User Guide

Sound System Design Reference Manual
6-1
Chapter 6: Behavior of Sound Systems Indoors
Introduction
The preceding five chapters have provided the
groundwork on which this chapter is built. The “fine
art and science” of sound reinforcement now begins
to take shape, and many readers who have patiently
worked their way through the earlier chapters will
soon begin to appreciate the disciplines which have
been stressed.
The date at which sound reinforcement grew
from “public address by guesswork” to a methodical
process in which performance specifications are
worked out in advance was marked by the
publication in 1969 of a paper titled “The Gain of a
Sound System,” by C. P. and R. E. Boner (4). It
describes a method of calculating potential sound
system gain, and that method has since become a
fundamental part of modern sound system design.
The following discussion is based on the Boner
paper. Certain points are expanded, and examples
are given that require calculations more complicated
than those in the original study. Also discussed is the
relation between theoretically achievable system
gain and practical operating parameters of typical
indoor sound systems.
Figure 6-1. An indoor sound system