Some speakers slant, some don't. Why?

[firedog]

12 hours ago, coot said:

Floor-standing speaker designs are all over the place. I know the slanty ones are designed so for the purpose of time alignment. One question is, if time alignment is super important, why are there so many designed with flat fronts, apparently ignoring TA?

 

Also, can TA be corrected in the digital domain as part of DSP?

Yes, if you want perfect time alignment, DSP is the way to do it. Some add on boxes like DEQX do it, and some actives like the Kii Three or Beolab 90 also do it internally to a digital signal.

 

There are also some speakers like Vandersteen that try to get time alignment right. They do a good job, but the speaker setup itself can't do it as precisely as DSP.

[firedog]

26 minutes ago, Jud said:

 

As an owner of Vandersteen speakers, I'm interested: Why can't speaker setup be as precise as DSP?

I think you know the answer to this.

With well done DSP, you can basically take all the factors into account (including the slight alignment problems caused by the analog/mechanical attempt at time alignment within the speaker itself); so, as Keith said, you can get virtually perfectly aligned results. 

With analog you will get, by definition, less precise results. Doesn't mean it isn't good. The OP asked if time alignment could be done in DSP.

Of course, in both scenarios you also have to place your speakers precisely to preserve the correct time alignment. 

[firedog]

I just  remembered that the KEFLS50  actives have, in addition to UniQ alignment of drivers, has an option for additional  DSP time alignment, in order to improve the time alignment.