The Best Desktop Speaker

The best desktop speaker should be:

1. 
   Formaldehyde-free. What? Yes. Now that we know that nearly all the lumber used to make loudspeakers contain formaldehyde, a carcinogen banned from loudspeakers sold in California after December 31, 2010, do you want to be in a small room with a pair of loudspeakers off-gassing formaldehyde fumes or inches away from loudspeakers on your desk offgassing formaldehyde?
   
   
   
2. 
   Small. For practical reasons, including ease of placement and scarcity of space, especially on a desk, near-field loudspeakers should be small. Moreover, if they are not formaldehyde-free to begin with, small loudspeakers will limit your exposure to formaldehyde. In addition, all being equal, small loudspeakers image better because usually the drivers have to be placed closer together to fit on the baffle which brings them close to the ideal of being a point source.
   
   
   
3. 
   Acoustic suspension design. Although they are not as popular as they were in their heyday of the late 1950s through the 1970s, acoustic suspension (sealed box) loudspeakers that are the same size as ported loudspeakers will usually produce better and more accurate low bass response. Not more bass output, but better bass extension. They will also have better transient response which will contribute to better imaging and better resolution of low level detail. Moreover, if the loudspeakers are not formaldehyde-free, they will offgass less formaldehyde than ported loudspeakers which expose you to off-gassing from the outside surfaces as well as the internal surfaces of the loudspeakers and to any toxic glues or substances used inside the loudspeakers through the ports. Why are ported loudspeakers more popular? They are more efficient and produce more voluminous bass. But they don't work as well on a desktop or bookshelf because usually the ports are on the rear and that muddies-up the bass when they are placed near to rear walls. If you are a purest and value accurate reproduction, all other factors being equal, acoustic suspension loudspeakers have less distortion than ported loudspeakers. Small folded transmission line loudspeakers such as our Sampan FTL are an alternative to acoustic suspension design. The FTL has similar transient  response characteristics and even better bass extension than acoustic suspension designs of similar size. But I don't know of any other TL loudspeakers that are anywhere as small as our Sampan FTL.
   
   
   
4. 
   A point source or close to one. A point source loudspeaker is either a single driver loudspeaker or one where the tweeter and woofer are placed very close together so that their response simulate the response of single driver loudspeakers. Why is this important? If the loudspeakers don't use a single driver or a close-coupled two driver arrangement, then as you move up and down or side to side the distance between two or more drivers and your ears will change causing sound from the drivers in each loudspeaker to arrive at your ears at slightly different times which in turn cause slurring and the loss of low level information. A single driver or a two-way “point source” loudspeaker will provide more coherent, integrated and accurate sound because all the sound emanates from the same spot. In a multiway loudspeaker the sound becomes integrated further away from the loudspeaker because of the different distances between the drivers on the baffle and the listener. That does not bode well for listening in a desktop environment where you are a foot or two from the loudspeakers.
   
   
   
5. 
   Crossover-less or first order (6 dB per octave) design. With regard to crossover design,less is more. The more complex the crossover, the more current it soak's up, the more coloration it adds to music, and the more phase distortion it produces. Most of the really magical loudspeakers use only a few or no crossover components. In the ideal loudspeaker, a single drive full-range loudspeaker, the sound is continuous and integrated. A first order crossover allows considerable overlap of the output of the drivers which simulates the continuous output of a full-range single driver loudspeaker. There are no phase or discontinuity problems. In a multi-way loudspeaker the crossover or dividing network partitions the frequency spectrum to the different drivers. That is great for power handling but not so great for accuracy. Some discerning listeners can hear the separation or discontinuity that results from use of complex crossovers in loudspeakers, especially when they are seated near to the loudspeakers.

So what about sensitivity?
Well, it is less of an issue than you think. How many watts do you need to drive your loudspeakers to reasonable volume when you are sitting very close to the loudspeakers, especially in a small room? Not too many! But more important is the issue of accuracy and sound quality. As Dr. Floyd E. Toole, formally of Canad's National Research Council has observed, "Sadly, there is an approximately inverse relationship between sensitivity and sound quality... more often than not, the most sensitive speakers are slightly less refined in their sound quality and for a given box size, they will have poorer bass." The sensitivity issue is often a concern for those who want to build a music system around a particular low wattage amplifier. However, since the loudspeaker is the greatest determinant of the sound of music systems,  my advise is to start with the loudspeakers and and build the music system around them.

Small Loudspeakers sound, well, small.
Not necessarily. It all depends on how the loudspeakers are voiced. Voicing is an art. Done well, it makes small loudspeakers sound like large loudspeakers. In a one to one comparison between a well voiced small loudspeaker and a larger loudspeaker the difference in size will be obvious. But as you listen to a well voiced small loudspeaker you will forget about its size. To illustrate this point: In a recent review of our Sampan, the reviewer set up the pair of Sampans next to the a pair of Triange Cellos, which are roughly 18 times the size of the Sampans. Everyone thought the sound they were listening to was comming from the Cellos.

ER

www.roleaudio.com

Formaldehyde in loudspeakers poses significant health risks.

Formaldehyde in loudspeakers poses significant health risks. Role Audio is first loudspeaker company to offer a full line of formaldehyde-free loudspeakers. Plywood, Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF), paints and glues, that are widely used to manufacture loudspeaker cabinets, are made with formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is an allergen and carcinogen. Formaldehyde is particularly a problem because it is a volatile organic compound (VOC), which is a compound that vaporizes under normal conditions (also called "off-gas") into the indoor environment. Formaldehyde residues are major components of smog and thus have a broad impact on health.

The threat to health and the environment is so serious that the US state of California has passed regulation restricting formaldehyde emissions from any materials or products (including loudspeakers) sold in California after Dec 31, 2010. Other states and nations are expected to enact similar regulations. 

In small loudspeakers formaldehyde off-gassing is not that much of an issue. All things being equal, the smaller the loudspeaker the less the off-gassing. And off-gassing decays over time. That "new" smell you notice when you buy new speakers, furniture, cars, and carpeting, for example, is a result of off-gassing. And it is most often hazardous. The paint on the outside surfaces of loudspeakers seals the formaldehyde in to some extent. The problem is that the paints, even lacquer paints intended for indoor use also off-gas. Off-gassing from a vented speaker is a bigger issue because you are exposed to off-gassing from the outside of the loudspeakers as well as off-gassing from the raw, unpainted inner panels that seeps out through the ports. When you play a vented loudspeaker, the driver essentially acts as a fan blowing the accumulated off-gasses through the loudspeaker port into indoor air. 

Although formaldehyde-free boards and paints are becoming more available, they are very expensive, more difficult to work with, and the variety is quite limited. There are only two solutions to prevent formaldehyde off-gassing. (1) Seal the lumber with special non-toxic sealers. Or, (2) Use lumber that does not contain formaldehyde. We are making our loudspeakers more health-friendly and more environmentally-friendly by painting the outside surfaces with environmentally-friendly (certified green) paints and we are using environmentally-friendly (certified green) sealers to coat the unfinished inside panels of our vented transmission line loudspeakers to help to prevent off-gassing. We are also offering loudspeakers made with formaldehyde-free boards and painted with certified "green" or environmentally friendly paints as options.

We are proud to be the first loudspeaker company to manufacture formaldehyde-free loudspeakers to protect your health and the environment. We hope our pioneering efforts will encourage other loudspeaker manufacturers to follow our example.