Accustica Applicata

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.

Their DaaD Towers and Resonators are instantly recognisable and can be seen in many systems from across the world featured in the hi-fi press and are featured extensively on pictures on social media, they are hugely powerful in removing the influence of the room from any system. They utilise their own powerful computer software that carefully analyses a mapped room which shows you the behaviour of your room resonances and the frequency ranges where compression and cancellation are located. Using the appropriate combination of their product it allows us to fully explore tonal balance and articulation within a system and fine tune it carefully and accurately or to an individuals taste based on their musical preferences.

DaaD Towers

The Daad towers first launched in the year although 21 years on we are onto their second generation.

Aesthetically DaaD Mark II’s are identical to the original versions, the improvements to the mk II models are all internal, the only visual difference is the badge.

There is an overall 20% increase in the efficiency of each DaaD II compared to the original generation.

Increased efficiency with mkII means less DaaD towers are required to reach the optimum result, so it benefits both visually and financially.

Essentially they have designed a fast acoustic trap that deals with the resonant frequencies without effecting the non-resonant ones. The very lightweight micro-pressed metal sheet with a resistive layer creates friction with the air passing through it. Importantly, the DaaD towers does not slow the music transients from following one another.

They are very light, easy to move and adjust, their lobed footprint makes them relatively easy to locate in corners, effectively penetrating the corner area more effectively and therefore capturing the resonant frequencies more efficiently.

Unlike a flat panel the DaaD towers can be rotated upon itself so it can be orientated in a particular way depending on the room. The opposing sides of the DaaD offer diffusion and absorption and their position has a large and obvious impact on the sound quality. It all depends on the room and the musical tastes/requirements of the customer.

When sound waves hit a DaaD tower they are evenly diffused all of the way around it.  The sound becomes more detailed, yet totally natural and organic in terms of presentation. They don’t fundamentally change the sound of your system, but they dramatically clean it up removing distortion and smearing caused by reflections and resonances.

There are 3 different types of primary Daad Tower plus 2 variants.

The DaaD 4 is the largest tower and deal with frequencies from 50Hz upwards

The DaaD 3 is the medium towers and deals with frequencies from 80Hz upwards

The DaaD 2 is the smallest tower and this deals with 120 Hz upwards, there is also the Studio DAAD, which is a DAAD 2, but it comes on a telescopic foot stand so you can gain height if required.

The different heights, sizes and shapes of the 3 DaaD towers only changes the quantity of the absorbed sound, not the quality.

By strategically locating a number of DaaD towers in key positions around your  room (determined by their software) the towers effectively change the acoustic dimensions of your room and dramatically improve the way your system communicates.

Acustica Applicata DaaD Towers

Acustica Applicata Variable Resonators

Acustica Applicata also manufacture 3 different Helmholtz Resonators which is a device specifically created to deal with acoustic resonance.

They each consist of a volume of air enclosed in a cavity, coupled with the outside space 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 they are particularly effective in the case of excess low-frequency energy. They do not deal with the same range of frequencies as the DaaD towers.

Each of these resonators has been designed to improve the timbre and dimensionality by tuning out conflicting sound waves which distort and smear the musical presentation. They each fundamentally do the same thing, although they are different sizes and as such they are all working at slightly different frequencies to one another.

They can be used in pairs in key positions in a room, but they are arguably most effective when positioned directly between your loudspeakers, dealing with the turbulence where the energy from both loudspeakers meets in the middle of the soundstage. They also dramatically help to remove the distortion and time delays created by the fact that a significant percentage of the sound you hear doesn’t come directly from your loudspeakers but is bounced off the walls and ceiling in your room causing time delays and distortion.

Acustica Applicata Variable Resonators

The photograph below shows a Vitus SIA-025 Integrated Amplifier and SCD-025 mkII CD Player – you will able to make out behind equipment a Halifax, along with 2 pairs of stacked Daad 3 in the rear corner. There are a pair of Studio DAAD in the first reflection point along with some Daad 4 and Daad 3 at the back of the room.

This customer had a budget for a new pair of speakers and was all set to spend it on just a pair of speakers. But after mapping his room and some careful listening (it didn’t take much listening as it happened) we got far, far greater results in his room by scaling back the speakers and spending the difference on treating the room. The end result and sound is one which greatly exceeded the ‘better’ loudspeakers by a pretty significant margin.  Even using the customers old speakers the addition of the Acustica Applicata to the room was to quote the customer ‘the most significant upgrade I’ve ever made’

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.

Please don’t underestimate the ability that Acustica Applicata has in transforming both your system and importantly your listening space, I’ve many customers who are finding that dealing with the room is paying dividend for them and can deliver a more significant upgrade than any conventional hardware upgrade could offer – I appreciate that visually it won’t work in every space but if you can accommodate it is a transformative solution.