Phase Technology DCB-1.0-LR, DCB-SURR, DFS-525-LR, DFS-112-SUB, DFS-525-C Brochure

Electronically reprinted from March 2007

ECHNOLOGY FOCUS

Self-Powered, DSP-Controlled, 5.1-Channel Speaker System

Phase Technology DARTS 525:

Better Music Through Science

by Chris Martens

bout a year and a
half ago, I got my

A

Technology’s remarkably ad­vanced and utterly unforget­table DARTS speaker system,
whose name is an acronym
that stands for Digital Audio
Reference Theater System.
The self-powered, DSP-con­trolled system was something
of a technical marvel, and it
even offered a fuzzy logic­driven room EQ system de­signed to optimize response
across multiple listening lo­cations at once. Since I come
from the “simpler is better”
school of thought, I am some­times skeptical of technically
complicated solutions, but I
had to admit that the DARTS

first taste of Phase

system sounded extremely
transparent and that its
high-tech EQ system really
worked. “A future TPV review
subject,” I thought to myself.

Now let’s fast-forward
to the 2006 CEDIA show,
where Phase Technology
announced the new DARTS
525 system, which in 5.1­channel configuration sells
for between $11,000 and
$12,800 (depending upon
whether you want one sub
or two). The system price
buys you 5.1-channel’s worth
of speakers plus a powerful
DSP-controlled, 16-channel
Class D amplifier. Sixteen
channels are needed be­cause the DARTS 525 system
powers each individual

speaker drive unit (or set
of drive units) with its own
amplifier channel. Don’t be
fooled by the tiny 525 main
speakers, though, because
there is nothing miniature
about this system’s sound.

The DARTS 525 system con­sists of two 2-way biamplified
DFS-525LR main speakers, a
3-way triamplified DFS-525C
center channel, two bipolar/
dipolar biamplified DCB­SURR surround speakers, a
pair of 500-watt DCB-112S
powered subwoofers, and
a DP-2000 DSP-controlled
16-channel Class D power
amplifier that cranks out
250Wpc. We describe the dis­tinctive technologies and set­up procedures used for the

DFS-525C center channel

"The self-powered,
DSP-controlled system
was something of a
technical marvel"

"It's an
addicting
experience"

Phase Technology

dARTS 525

Speaker System

Dish Network | [phone] | www.dishnetwork.com/dishhd

DARTS system in two side­bars, but for now let’s focus
on how the system performs.

Clarity Comes First

Right off the bat the DARTS
525 system bowls listen­ers over with its stunning
openness and transparency.
With many AVRs and some
A/V controllers, I’m used to
hearing a certain amount
of low-level hash with DSP
circuits, but in the DSP-con­trolled DARTS 525 system
I really couldn’t hear any
hash or graininess at all.
What I heard, instead, was
a veritable smorgasbord of
sonic details and textures
spread out as if on a ban­quet table. With the DARTS
525 rig you’ll want to put on
favorite music recordings and
movies one after another,
just to see if the system will
reveal any cool new pieces
of low-level information you

DFS-525LR main speaker

(in cherry finish)

might have missed before.
It’s an addicting experience.

On movie soundtracks in
particular, I heard low-level
details that often get lost or
buried in other systems. One
good example would be the
shootout scene from Open
Range, which enthusiasts
know for its violent action—

and many sonic subtleties. As
Charlie and Boss face down
their opponents, for example,
you can hear insects chirping
and the prairie wind whis­tling faintly and mournfully
in the background. Through
the DARTS 525 system these
subtle details become crys­tal clear and serve—on an

The Technologies Behind the DARTS 525

In a very real sense the DARTS 525 system

is the brainchild of three companies: Phase

Technology, which contributed speaker/

drive unit design know-how, D2Audio,

which contributed Class D switching

amplifier technology, and Audyssey

Laboratories, which provided a custom-

ized version of its sophisticated MultEQ XT

automated speaker setup/room EQ system.

From the start DARTS 525 was
conceived as a self-powered or “active”
speaker system where individual drive
units would be powered by dedicated
Class D amplifiers, with all traditional
crossover functions handled by digital
signal processing (DSP) engines built
into the amplifier module. One reason the
speaker system performs so well is that
its drive units and amplifiers were literally
designed for each other. D2Audio’s Class
D amplifiers are capable of very wide
bandwidth, nearly grain-free resolution
of textural details, lightning-fast transient
response, and high damping factors
(which describe the amplifier’s ability to
control driver motion without overshoot).
Phase Technology designed the DARTS
525 drive units to take advantage of these
characteristics to the fullest extent possible.

Another advantage is that DARTS 525
is a DSP-controlled speaker system where
output level matching and crossover
frequencies and slopes are controlled in the
digital domain. But the DARTS 525 system
takes DSP further still, applying DSP-driven
frequency and time response EQ curves at
the driver level to yield ruler-flat frequency
response, ideal phase response, and
perfect time alignment between drivers. In
short, DARTS 525 would be a tremendous­ly accurate speaker system even if it did not
provide automated setup/room EQ features.

But DARTS 525
features, and they add an extra dimension
to the system’s performance. Unlike other
EQ technologies, Audyssey Laboratories’
DSP-powered MultEQ system optimizes
the speaker system’s in-room frequency
and time response characteristics for
multiple listener locations—not just for
one central “sweet spot.” Through a
comprehensive set-up and calibration
process, it gathers room/speaker response
data from multiple seating locations,
collecting as many as 32 complete sets
of measurements. Then, the MultEQ
system applies fuzzy logic techniques to
analyze the data and calculate optimal
frequency and time response correction
filters for each speaker in the system.

The term “fuzzy logic” means that
the Audyssey system does not simply
average response data as some compet­ing systems do but rather takes the more
sophisticated approach of analyzing data
to identify specific “clusters” or patterns of
response problems within the room. Then,
taking a “whole system” approach, the
system plots channel-specific correction
filters that together work to compen­sate for room/speaker problems across
multiple listening locations at once. The
DARTS 525 system correction filters are
extremely precise, providing an astound­ing 512 individual correction points
per speaker, which result in remarkably
smooth in-room response curves.

The real genius of the system is that it
is an exceptionally accurate speaker that
does not try to achieve “perfect” response in
any one room location. Instead, it aims to
achieve very good response at multiple lo­cations within real-world listening rooms—
a job at which it succeeds brilliantly.

does

provide those

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