The AIRPULSE P100X multi-driver wireless desktop speaker system. This present iteration of an old school FM radio packs multiple drivers into the system, including a pair of patented “Air-Blade” tweeters, and one proprietary 4.5 inch long-throw mid-woofer with Aluminum diaphragm. With Qualcomm Bluetooth audio receiver and high-end digital power amplifier platform added, all components are fine tuned to work together seamlessly, while housed in a stunning walnut veneer finish.
Exquisite design details and high-quality audio components make this a one-of-a-kind home audio system made to stand out. Its all-in-one acoustic design allows unrestricted positioning.
The patented Air-Blade tweeter, designed by renowned speaker designer and sound engineer, Phil Jones features a far smoother frequency response, and can out-perform any normal dome tweeter. Form factor in the oval-shaped diaphragm brings in special acoustic characteristics which helps dispersion of high frequencies more efficiently. One prominent feature the Air-Blade tweeters bring about is the minimum impact on speaker positioning. You can walk around while still experiencing the same sound effects.
The proprietary 4.5-inch long-throw mid-woofer with aluminum diaphragm, effectively controls sound colorization caused by diaphragm partitioning, which greatly reduces speaker coloration, and it can “dive down” deeply. The use of passive radiators not only enhances low frequencies but also eliminates the possible wind noise caused by the bass reflex port, to maintain distinctive pure and natural tonal characteristics, a signature sound from Phil Jones.
The system uses two pieces of high efficiency Class-D power amplifiers from Texas Instruments. With low ripple switch-mode power supply, DSP-based electronic crossover and dynamic range control, the amplifiers provide sufficient output power for the drivers. Two audio input sources, Bluetooth and Line-In, are included. The AIRPULSE P100x is proudly cabled by TRANPARENT speaker wires internally to guarantee zero signal loss.
The AIRPULSE Air-Blade tweeter
Although a single loudspeaker can virtually cover the full audio range from low to high frequencies they are not able to do this with true fidelity. A loudspeaker shouldn’t just provide a flat frequency response, (that means to provide equal sound output at any frequency so as not to color the sound) but to also provide a very controlled dispersion of sound evenly from low to high notes.
If you could see sound as light, a narrow dispersion would be like a car headlamp pointing in a narrow band in one direction. A wide dispersion lamp would be a ceiling light that projects to all corners of a room. Small diameter speakers have a wider dispersion of higher frequencies than larger speakers and this is to do with simple acoustics. If the diameter of the speaker is larger than the speaker is larger than the wavelength of a note, then the dispersion will be narrow. Sound frequencies can be as small as 10mm and be as long as 17meters on very low bass notes.
This is why if you are at the side of the speaker (or even behind it) you can still hear the bass but less of treble frequencies and this is why you often need two or more loudspeaker units in an enclosure: Large for bass and small for treble. There are other considerations too such as many larger loudspeakers are simply not capable of reproducing high frequencies
A typically good quality speaker will have a cone woofer; anything from 4 to 10 inches and a dome type tweeter typically from 15-25mm diameter or ¾ to 1 inch. The shape and size of the dome will have significant effect on how it will disperse the sound. Small domes tend to have wider dispersion than smaller ones. However, a dome has a uniform dispersion. If it were light you would see it radiate out like the shape of a cone. This is fine if you are sitting down in a sweet spot between say a pair of stereo speakers. Dome material has great effect on the sound too. Many domes are made from a soft material such as silk and some use metals such as aluminum or even titanium because they are relatively stiff and light metals. Better sounding tweeters tend to use metal, particularly aluminum due to its “work hardening” over time and this matures the speaker over its age refining the sound. Like a fine musical instrument, the more it is played, the better it will sound. And that’s why a 400-year-old violin can cost millions of dollars.
The patented AIRPULSE Air-Blade tweeter has a most unique sound and this is due to its shape. The downside is it takes a huge degree of manufacturing know-how (like AIRPULSE) to make this. Nearly all loudspeakers have round coils with round magnets. In manufacturing, making round things is a lot easier than any other shape. For example, you cannot drill a square hole.
So, we learnt by trial and error how to produce oval voice coils and magnets that would encompass them to an extremely high precision of less than 1/1000 inch. The Air-Blade tweeter is simply far more accurate than any type of dome tweeter available today.
- It has a flatter frequency response
- It has a better high frequency output and can easily reproduce the highest audio frequencies
But one of the most outstanding features by the Air-Blade tweeter is its incredible dispersion characteristics. If you just sat down and faced this speaker, you may not even notice this. What you would hear is this speaker perform its best and that is exactly what it does, no matter where you are located in the room. There is no need for a sweet spot in this instance. If you think about it the difference between you standing or sitting (just a few centimeters) is very small compared to moving around in your room (and maybe quite a few meters).
4.5″ Aluminum Diaphragm with long-throw Mid-Woofer
The Mid-woofer is a 4.5 inch unit with a hard anodized aluminum alloy cone suspended in a heavy, ultra rigid cast magnesium alloy
frame. The Proprietary Aluminum Alloy Cone (PAAC) of the mid-woofer was designed from painstaking analysis of many types of cone geometry and materials using a Klippel Laser Doppler Interferometer. The 30mm diameter voice coil is unusually larger than most loudspeakers of this size. It has been shown that larger voice coils have less power compression because they run at a cooler operating temperature. Sonically this means a more realistic dynamic representation of the music. It is dynamics in music that gives it emotion and exhilaration. For uncompromised performance, the woofer uses a hyper-rigid cast-magnesium alloy frame. Its rigidity greatly reduces speaker coloration; and its material helps to dissipate heat efficiently from the voice coil much faster than a typical steel speaker frame, which all in combination leads to increased dynamics and power handling.
TRANSPARENT Speaker wire transmits accurate signals and brings you closer to music
The P100x uses US audio cable manufacturer, TRANSPARENT which is known for its high degree of accuracy and resolution. This accurate signal transmission further enhances the performance of the tweeter and mid/woofer in the system to give you a fulfilling musical experience.
Cabinet constructed by high-strength MDF builds a foundation for superior sound quality
The Mid-woofer is a 4.5 inch unit with a hard anodized aluminum alloy cone suspended in a heavy, ultra rigid cast magnesium alloy frame.
The Proprietary Aluminum Alloy Cone (PAAC) of the mid-woofer was designed from painstaking analysis of many types of cone geometry and materials using a Klippel Laser Doppler Interferometer.
The 30mm diameter voice coil is unusually larger than most loudspeakers of this size. It has been shown that larger voice coils have less power compression because they run at a cooler operating temperature. Sonically this means a more realistic dynamic representation of the music. It is dynamics in music that gives it emotion and exhilaration.
For uncompromising performance, the woofer uses a hyper-rigid cast-magnesium alloy frame. Its rigidity greatly reduces speaker coloration; and its material helps to dissipate heat efficiently from the voice coil much faster than a typical steel speaker frame, which all in combination leads to increased dynamics and power handling.
Ultra-low distortion digital power amplifier system
P100x features two pieces of TAS5805M Class D amplifier from Texas Instrument. One of the amplifiers is connected in BTL mode to drive the two Air-Blade tweeters, the other one is connected in PBTL to drive the woofer. TAS5805M is among Texas Instruments’ new line of Close loop Class D amplifiers, featuring a digital input with up to 96KHz sample rate support, and maximum 45W output power in PBTL mode. Its 768KHz output PWM carrier frequency is ideal for rendering high resolution sound and driving high sensitivity drivers like the Air-Blade. Analog front end of P100x is TI’s top-of-line ADC chip PCM1802 and is configured to run with 96KHz sample rate to provide up to 40KHz frequency response, which guarantees no loss of signal when into P100’s digital system. Bluetooth receiver of P100x is Qualcomm’s latest V5.0 chipset QCC3031, which can support aptX HD codec, offering a lower distortion, higher resolution Bluetooth audio effect than traditional SBC codec.
