Secret Sound®Q - What is the best height to mount the Secret Sound® speakers?
A - Most Secret Sound® speakers are mounted from 8-10 feet above the floor, but they perform well up to 20 feet or higher. There will be a slight increase in the coverage of the beam of sound the further the speaker gets from the listener.
Q - How many people can listen to each speaker at a time/
A - Under ideal conditions (noisy room, master recording with sharp roll-off below 500 Hz) the “spot” of sound at the floor will accommodate about 2 listeners. Two chairs placed side by side will both be within the beam of sound from one Secret Sound® speaker. Wider coverage may occur in situations where the room is very quiet and the recording has lots of low frequency (bass) and volume fluctuation. Additional coverage can also be achieved by mounting the speakers horizontally so they wash over listeners on a bench, in a row of seats, or standing in a line. This requires an absorbent surface at the end of the beam to stop the beam from extending on into other areas. (These beams can project 80 - 200 feet, and bounce off walls and other hard surfaces, causing interesting but sometimes unwanted effects.)
Q - Are these speakers amplified?
A - No, you will need an amplified sound source for these speakers to work. They require only a small amount of power, however, and large amps can damage the speakers. About 6-8 watts of power is adequate for the Secret Sound® speakers.
Q - What kind of player will I need?
A - Secret Sound® speakers will play using any sound source, including CD player, digital recorders, DVD layers and computers.
Q - Is this speaker stereo?
A - No. We decided when we created the Secret Sound® speaker 20 years ago that it needed to be durable, elegant and versatile: museum quality. We felt then and still do that there is inadequate separation to make focused stereo anything other than a novelty, and the loss of versatility was not worth it. A stereo speaker has two sound sources converging on the listener in a “sweet spot” of stereo. This sweet spot must be a fixed distance from the listener, meaning that the speaker can only be mounted at one height off the floor. Also, the fixed spot of stereo can be too high for children or listeners in wheelchairs.
Q - How is the Secret Sound® speaker different from the other focused sound speakers?
A - We at Museum Tools originated the concept of focused sound 20 years ago. Other companies have copied us since then, and continue to make claims about their products, but we believe no one has equaled our quality, design or service. All reflected speakers work on the same principle, are affected by the quality of the recording and the noise levels in the room, and will succeed or fail depending on the balance of these two factors. That said, however, we believe that the Secret Sound® speaker’s track record and customer satisfaction speaks for itself.
Q - How soon after ordering can I receive my speakers?
A - We ship within 48 hours of receipt of your order.