(openPR) - The technology and art of building loudspeakers
New technologies and developments at Prolight + Sound

The European Symposium of ALMA – International Loudspeaker Association – will be held during Prolight + Sound on Saturday, 4 April 2009. ALMA is the umbrella organisation of many com¬panies and research institutes active in the field of loudspeaker manu¬facturing and development. With the European Symposium 2009, ALMA aims to share its expertise with a large audience in Europe for the first time. The Symposium will be held as part of the Media Systems Congress of Media Systems Prolight + Sound trade fair in Frankfurt am Main. On the conference level of Hall 8.1, experts from the sector will present and discuss new technologies for loudspeaker systems and drive units for use in both the professional and private spheres. The Symposium is open to all Prolight + Sound visitors free of charge.
Experts from the audio sector will provide an overview of the latest technologies and trends aimed at trade visitors interested in the quality of sound reproduction and the underlying physics. This will be accompanied by an exhibition of practical examples and products in the foyer of the conference level.
The first session will examine the efficiency of loudspeaker modelling as the basis for modern loudspeaker development. The second part will focus on the relationship between the objective and subjective evaluation of loudspeaker quality and the inclusion of such criteria in test standards. The final lecture block will spotlight the design of active and passive systems and the growing signifi¬cance of digital signal processing.
Each lecture block will be followed by a panel discussion with the lecturers, in which they will have the chance to exchange ideas and answer questions from the audience.
Excerpt from the programme:
• “Loudspeaker components as the ‘interface’ to the human ear” – Matthias Ringpfeil, Dr. Kurt Müller GmbH & Co. KG
• “Nonlinearity and psychoacoustics” – Alex Voishvillo, JBL Professional
• “Quality assessment of loudspeaker drive units” – Stefan Irrgang, KLIPPEL GmbH
• “Audibility of linear distortion in loudspeakers” – Sylvain Choisel, Bang & Olufsen a/s
• “Line Arrays with controllable directional characteristics: theory and practice” – Laurie Fincham, THX
• “Designing high-performance crossovers for professional loudspeaker systems and their real-world applications” – Mario Di Cola, Audio Labs Systems
You will find further information and the full programme of the symposium here: www.mediasystems-congress.com
You will find the Prolight + Sound website at www.prolight-sound.com.

Together with the integrated Prolight + Sound Media Systems trade fair, Prolight + Sound is the world's biggest international trade fair for audio, lighting, event and communication technology. The last event in March 2008 attracted 31,000 trade visitors from the fields of audio and studio technology, lighting design, event planning and organisation to Frankfurt am Main. 837 exhibitors from 42 countries took part in the show. Prolight + Sound is held parallel to and perfectly rounded off by the international Musikmesse – International Trade Fair for Musical Instruments, Music Software & Computer Hardware, Sheet Music and Accessories.

Andreas Höflich
B74 Marketingkommunikation
Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH
Ludwig-Erhard-Anlage 1
60327 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Tel. +49 (0)69 7575-6866
Fax +49 (0)69 7575-6099
andreas.hoeflich@messefrankfurt.com
www.messefrankfurt.com