Modeling and Testing of Loudspeakers Used in Sound-Field Control

This chapter describes the physical modeling and output-based measurement of loudspeakers, essential hardware components in sound-field control. A gray box model represents linear, time-variant, nonlinear, and non-deterministic signal distortions. Each distortion component requires a particular measurement technique that includes test stimulus generation, sound pressure measurement at selected points in 3D space, and signal analysis for generating meaningful metrics. Near-field scanning measures all signal components at a large signal-to-noise ratio with minor errors caused by loudspeaker positioning, air temperature, room reflections, and ambient noise. Holographic postprocessing based on a spherical wave expansion separates the direct sound from room reflections to assess the linear output and signal distortion. New metrics are presented that simplify the interpretation of the loudspeaker properties at single points, sound zones, and over the entire sound-field