[cloudbaseracer]

This statement below is from articles on the Steinway Speakers.  I am most curious about the statement regarding the system being completely digital.  I have talked to many people that say there is no way that the signal is full digital. That it has to be converted to analog at some point.  Others say that this "full digital" is close to the ultimate way for the signal to travel.  What is the truth about this technology?  Can someone explain to me in easy to understand terms how the signal is actually treated?  I have wrestled with trying to understand this for some time now.  I am simple minded I guess.

From Wired Magazine:
"And unlike other systems, which convert the audio signal from digital to analog in the amp — many sound-distorting circuits and wires away from the speakers — the C is digital from source to driver. What comes out is as close as you can get to what went in; in fact, it's so pure that experts can discern a violin's make and country of origin."


From Stereophile:
"The speakers have four 12" carbon-fiber woofers each and two 5" midrange units. A Heil ribbon tweeter handles the highs. Each speaker module has its own amp tower, with two 400W Equibit-based digital amps and an active digital crossover. The signal is kept digital up to the amplifier's output—after the DAC, the only thing between the amp and the speaker is a single cap and a solitary coil. "

Thanks,

James

[WerTicus]

its digital till the amp's dac and subseqent output, the wired quote that says that its digital to the driver is either a mis quote, or just the writer has no clue what he is talking about.

in any case sounds hype tastic to me.

[Folsom]

If digital hit the speaker's drivers your ears would bleed or you would assume they were after a minute or two.

[cloudbaseracer]

I believe one other statement that I have heard is that speakers don't "see" analog OR digital - they "see" current.

James

[Folsom]

Yes they can play digital but it would, as I stated before, fucking hurt to listen too.

[dwk]

with two 400W Equibit-based digital amps and an active digital crossover. The signal is kept digital up to the amplifier's output—after the DAC, the only thing between the amp and the speaker is a single cap and a solitary coil. "

This is the key aspect of the design. The Equibit approach to Class D really is as close to 'digital to the speakers' as you can get. The equibit is basically a 'power DAC' with PCM audio coming in and a discretized flavor of PWM coming out with no conventional conversion to analog occurring at any point.  Now, technically speaking PWM is generally considered an analog signal, although since the Equibit output waveform has transitions that are discretized in time as opposed to continuous in most other PWM approaches, maybe there is some room for debate. IMHO it's splitting hairs, but either way 'digital to the speakers' is probably best thought of as a marketing phrase rather than a provable technical assertion.

As with everything, there are tradeoffs to the Equibit approach. This is the technology used in Tact and Lyngdorf amps, as well as the Panasonic XR series receivers. You'll find some folks that think they're great, and others that dissent.