Acustica Applicata Polifemo

Founded in 1992 in Tuscany the Acustica Applicata range of acoustic traps were specifically designed to deal with troublesome lower and medium frequencies and they are considered to be one of the finest room acoustic solutions available today.

When deployed correctly in a room they can offer a dramatic improvement in system performance, by allowing your to hear more of your speakers and less of your room, on average only around 20% of the sound you hear comes directly from your loudspeaker, the other 80% comes from reflections and resonances, bouncing around your room many times causing delays, distortions and negatively affecting what your hear.

Acustica Applicata have developed a range of Helmholtz Resonators which are devices designed to deal with acoustic resonances, there is the Polifemo the Halifax and the Volcano.

The Polifemo is a tall tower and it consists of a volume of air enclosed in a cavity, coupled with the outside through one or more openings, to create a mechanical mass-spring system with its own resonance frequency at which the system is able to absorb a considerable part of energy.

The absorption of this kind of resonator is very selective about the frequency of resonance and particularly effective in the case of low-frequency energy (bass boom!)

Unlike the DaaD towers, the Polifemo is not a device which works across a wide spectrum of frequencies, it is a narrowband device fixed and designed to work with low frequency only, it works between 26 Hz and 60 Hz.

It is cylindrical in shape, and stands off the floor. At its base there is an opening and this port can be opened or closed to adjust frequency response in your room.

The Polifemo exceeds the performances of a conventional Helmholtz Resonator by adding two further exclusive features. The first is the “Eye” of the Polifemo, a sophisticated iris diaphragm, whose aperture can be gradually and finely changed; the second is the internal paddle membrane that changes the speed of the internal air flow.

The orientation of the eye and the position of the paddle can have a dramatic impact on performance, the correct position depends on your room, your speakers (and how they interact in your room).

When set up and tuned correctly a Polifemo can huge a substantial benefit to system performance, a single unit sited directly between a pair of speakers or in pairs in a key positions as determined by room mapping.

Just about everyone (regardless of their system) who listens to a selection of Acustica Applicata in their room is shocked by the level of improvement they offer. It’s a significant component level upgrade and then some. You could obviously spend the same amount of money on upgrading your speakers or electronics, but the stark reality of it is by addressing the resonances (and reflections) in your room will give you much bigger results and results that will stay with you through multiple system upgrades.

Specifications:

Diameter: 40 cm

Height: 185 cm

Colour: Black or White

For Resonances from 26 Hz to 60 Hz

If you are interested in listening to some Acustica Applicata in your room please get in touch. It’s not a case of just buying some (or borrowing some) and hoping for the best. Your room requires mapping and running through the Acustica Applicata Software program in the first instance and we can take it from there. The software will accurately calculate reflection and resonance points and a number of potential solutions based on budget and aesthetics. 

The image below is from a recent room mapping showing first and second reflections