Loudspeaker system with high sound projection in the air

Abstract

A loudspeaker system includes a chassis with a front end. At least one forward emitter driver is supported by the chassis to project sound along a first axis substantially perpendicular to the front end of the chassis. At least one upward emitter driver is supported by the chassis and positioned above the at least one forward emitter driver to project high-frequency sound along a second axis angularly offset from the first axis at an acute angle. A controller is programmed to provide the mid-frequency components of a front audio channel to the at least one forward emitter driver and the high-frequency components of a top audio channel to the upward emitter driver.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] One or more embodiments relate to a loudspeaker system with high-altitude sound projection. Background Technology

[0002] The audio system may include multiple speakers for providing sound from a 360° radius (i.e., “surround” sound) in a horizontal plane. The audio system may also include speakers for providing sound in a vertical plane, including floor-mounted speakers in combination with speakers mounted to a ceiling. Summary of the Invention

[0003] A loudspeaker system includes: a chassis having a front end; and at least one forward-emitting driver supported by the chassis to project sound along a first axis substantially perpendicular to the front end of the chassis. At least one upward-emitting driver is supported by the chassis and arranged at an acute angle above the at least one forward-emitting driver, wherein the at least one upward-emitting driver is adapted to project sound at frequencies above 1 kHz upward along a second axis angularly offset from the first axis by the acute angle.

[0004] In one or more embodiments, a loudspeaker system includes a chassis having a front end. At least one forward emitter driver is supported by the chassis to project sound along a first axis substantially perpendicular to the front end of the chassis. At least one upward emitter driver is supported by the chassis and positioned above the at least one forward emitter driver to project high-frequency sound along a second axis angularly offset from the first axis at an acute angle. A controller is programmed to provide the mid-frequency components of the front audio channel to the at least one forward emitter driver and the high-frequency components of the top audio channel to the upward emitter driver.

[0005] In one or more embodiments, a loudspeaker system includes: a chassis having a front end; and three drivers: a first driver, a second driver, and a third driver, the three drivers being supported by the chassis. The first driver projects sound along a first axis, which is generally perpendicular to the front end of the chassis. The second driver is positioned above the first driver to project high-frequency sound along a second axis, which is angularly offset from the first axis at an acute angle. The third driver is positioned below the first driver to project low-frequency sound along a third axis, which is generally parallel to the first axis. A controller is programmed to: provide the mid-frequency component of the front audio channel to the first driver; provide the high-frequency component of the top audio channel to the second driver as mid-frequency sound projected along the second axis; and provide the low-frequency component of the front audio channel to the third driver.

[0006] In one or more embodiments, a method for projecting high-altitude sound from a speaker system is provided. The mid-frequency component of the front audio channel is provided to a first driver for projection along a first axis, which is generally perpendicular to the front of the chassis. The high-frequency component of the top audio channel is provided to a second driver for projection as high-frequency sound along a second axis, which is angularly offset from the first axis at an acute angle. The low-frequency component of the front audio channel is provided to a third driver for projection of low-frequency sound along a third axis, which is generally parallel to the first axis. Attached Figure Description

[0007] Figure 1 It is a front perspective view of an audio system, including a loudspeaker system with high-altitude sound projection, within a listening environment, according to one or more embodiments;

[0008] Figure 2 yes Figure 1 A side view of one of the speaker systems, showing high-altitude sound projection and forward sound projection;

[0009] Figure 3 It is based on one or more implementation schemes. Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a loudspeaker system;

[0010] Figure 4 yes Figure 2 An enlarged view of a part of the loudspeaker system;

[0011] Figure 5 It shows the measurement Figure 2 A diagram showing the directivity of the loudspeaker system, including a test setup for measuring the position of the microphone relative to the loudspeaker system;

[0012] Figure 6 It shows from Figure 5 A graph of the frequency response curve for each microphone;

[0013] Figure 7 It is a graph showing the forward directionality curve and the target directionality curve;

[0014] Figure 8 This is a front perspective view of an audio system that includes another speaker system with high-altitude sound projection within the listening environment.

[0015] Figure 9 It is a front perspective view of an audio system, including other speaker systems with high-altitude sound projection, within a listening environment, according to one or more embodiments. Detailed Implementation

[0016] Detailed embodiments are disclosed herein as needed; however, it will be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary and may be embodied in various and alternative forms. The accompanying drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale; some features may be enlarged or minimized to show details of specific components. Therefore, the specific structural and functional details disclosed herein should not be construed as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for instructing those skilled in the art to employ this disclosure in different ways.

[0017] refer to Figure 1 A loudspeaker system with high-altitude sound projection according to one or more embodiments is shown, and the loudspeaker system is indicated by the numeral 100. The loudspeaker system 100 includes an upward-emitting driver 102 and one or more forward-emitting drivers 104 supported by a chassis 106. The upward-emitting driver 102 is mounted to the upper portion of the chassis 106 and is arranged to project a top-emitted sound beam about an upward axis 108 toward an upper surface (e.g., a top plate), thereby reflecting toward a target listening area. This reflected top-emitted sound beam simulates the sound generated by a loudspeaker (not shown) mounted to the top plate. The forward-emitting driver 104 is mounted within the chassis below the upward-emitting driver 102 and is arranged to project a forward sound beam about a forward axis 110 and from the front of the chassis 106 toward the target listening area. According to one or more embodiments, the loudspeaker system 100 includes a base 112 resting on a lower surface and supporting the chassis 106 in a tower or column configuration.

[0018] The speaker system 100 can be combined with other audio, visual, and peripheral devices to provide a home entertainment system 114. In one or more embodiments, the audio devices include a box speaker 118 and a second speaker system 120, distributed throughout the room to provide sound from a wide radius in a horizontal plane. In other embodiments, the home entertainment system 114 also includes side speakers and rear speakers (not shown) to collectively provide 360-degree “surround” sound. Similar to the speaker system 100, the second speaker system 120 includes an upward-emitting driver 122 and one or more forward-emitting drivers 124 supported by a chassis 126. The upward-emitting driver 122 projects a top-emitting sound beam about an upward axis 128, and the forward-emitting driver 124 projects a forward sound beam directly toward the target listening area about a forward axis 130. The second speaker system 120 also includes a base 132 that supports the chassis 126 in a tower or column configuration. The speakers can be portable wireless speakers or fixed wired speakers.

[0019] Home entertainment system 114 may also include a television 134 and an audio source 136, such as a DVD player, video game console, audio receiver, and router. Home entertainment system 114 also includes a home controller 142 for controlling various aspects of the devices included in home entertainment system 114. For example, home controller 142 may split audio from audio source 136 into multiple channels corresponding to different locations in the room (e.g., front center, left front, right front, left rear, right rear, left upper, right upper, etc.). Home controller 142 may include crossover functionality and split audio into different channels based on frequency (e.g., high, mid, low, etc.). Home controller 142 may provide audio channels to appropriate speakers. For example, home controller 142 may provide the right front and upper right audio channels to speaker system 100 and the left front and upper left audio channels to a second speaker system 120. In other embodiments, home controller 142 provides all audio channels to each speaker, and the speaker selects the appropriate channel based on its location.

[0020] As described above, the home controller 142 can split audio into multiple channels, including a top channel or an altitude channel. Such a top channel can be used by an audio source to simulate stationary or moving high-altitude sounds, such as an airplane flying at high altitude. Existing home audio systems may include ceiling-mounted speakers (not shown) to provide such top channel sound. However, ceiling-mounted speakers can be expensive and difficult to install and / or difficult to move after installation.

[0021] refer to Figure 2The loudspeaker system 100 simulates high-altitude sound from floor-mounted loudspeaker assemblies, which are typically cheaper and easier to install than ceiling-mounted loudspeakers. An upward-emitting driver 102 projects a top-emitted sound beam 144 (shown in dashed lines) toward the ceiling about an upward axis 108, and this beam reflects downward toward the target listening area. The surface of the ceiling is composed of suitable materials and textures to reflect the top-emitted sound beam 144 downward into the listening environment. A forward-emitting driver 104 projects a forward sound beam 146 (shown in dashed lines) into the listening environment about a forward axis 110. The top-emitted sound beam 144 takes longer to reach the target listening area than the forward sound beam 146 due to its indirect sound path and the spatial distance between the beams.

[0022] refer to Figure 3 According to one or more embodiments, loudspeaker system 100 is a passive or active loudspeaker system having a linear array of drivers arranged in a narrow chassis. Loudspeaker system 100 includes a controller 148 connected to a separate amplifier (not shown). Loudspeaker system 100 includes an upward-emitting driver 102 and a plurality of forward-emitting drivers arranged in a tower / pillar loudspeaker configuration within a vertical linear array within chassis 106. The plurality of forward-emitting drivers includes: a first forward-emitting driver 104, a first intermediate driver 150, a second intermediate driver 152, and a bottom driver 154. The bottom driver 154 may be a single full-range driver or a plurality of drivers arranged in any configuration to provide forward-facing sound.

[0023] Directivity is a measure of the directional characteristics of a sound source. It is usually expressed as the directivity index, measured in decibels, or the dimensionless value of Q. Directivity indicates how much sound will be directed toward a specific area / direction compared to all the sound energy generated by the source. Increased directivity means that the sound energy will be saturated in a particular direction.

[0024] The loudspeaker system 100 includes a vertical linear array of constant beamwidth transducers (drivers) to provide a substantially uniform sound field and superior directivity within the listening area. According to one or more embodiments, the drivers are small-diameter drivers (e.g., 20 to 40 mm) to be fitted into narrow enclosures, such as Harman's Radiance Tower. TM Conventional loudspeakers typically offer one optimal listening position, while for loudspeaker system 100, the entire target listening area is the optimal listening position. The superior directivity behavior of the SST means that custom sound beams can be implemented to direct sound in a specific direction with high directivity. Furthermore, multiple sound beams can be superimposed to deliver different sounds at different locations / angles. This makes the SST an excellent solution for simultaneously directing sound beams from the same array directly towards the listener and towards the ceiling (to provide a sense of high-altitude sound).

[0025] Home controller 142 splits the audio signal into multiple channels corresponding to different locations and provides one or more channels to controller 148 associated with the location of speaker system 100, such as front right channel (FR) and top right channel (TR).

[0026] Controller 148 includes circuitry for adjusting the heard signal for each driver to improve the directivity of loudspeaker system 100. Controller 148 includes a crossover filter for dividing the channel signal into different frequency bands. Controller 148 may also include delay circuitry to time-align forward-emitting drivers 104, 150, 152, and 154 with upward-emitting driver 102 by compensating for the spatial distance between corresponding sound beams relative to the listening area. Controller 148 may also include gain circuitry for amplifying sound components, or attenuation circuitry for attenuating sound components to compensate for efficiency differences between drivers or to perform amplitude beam control across drivers. Controller 148 may also include equalization circuitry for adjusting the frequency response of each driver to achieve the cumulative (overall) desired frequency response. According to one or more embodiments, controller 148 may be implemented via a digital signal processor (DSP), or may include analog transmission line circuitry components, such as inductors, capacitors, and resistors.

[0027] Although controller 148 is shown as a single controller, it may comprise multiple controllers or be embodied as software code within one or more other controllers. Controller 148 typically includes any number of microprocessors, ASICs, ICs, memories (e.g., flash memory, ROM, RAM, EPROM, and / or EEPROM), and software code to cooperate with each other to perform a series of operations. Such hardware and / or software may be combined in components to perform certain functions. Any one or more of the controllers or devices described herein include computer-executable instructions that can be compiled or interpreted from computer programs created using various programming languages ​​and / or techniques. Generally, a processor (such as a microprocessor) receives and executes instructions, for example, from memory, a computer-readable medium, etc. Processing units include non-transitory computer-readable storage media capable of executing the instructions of a software program. Computer-readable storage media may be, but are not limited to, electronic storage devices, magnetic storage devices, optical storage devices, electromagnetic storage devices, semiconductor storage devices, or any suitable combination thereof. According to one or more embodiments, controller 148 also includes predetermined data or a "lookup table" stored in memory.

[0028] It should be noted that, according to one or more embodiments, the upward emitter driver 102 is a high-frequency tweeter mounted to the upper portion 158 of the chassis 106. In one or more embodiments, the upward emitter driver 102 is a high-intensity, high-sensitivity, small-diameter high-frequency (1.3kHz to 20kHz) tweeter, for example, the Tymphany model D26NC05-06. The controller 148 includes circuitry for regulating the upper right (TR) channel signal supplied to the upward emitter driver 102. The controller 148 includes a cutoff frequency (f... c0 A high-pass filter 160 is used to remove the low-frequency components of the TR channel signal. In one or more embodiments, the cutoff frequency (f...) c0 The frequency response is 1.5 kHz. The controller 148 also includes a delay circuit 162 with a delay (d0) to compensate for the spatial distance between corresponding sound beams relative to the listening area. Since the top-emitting sound beam 144 takes an indirect path to reach the listening area, it is typically the slowest signal. Therefore, in one or more embodiments, the delay (d0) is zero seconds. The controller 148 includes a gain circuit 164 with a gain (G0) to amplify the sound components to compensate for efficiency differences between the drivers. According to one or more embodiments, since the upward-emitting driver 102 is a high-efficiency, high-frequency tweeter, (G0) is equal to one or unity gain. The controller 148 also includes an equalization circuit 166 with a parametric equalizer (PEQ) filter to implement a highly cueing filter and modify the frequency response of the sound beam.

[0029] According to one or more embodiments, the first forward transmit driver 104 is a broadband driver, mounted within chassis 106 below the upward transmit driver 102, and arranged to project a forward beam 146 toward a target listening area from the front 168 of chassis 106 around a forward axis 110. In one or more embodiments, the first forward transmit driver 104 is a mid-range driver. Controller 148 includes circuitry for regulating the right front (FR) channel signal supplied to the first forward transmit driver 104. Controller 148 includes features allowing (f L1 to f H1 A wideband pass filter 170 is used for frequencies between 200 Hz and 2 kHz. In one or more embodiments, the wideband pass filter 170 allows frequencies between 200 Hz and 2 kHz. The controller 148 may also include a delay circuit 172 with a delay (d1) for time-aligning the first forward emitter driver 104 with the upward emitter driver 102 by compensating for the spatial distance between the corresponding sound beams relative to the listening area. The controller 148 includes a gain circuit 174 with a gain (G1) for amplifying the sound components to compensate for efficiency differences between the drivers. The controller 148 also includes an equalization circuit 176 with a PEQ filter for adjusting the frequency response.

[0030] According to one or more embodiments, a first intermediate driver 150 and a second intermediate driver 152 are mounted within a chassis 106 below a first forward transmitter driver 104 and are arranged to project a forward beam (not shown) toward a target listening area from the front 168 of the chassis 106 about a forward axis parallel to the forward axis 110. In one or more embodiments, the pair of intermediate drivers are mid-range drivers. A controller 148 includes circuitry for regulating the right front (FR) channel signal provided to the first intermediate driver 150 and the second intermediate driver 152.

[0031] Controller 148 includes features that allow (f L2 to f H2 A bandpass filter 180 is used for frequencies between 400 Hz and 1.5 kHz. In one or more embodiments, the wideband pass filter 180 allows frequencies between 400 Hz and 1.5 kHz. The controller 148 may also include a delay circuit 182 with a delay (d2) for time-aligning the first intermediate driver 150 with the up-transmit driver 102 by compensating for the spatial distance between corresponding sound beams relative to the listening area. The controller 148 includes a gain circuit 184 with a gain (G2) for amplifying sound components to compensate for efficiency differences between the drivers. The controller 148 also includes an equalization circuit 186 with a PEQ filter for adjusting the frequency response.

[0032] Controller 148 includes features that allow (f L3 to f H3 A bandpass filter 190 is used to filter frequencies between 400 Hz and 1.5 kHz. In one or more embodiments, the wideband pass filter 190 allows frequencies between 400 Hz and 1.5 kHz. The controller 148 may also include a delay circuit 192 with a delay (d3) for time-aligning the second intermediate driver 152 with the up-transmit driver 102 by compensating for the spatial distance between the corresponding sound beams relative to the listening area. The controller 148 includes a gain circuit 194 with a gain (G3) for amplifying the sound components to compensate for efficiency differences between the drivers. The controller 148 also includes an equalization circuit 196 with a PEQ filter for adjusting the frequency response.

[0033] According to one or more embodiments, the lower driver 154 is mounted within the chassis 106 below the intermediate drivers 150, 152, and is arranged to project a forward beam (not shown) toward the target listening area from the front 168 of the chassis 106 around a forward axis parallel to the forward axis 110. It should be noted that the combination of four drivers projects sound upwards, and although in one or more embodiments three of the four drivers face forward, the overall acoustic profile is configured to project sound upwards toward the top panel. The forward-facing components are primarily located at 104, such as... Figure 1 As shown. In one or more embodiments, the lower driver 154 includes an array of drivers, such as Harman's Radiance. TM or Citation TM Tower. Controller 148 includes circuitry for regulating the right front (FR) channel signal supplied to the lower driver 154. Controller 148 includes a cutoff frequency (f... L4 A low-pass filter 200 is used to remove the high-frequency components of the FR channel signal. In one or more embodiments, the cutoff frequency (f) is... L4 The frequency response is 500Hz. The controller 148 may also include a delay circuit 202 with a delay (d4) for timing the lower driver 154 with the upward transmitting driver 102 by compensating for the spatial distance between corresponding sound beams relative to the listening area. The controller 148 includes a gain circuit 204 with a gain (G4) for amplifying the sound components to compensate for efficiency differences between the drivers. The controller 148 also includes an equalization circuit 206 with a (PEQ) filter for adjusting the frequency response.

[0034] Figure 3 The circuit elements of the controller 148 shown can be implemented as an analog circuit using known analog components (e.g., capacitors, inductors, resistors, etc.) and known circuit designs. Alternatively, it can be implemented as a digital circuit using digital signal processor (DSP) components, logic gates, programmable arrays, or other digital circuits.

[0035] refer to Figure 4 The directivity of the speaker system 100 can also be improved by changing the mechanical parameters of the speaker, such as the tilt angle (α) or span angle (β) of the driver, the vertical spacing or height (h) between the drivers, the lateral width position (W) of the driver relative to the outer surface of the chassis 106, and the frequency of the driver.

[0036] The tilt angle (α) of each driver refers to the angular offset between the driver's firing axis and an imaginary axis extending through the center of the driver and perpendicular to the front of the chassis 106. The subtraction angle (β) refers to the angular offset between the firing axes of two vertically adjacent drivers. In one or more embodiments, the forward-firing drivers 104, 150, and 152 each have a tilt angle (α) of zero degrees and a subtraction angle (β) of zero degrees relative to the lower driver. The upward-firing driver 102 has an acute tilt angle (α0) equal to its subtraction angle (β0) and between 60 and 80 degrees. In one or more embodiments, both α0 and β0 are equal to 70 degrees.

[0037] The vertical spacing or height (h) between drivers is based on the size of the drivers, and the directivity increases with the number of drivers in the linear array. In one or more embodiments, the drivers are spaced equally, for example, at 40 mm intervals.

[0038] The lateral width position (W) of the upward-emitting driver relative to the outer surface of the chassis 106 is also based on the size of the driver. In one or more embodiments, the upward-emitting driver is located at the center between the front surface 168 and the rear surface 208 of the chassis 106, for example, such that W1 and W2 are equal to 40 mm.

[0039] Figure 5 A test apparatus for measuring the directivity of a loudspeaker system (such as loudspeaker system 100) in multiple directions is shown. The test apparatus includes a first microphone 502 for measuring forward directivity and a second microphone 504 for measuring backward directivity.

[0040] Figure 6 It is a graph showing the first frequency response curve 602 measured by the first microphone 502 and the second frequency response curve 604 measured by the second microphone 504. Figure 7 It is a graph showing the forward directionality curve 702 and the target directionality curve 704.

[0041] Figure 8 and Figure 9 Additional embodiments are shown, in which a loudspeaker system with high-altitude sound projection is implemented in different types of loudspeaker components. Reference Figure 8A soundbar loudspeaker system with high-altitude sound projection according to one or more embodiments is shown, and the loudspeaker system is indicated by digit 800. The loudspeaker system 800 includes a pair of upward emitter drivers 802, 803 and a pair of forward emitter drivers 804, 805, entirely supported by a chassis 806. The upward emitter driver 802 is mounted to the upper portion of the chassis 806 and is arranged to project a top-emitted sound beam toward an upper surface (e.g., a top plate) about upward axes 808, 809, thereby reflecting toward a target listening area. This reflected top-emitted sound beam simulates the sound generated by a loudspeaker (not shown) mounted to the top plate. The forward emitter driver 804 is mounted within the chassis below the upward emitter driver 802 and is arranged to project a forward sound beam toward the target listening area about forward axes 810, 811 and from the front of the chassis 806. According to one or more embodiments, the loudspeaker system 800 is implemented in a soundbar enclosure.

[0042] refer to Figure 9 A pair of box-type loudspeaker systems with high-altitude sound projection are illustrated according to one or more embodiments, and the loudspeaker system is indicated by digit 900. Each loudspeaker system 900 includes an upward-emitting driver 902 supported by a housing 906 and at least one forward-emitting driver 904. Each upward-emitting driver 902 is mounted to the upper portion of the housing 906 and is arranged to project a top-emitted sound beam toward an upper surface (e.g., a top plate) about an upward axis 908, thereby reflecting toward a target listening area. The reflected top-emitted sound beam simulates the sound generated by a loudspeaker (not shown) mounted to the top plate. Each forward-emitting driver 904 is mounted within the housing below the corresponding upward-emitting driver 902 and is arranged to project a forward sound beam toward the target listening area about a forward axis (not shown) and from the front of the housing 906. According to one or more embodiments, the loudspeaker system 900 is implemented in a box-type loudspeaker enclosure.

[0043] While exemplary embodiments have been described above, these embodiments are not intended to describe all possible forms. Rather, the terms used herein are descriptive rather than limiting, and it should be understood that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure. Furthermore, features of various implementations may be combined to form other embodiments.

Claims

1. A loudspeaker system, the loudspeaker system comprising: A chassis, the chassis having a front end; At least one forward-emitting driver, the at least one forward-emitting driver being supported by the chassis to project sound along a first axis, the first axis being substantially perpendicular to the front of the chassis; At least one upward transmitting driver, the at least one upward transmitting driver being supported by the chassis and arranged above the at least one forward transmitting driver to project high-frequency sound along a second axis, the second axis being angularly offset from the first axis at an acute angle; as well as The controller is programmed to: The intermediate frequency component of the front audio channel is provided to the at least one forward transmit driver, and The high-frequency components of the top audio channel are provided to the upward transmit driver. The controller is also programmed to apply gain to the intermediate frequency component based on the efficiency difference between the at least one forward-emitting driver and the at least one upward-emitting driver.

2. The loudspeaker system of claim 1, wherein the controller is further programmed to: The top audio channel is filtered to remove low-frequency components below the cutoff frequency of 1 kHz; and The front audio channel is filtered to remove frequency components outside the 200 Hz to 2 kHz frequency band.

3. The speaker system of claim 1, wherein the controller is further programmed to filter the mid-frequency component of the front audio channel to include a time delay corresponding to the spatial distance difference between the chassis and the listening area along the first axis and the second axis reflected from the upper surface.

4. The speaker system of claim 1, wherein the controller is further programmed to equalize the high-frequency components of the top audio channel based on the room height near the chassis.

5. The loudspeaker system of claim 1, further comprising: A low-frequency driver, supported by the chassis, to project sound along a third axis that is generally parallel to the first axis; and The controller is also programmed to provide the low-frequency component of the front audio channel to the low-frequency driver.

6. The loudspeaker system of claim 1, wherein the enclosure is formed in one of the following configurations: column enclosure, bar enclosure, and box enclosure.

7. The loudspeaker system of claim 1, wherein the chassis is formed in a columnar speaker configuration and the acute angle is between 60 degrees and 80 degrees.

8. The loudspeaker system of claim 7, wherein each of the at least one forward-emitting driver and the at least one upward-emitting driver is configured to have a diameter of 20 mm to 40 mm.

9. The loudspeaker system of claim 8, wherein the vertical spacing between the at least one forward-emitting driver and the at least one upward-emitting driver is 40 mm.

10. The loudspeaker system of claim 9, wherein the upward-emitting driver is centrally positioned between the front and rear surfaces of the chassis.

11. A home entertainment system, the home entertainment system comprising: A first speaker system and a second speaker system, each of which is a speaker system according to claim 1, wherein the first speaker system is installed in the front right part of the room and the second speaker system is installed in the front left part of the room.

12. A loudspeaker system, the loudspeaker system comprising: A chassis, the chassis having a front end; A first driver, supported by the chassis, projects sound along a first axis that is substantially perpendicular to the front of the chassis; A second driver, supported by the chassis and positioned above the first driver, projects high-frequency sound along a second axis that is angularly offset from the first axis at an acute angle. as well as A third driver, supported by the chassis and positioned below the first driver, projects low-frequency sound along a third axis that is generally parallel to the first axis. The controller is programmed to: The intermediate frequency component of the front audio channel is provided to the first driver. The high-frequency components of the top audio channel are provided to the second driver to project mid-frequency sound along the second axis, and The low-frequency components of the front audio channel are provided to the third driver. The controller is also programmed to apply gain to the intermediate frequency component based on the efficiency difference between the first driver and the second driver.

13. The loudspeaker system of claim 12, wherein the controller is further programmed to: The top audio channel is filtered to remove frequency components below the cutoff frequency of 1 kHz; and The front audio channel is filtered to remove frequency components outside the 200 Hz to 2 kHz frequency band.

14. The speaker system of claim 12, wherein the controller is further programmed to filter the mid-frequency component of the front audio channel to include a time delay corresponding to the spatial distance difference between the chassis and the listening area along the first axis and the second axis reflected from the upper surface.

15. The speaker system of claim 12, wherein the controller is further programmed to equalize the high-frequency components based on the room height near the chassis.

16. A method for projecting high-altitude sound from a loudspeaker system, the method comprising: The intermediate frequency component of the front audio channel is provided to the first driver for projection along a first axis that is substantially perpendicular to the front of the chassis. The high-frequency component of the top audio channel is provided to the second driver to project high-frequency sound along the second axis, which is angularly offset from the first axis at an acute angle. as well as The low-frequency component of the front audio channel is provided to a third driver to project low-frequency sound along a third axis that is generally parallel to the first axis. The high-frequency components of the top audio channel are equalized based on the room height near the chassis.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising: The intermediate frequency component of the front audio channel is filtered to include a time delay corresponding to the spatial distance difference between the chassis and the listening area along the first and second axes.

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