HARMAN JBL Synthesis today announced it is now shipping its ARCOS Adaptive Room Correction and Optimization System, an integrated software and hardware package that provides a new level of calibration accuracy in setting up a JBL Synthesis multichannel audio system. ARCOS utilizes a number of newly developed DSP algorithms, measurement and analysis techniques to achieve unprecedented frequency response correction and system performance in any room.

ARCOS represents the evolution of 20 years of room measurement and auto frequency response correction for use within real home theater environments. All rooms exhibit resonances that occur when an audio source such as a loudspeaker is played. These resonances or room modes emphasize some frequencies and attenuate others, and are typically very significant in magnitude. ARCOS compensates for these irregularities more comprehensively and with greater accuracy than has been available before, achieving an optimized response at the actual listening positions from all of the loudspeakers. ARCOS also provides time delay correction so the signals from all the speakers arrive at the listener’s ears at the same time for accurate imaging, along with speaker-level calibration and additional benefits.

The JBL Synthesis ARCOS system builds upon the HARMAN Audio Test System (H.A.T.S.) hardware and software suite used worldwide by HARMAN acoustics and transducer research engineers for the measurement and design of loudspeaker systems. It also incorporates and improves upon the functionality of the JBL Synthesis SDEC digital equalizer hardware and software. ARCOS adds a new on-screen graphical user interface (GUI) and a fully integrated Wizard, which is easier and faster to use than previous systems and which will take a user through Sound Field Management (SFM), Room EQ, subwoofer and mains blending, system and preamp setup, speaker functional test, source DVD/Blu-Ray setup and listening test steps. The system’s algorithms incorporate the findings of numerous peer-reviewed, published research papers by HARMAN engineers.

One of the major benefits of ARCOS is its ability to calibrate larger areas of the room rather than an individual location, so more listeners can enjoy the sonic “sweet spot.” ARCOS utilizes eight microphones throughout the room to measure room and speaker acoustics, and supports the exclusive HARMAN Sound Field Management (SFM) system that minimizes seat-to-seat variation in bass response in a home theater system.

ARCOS features multi-step AutoEQ that uses more than 200 bands of fully parametric digital equalization that can be adjusted from 1/100 octave to more than 4 octaves wide between 20Hz – 20kHz to correct for dips and peaks throughout the frequency range. AutoEQ can operate on an almost unlimited number of speakers and drivers and precisely match their frequency and tonal balance. After the system is calibrated, ARCOS displays the actual corrected room curve – not a calculated measurement as provided by almost all other systems.

As any installer knows, matching a subwoofer or especially multiple subwoofers with the main speakers in a system can be difficult. ARCOS incorporates a new, exclusive AutoCurveSum process that correctly optimizes the crossover blend between the subwoofers and any number of main speakers, by using a combination of delay and phase filters. ARCOS is the first product to incorporate AutoCurveSum.

ARCOS incorporates a host of additional advanced features, including automatic speaker-level and distance calculations, 96kHz or 48kHz analog-to-digital measurement conversion (depending on the speed of the connected PC), a Java-based GUI for future expansion into multiple computer platforms (WindowsXP version available now, Windows7 available soon), and the option to make the calibration process either totally automated or completely manual if desired. Communication between the measurement hardware and the equalizer module take place over standard Ethernet cable, and ARCOS utilizes the HARMAN HiQnet^® communication protocol for end-to-end connectivity and future expansion to other HARMAN systems.

The JBL Synthesis ARCOS Adaptive Room Correction and Optimization System is supplied with all hardware, measurement microphones, software and accessories needed to calibrate a JBL Synthesis multichannel audio system. ARCOS is currently available to all authorized JBL Synthesis dealers and systems integrators.

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