Soundwave Point Source 3.0 Speaker System Review

Most loudspeaker designers agree that wide-angle horizontal sound dispersion (at least in the forward hemisphere) is desirable for the most natural sound quality. Over the years, various unconventional techniques have been used to increase dispersion, such as multiple drivers facing in different directions, deflecting structures in the speaker enclosure, and so on. Many of these techniques achieve some of the intended effect, but they typically fall short of completely eliminating the “beaming” of high-frequency sound in specific directions rather than spreading it evenly throughout the listening area.

The Soundwave Point Source speakers from Vero Research Corporation represent yet another approach to minimizing the beaming effect, one based on fundamental physical principles instead of more obvious mechanical structures. The Point Source 3.0, which is typical of the series, is a two-way floor-standing system designed to approximate a “point source” of sound (which is inherently omnidirectional). The manufacturer claims that the Soundwave design is closer to being a point source than any other full-range loudspeaker currently made.

The Point Source 3.0 is a five-sided columnar speaker with no parallel sides. The two front sides form a “V” whose point faces the listener. A 1-inch soft-dome tweeter, with a powerful yet compact neodymium magnet, is installed on the front edge, about 34 inches from the floor. The width of its “front baffle” is only 58 millimeters (just over 2 inches), contributing to the system’s wide horizontal radiating angle.

The two 8-inch woofers (which operate below 2.2 kHz) are on the front sides of the cabinet, angled at 64 degrees to the left and right of the tweeter axis. In a variation of the D'Appolito configuration (with the tweeter located between two woofers), the centers of the inward- and outward-facing woofers are respectively 2-1/4 inches above and below the tweeter axis (the speakers in each pair are designated for left or right placement to insure correct system behavior). This is an exceptionally compact placement of three drivers in a system designed to cover a 180-degree (2π) forward-facing solid angle. The crossover system also delays the tweeter output until the signals from the woofers reach the plane of the tweeter’s acoustic center.

Vero Research says that at 14 kHz the Point Source 3.0 has a forward horizontal radiation pattern of 180 degrees and a vertical coverage of +90 to -20 degrees, made possible by a second, upward-facing 1-inch soft-dome tweeter (with a conventional ferrite magnet) mounted flush with the top of the cabinet.

The sealed enclosure, completely filled with a spiral of acoustic foam, is made of rigid, braced MDF (medium-density fiberboard), and a special mounting technique is employed to decouple the drivers from the cabinet panels. The cabinet is completely covered by a black stretch “sock” cloth grille, and its top is capped by a Vi-inch-thick high-gloss black acrylic plate, with a grille protecting the upward-facing tweeter. The speakers are supplied with both rubber mounting feet and spikes for installation on hard or carpeted surfaces. Each speaker weighs 60 pounds.

Two pairs of gold-plated multiway binding posts, compatible with wires, lugs, and single or dual banana-plug connectors, are recessed into the lower part of the cabinet’s back panel. The two pairs of posts, joined by removable gold-plated straps, go to the high-and low-frequency crossover sections, permitting bi-amplification or bi-wiring. Near the posts is a three-position knob that shifts the woofer level 1.5 dB above or below its normal setting. Higher on the rear panel, a removable rubber plug covers a hole leading to the interior of the cabinet. Vero Research says that removing the plug raises the woofer’s Q from 0.5 to 0.7, slightly increasing output in the vicinity of the low-frequency resonance.

Vero Research’s specifications for the Point Source 3.0 include a frequency response of 34 Hz to 20 kHz +3 dB into a 2π (180-degree) solid angle, distortion of less than 1 percent from 60 Hz to 20 kHz (level unspecified), and a sensitivity of 90 dB sound-pressure level (SPL) at 1 meter with a 1-watt input. The system’s nominal impedance is 5 ohms, with a 4.7-ohm minimum. The Point Source 3.0 is recommended for use with amplifiers rated between 50 and 300 watts, and its maximum rated output is 110 dB SPL on program peaks.

We placed the two speakers approximately as recommended, 6 feet apart, 4 to 5 feet from the side walls, and 3-1/2 feet in front of the wall behind them. The room-response plot had a slight downward slope above about 1 kHz, and the close-miked woofer response sloped off gently from its maximum at 100 Hz to join the room curve at about 1 kHz. The composite response curve, though very smooth, sloped downward by 6 or 7 dB from 70 Hz to 20 kHz.

Quasi-anechoic MLS frequency-response measurements showed an on-axis response variation of only ±3 dB from 300 Hz to 19 kHz at 2 meters. In the tweeter range, from 2 to 19 kHz, the variation was less than ±2 dB (except for a +3-dB reading at 10 kHz).

We measured the horizontal dispersion over a +45-degree angle with a sweeping noise signal in the tweeter range (above 2 kHz). Although the off-axis output level was 2 to 6 dB lower than the on-axis readings, the off-axis frequency response was very similar to the forward response up to about 15 kHz. Group delay, measured on the tweeter axis, varied only +0.3 millisecond from below 2 kHz to 20 kHz, reaching a maximum of 1.4 milliseconds at 50 Hz.

Minimum system impedance was 4.8 ohms at 130 Hz (it also reached 5 ohms at 20 Hz), with peaks of 21 ohms at 52 Hz and 15 ohms at 1 kHz. The impedance remained well above the rated 5 ohms over most of the audio range. We also measured the bass impedance after removing the rubber plug from the rear panel; this shifted the bass resonance peak from 52 to 59 Hz and reduced its amplitude from 21 to 17 ohms, as well as introducing a number of minor phase irregularities between 20 and 30 Hz. We could find no advantage to removing the plug, though, and left it in place for our other measurements and listening tests.

Sensitivity measured 88 dB, slightly below the 90-dB rating. At a 3.5-volt drive level, corresponding to a 90-dB SPL, the woofer distortion was very low, 0.4 to 0.6 percent from 55 Hz to 1 kHz and less than 1 percent all the way to the 2.2-kHz crossover frequency. It rose to 1 percent at 50 Hz, 2 percent at 40 Hz, 4 percent at 30 Hz, and only 5 percent at 20 Hz.

The Soundwave Point Source 3.0 is one of the very few speakers that we have found able to absorb all the short-term peak levels reached in our single-cycle power-handling tests without damage or gross audible distortion. At 100 Hz, although their acoustic output was visibly distorted, the woofer cones had not reached their suspension limits at the point where our driving amplifier clipped (1,150 watts into 5 ohms). At 1 kHz (still in the woofer range) the amplifier clipped at 480 watts into 15 ohms, and at 10 kHz (in the tweeter range) the amplifier clipped at 1,100 watts into 6 ohms.

The speakers typically sounded very much the way their measured frequency response would suggest. Their bass reproduction was impressively strong and clean down to the 30-Hz region and below (a subwoofer would contribute little to these speakers). The middle and upper frequencies, though very much present, tended to sound a bit subdued, especially in comparison with conventional speakers having a strong or extended top-end response.

The speakers’ wide dispersion was easily demonstrable; when we turned them 90 degrees (so that they faced each other), the principal audible result was a slight softening of the top end, but without any serious loss of frequency balance.

Speaker preferences are a highly personal matter, which is one reason why we stress the importance (actually, the necessity) of listening to speakers before making a selection. That is especially important when considering a purchase in this price range. There were substantial differences in sound character between the Soundwave Point Source 3.0 and other speakers of comparable price to which we compared it, side by side, with a variety of music. We found ourselves preferring one or the other depending on the program material.

One thing is certain, however—the Soundwave Point Source 3.0 sounds (and looks) like a $2,500 speaker, and if you are considering a purchase in that range, try to hear it if you can.

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