CUSTOMER SUPPORT

• Service Centers
• Downloads
• Warranty
• FAQs
• Glossary
• Contact

ABOUT ATHENA

• About Athena
• Product Lines

Glossary

Absorption (Surfaces)

Some surfaces absorb acoustical energy because sound can enter them (usually because the surface is porous) and is dissipated by being reflected off of internal structures in the material, such as fibers. In this mechanism, sound energy is converted into a minute amount of heat within the absorbing material.

Acoustic Power Level (PWL)

The total sound energy radiated by a source per unit time. The unit of measure is the acoustic watt. Also known as "sound power".

Ampere (A)

Often shortened to "amp" or "amps", amperes are a unit of electric current, or the amount of electric charge per second. Named for French physicist and mathematician André-Marie Ampère.

Amplifier

An electronic device which amplifies a signal that is sent to it; a device providing the power to make a speaker operate.

Amplitude Modulation

The amplitude of the carrier voltage is caused to vary directly with the modulating voltage. The principle by which AM radio works.

Amplitude-Frequency Response (Magnitude Response)

The variation of gain, loss, amplification, or attenuation; a function of frequency.

Anechoic Chamber

Anechoic chambers are commonly used in acoustics to conduct experiments in nominally "free field" conditions. All sound energy will be traveling away from the source with almost none reflected back. In general, the interior of an anechoic chamber is very quiet, with typical noise levels in the 10-20 dBA range. The term "Anechoic" is defined as "neither having nor producing echoes", a condition which an Anechoic Chamber is designed to approach as closely as possible.

Anti-Clipping Circuit

This circuit is a power limiter by design, that detects when an amplifer sends a severly overdriven signal. When such a signal is detected the circuit witholds power to the system. The idea is to prevent the kind of severe damage clipping can cause to speaker drivers. This circuit is used between athena subwoofer amplifiers and the subwoofer driver.

Auto On / Off Circuitry

The "Auto On / Off" circuit is a convenient circuit which can detect an input signal from a receiver or amplifier and can be used to trigger the mains power of a device equipped with it. Likewise it can also be used to determine if there has been no input signal for a period of time and disable the mains power. This is especially useful in Subwoofers so that they can be left in an auto on / off mode and thus do not consume power when not in use; making it convienent for the user to not have to manually switch the device on or off. This type of circuitry is solid state in design, so the turn-on sequence is extremely quick.

Band Pass Enclosure

Refers to a type of speaker cabinet enclosure, typically seen used in compact subwoofer designs. This type of enclosure places the driver inside of the cabinet, mounted on a baffle. The design divides the air space into two chambers, and makes the most of the limited air space within the cabinet. It differs from a bass-reflex system where the driver is mounted such that it directs it's energy into the open air. The Band Pass Enclosure is the mst efficient method when working with a small volume of air, and thus enables the design of smaller, more compact subwoofers. The athena TECHNOLOGIES® SCT™ P1 Subwoofer is an example of this type of subwoofer enclosure.