The problem for bass is the listening room and how a conventional woofer radiates sound into that space.
Bass reproduction from a loudspeaker sounds different in every room. Some rooms are good, some rooms are not as good.
For two channel audio, we tolerate 25dB swings in output at the listening position which is audible and not correctable with DSP or room treatment.*
We need a woofer that works in ALL listening rooms, not a woofer that performs well in an anechoic chamber.
Speaker low frequency near field performance has been excellent ever since the AR-1w in 1954. However, for the last 70 years, the 25-30dB woofer output swings in your listening room for a two channel audio system still exist, the performance is different in every room AND different in every part of the room. DSP is generally limited to about 6dB of correction which is insufficient.
The problem is the wavelength of sound and the room, for a normal amount of room treatment, unless you build an anechoic chamber, at bass frequencies room treatments barely work. When someone shows you honest before and after bass treatments (rarely) the results are at best a few dB improvement below 100Hz and perhaps 5-10db below 200hz. While we painstakingly measure less than 1dB swings in the entire electronics chain the swings in bass response at the listening position will still be 25 dB with a proper, not smoothed over measurement!
The Waveguide woofer comes from the inventor of the TRW-17 Rotary Woofer, Bruce Thigpen.
Bruce holds 16 patents in the audio field and Eminent Technology has produced some of the most technically advanced audio products over it's more than 40 year history.
In a traditional room, the waveguide woofer offers significant advantages, without taking up spacer or a conventional woofer box. The waveguide woofers are less than 3 inches thick and can be painted any color.
