealth of useful and practical information about loudspeaker design, electro-acoustic system design and about perception of sound from loudspeakers in normal rooms. I have been active in this field for over 40 years, motivated by my love for music and by a keen interest in the difficulties of reproducing music realistically in the home. 

After retiring from Hewlett-Packard Co. (now 'Agilent') with 37 years in R&D of radio-frequency and microwave electronic test equipment, I pursued my investigation of the loudspeaker-room-listener interaction with refreshed energy and time. In the late nineties I had developed the Beethoven/Dvorak/Vivaldi line of open-baffle loudspeakers for Audio Artistry. My objective has always been the development of cost effective loudspeaker systems for two-channel sound playback of the highest accuracy. Occasionally I experiment with surround sound. Video sound and moving pictures are of low interest to me, but digital photography has rekindled my lifelong fascination with pictorial expression. 

On this site you will find the essence of what I have learned from designing, building and listening to many different types of speakers. Fortunately, I was rarely bound by commercial considerations or restricted by market expectations. I was free to search for the parameters that are truly important to realistic reproduction. Throughout this search, my sonic reference has always been the non-amplified original performance. 

My motto has always been to be "true to the original, as it was recorded". I want to reproduce a recording without adding or subtracting from it either because of the loudspeakers or the room. The recording then defines the possible realism of the auditory scene. On this website you find information that allows you to build, to purchase, or to design loudspeakers which exemplify the pursuit of realistic rendering.

 

Check out the topics that are listed in the column on the left hand side of this page. I hope that the material presented here will add to your understanding of what is necessary for accurate sound reproduction. Regrettably, much misinformation and outright nonsense has been published to promote certain "high-end" audio products. The power of suggestion works exceedingly well, when listeners do not trust their own hearing. I recommend to re-calibrate yourself frequently. Listen closely to all sorts of non-amplified sounds in order to recognize and remember natural sonic scenes. Without a reality based mental reference it becomes an endless and futile pursuit to listen for differences between speakers and equipment in order to find the least falsification and a believable illusion of live sound and space. 

 

CAUTION: The content of any page may change without notice as I learn new things or find better descriptions. The designs presented here may change as I make new observations or gain more insight.  Audio has overwhelmingly been a hobby for me, for my own pleasure and love of music. I enjoy to share what I found and possibly to dispel a few misconceptions. My interest is not on the business side, though I like that my activities pay for my hobbies. You may not agree with some or all aspects of my designs, the approach that I take to them, or the theories. I have no problem with that. Just do not ask me "what would happen if ...". Changes that you make to the designs are for your own pleasure and at your own risk. But if you learn something worthwhile, then please let me know. My DIY projects are not for beginners and it may be necessary for you to buy subassemblies or a turnkey system. Please do not ask me for individual help with your DIY difficulties. All my designs have a Support Page. It is listed on the cover or inside your project documentation. There is an ORION/PLUTO/LX521 Users Group with people who can help you. I respond to every email eventually, but you may not get the answer you want. I consider my writings in these web pages as brief and to the point. I labor over every sentence and word and provide little redundancy. I am not a native English speaker. I grew up in Germany. Read thoroughly and maybe more than once. I do not write for the rank beginner, but for those who have been around the block. You may need to study up. The links in my text are for that. I have not been standing still since I started this website in 1999 with the idea of a brain dump of my previous findings so they would not get lost to the audio community. In 2006, after PLUTO, I thought I would go into a support and maintenance mode. No new design. Stuff happened, more work to be done on radiation patterns. Also the recording and rendering process interested me. Therefore the LX521. It brings to completion my search for the prototype of an ideal stereo loudspeaker. It has confirmed theories and observations of how we hear in reverberant spaces The auditory illusion is convincing.  I am satisfied. It's time to enjoy the sublime magic of sound and space!  -  January, 2014

 

 

From where and in what numbers do visitors come to this website? 

Top 25 countries in a 7.5 month period from June 2013 to January 2014 with a total of 63,734 visits (283/day):

By number of visits Rank By number of 
visits / population
United States
Germany
United Kingdom
Canada
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Netherlands
France
Russian Federation
Norway
Poland
Italy
Denmark
Switzerland
Finland
Japan
China
Brazil
New Zealand
India
Serbia
Spain
Belgium
Singapore
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Netherlands
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Canada
Croatia
Singapore
United States
Serbia
Slovakia
United Kingdom
Germany
Belgium
Austria
Hungary
Greece
Czech Republic
Poland
France
Italy
Russian Federation

 

For current data click on the world map below

 

 

 

What you hear is not the air pressure variation in itself 
but what has drawn your attention
in the streams of superimposed air pressure variations 
at your eardrums

An acoustic event has dimensions of Time, Tone, Loudness and Space
Have they been recorded and rendered sensibly?

___________________________________________________________
Last revised: 02/15/2023   -  © 1999-2019 LINKWITZ LAB, All Rights Reserved