LOUDSPEAKERS

LOUDSPEAKERS

 A loudspeaker is a transducer which converts electrical signals of audio frequency into sound
waves of the same frequency. It is also called as output transducer or reverse transducer.
 A loud speaker's performance is determined by the following characteristics:
1. Efficiency
2. Noise
3. Frequency response
4. Distortion
5. Directivity
6. Power
7. Impedence
 Efficiency:
 It is defined as the ratio of output sound power to the input audio (electrical power).
 Its value depends on proper matching of the mechanical impedance with acoustical
impedance of the air volume being disturbed. (Some manufacturers quote the efficiency in
terms of sensitivity which is defined to be the input signal required to give a sound pressure
level of 0.1 Pa or 1 microbar at a distance of 1 meter from the loudspeaker.)

 Noise:
 The unwanted sound, not contained in the input signal but present in the output of a
loudspeaker is called noise produced by the loudspeaker (the mechanical parts may
vibrate at some resonant frequency, causing noise).
 Signal-to-noise ratio or SNR of the system which is de- fined as ratio of signal output' to the
`output of noise in the absence of signal'.
 Frequency Response:
 It indicates the loudspeaker's response for the audible frequency range of sound. Ideally,
the response of a loudspeaker should be flat within ± 1 dB for the frequency range of 16 Hz
to 20 kHz.
 The mass of the diaphragm assembly have high frequencies which are attenuated; and
due to series compliance, low frequencies are attenuated. Moreover, the movable system
may have some natural resonant frequency within the audible range and the output at
that frequency will be emphasized.

 Distortion:
 Any change in frequency, phase and amplitude complexion of the output sound as
compared to the input audio signal is called distortion.
 Frequency and phase distortions may result due to mass and compliance effect.
Amplitude or non-linear distortion will result due to non-uniformity in the magnetic field in
which the coil moves.
 Directivity:
 It is the ratio of actual sound intensity at a point (in the direction of maximum intensity) to
the sound intensity that would have been available there, had the loudspeaker been
omnidirectional.

 Power :
 It is the maximum audio power (indicated in watts) for which it is designed. Power more
than the maximum will damage the speaker.

 Impedance :
 The input impedance of the loudspeaker is represented in ohms and is an important
parameter, as its matching with the impedance of source amplifier is necessary for the
optimum efficiency.
 CRYSTAL LOUDSPEAKER
 Rochelle-salt crystals have the property of becoming physically distorted when a voltage is
applied across two of their surfaces.

 This property is the basis of the crystal type of speaker driver.

 The crystal is clamped between two electrodes across which the audio frequency output
voltage is applied.

 The crystal is also mechanically connected to a diaphragm. The deformations of the crystal
caused by the audio frequency signal across the electrodes cause the diaphragm to
vibrate and thus to produce sound output.

 Crystal speakers have been impractical for reproduction of the full audio-frequency range
because the input impedance is almost completely capacitive. Thus it is difficult to couple
Power into them.
 At high audio frequencies, the reactance becomes lower and the relative amount of power
smaller.
 In the base range, stresses on the crystals are very great, and the crystals have been known
to crack under stresses.
 DYNAMIC LOUDSPEAKER
 To provide very strong magnetic field for high wattage speakers, an electromagnet is used
instead of a permanent magnet. . Its construction is shown in Fig. 1.2.
 Loudspeakers of more than 25 watts and up to a few hundred watts are of the electro
dynamic type.
 The strong and steady magnetic field is produced by a large field coil wrapped around a
core.
 The shape of the magnet is pot type with the south pole in the centre and the north pole in
the periphery.
 The special shape of the core allows magnetic flux to remain concentrated in the annular
gap between pole pieces.
 The voice coil is wound on fiber or aluminum (to keep it light in weight). It is placed in the
annular gap.
 The audio signal from the amplifier's output transformer is applied to the voice coil. This signal
causes a varying magnetic field.
 The resultant interaction between the magnetic fields (one due to electromagnet and the
other due to audio current in the voice coil) produces mechanical vibrations (motor action)
in the coil assembly , which correspond to the audio signals.
 The vibrations of the coil are transmitted to the attached cone which create sound waves in
the air in the listeners' area, and hence radiate sound energy directly.
 Advantages

 Higher power can be obtained

 Frequency response is better (40 Hz to 5000 Hz) Disadvantages
 Power supply needed for field coil
 Heavier weight for the same amount of magnetic field
ELECTROSTATIC (CONDENSER/CAPACITOR) LOUDSPEAKERS
 This type of speaker operates on the principle that a dc voltage between two parallel metal
plates causes these plates to attract or repel each other.

 The amount of attraction or repulsion depends on the applied voltage l f one of the plates is
a flexible metal, it will bend.

 But the amount of attraction and repulsion is not directly proportional to the voltage applied

 For example, considering the movable and fixed plates of Fig1.3 with no voltage applied.
Now suppose we apply a slowly varying ac voltage to both plates.
 As the voltage increases from zero the potential difference between the two plates also
increases.

 Which in turn produces an increasing force of attraction between the plates, so that the
movable plate tends towards the fixed plate.

 As the ac voltage decreases once more to zero, the attractive force decreases, and the
movable plate moves back to its original position.

 But, the second half of the ac cycle, in the negative direction. All that this means to the
metal plate is that the positive and negative voltages have switched plates.

 The attractive farce is still there, and it is still the same. So, we get another bend in the
movable plate on the negative half of the ac cycle.

 Thus, for one full cycle of ac we have two bends in the movable plate, in effect a.
frequency doubling_ A 2 kHz signal would giant: us a 4 kHz note.
 To overcome, frequency doubling, we polarise the speaker, that we apply a high voltage
(1,000 volts or so) as a son of de bias, (Fig. 1.4).
 The voltage exerts a stead' attraction between the two plates, so that now-with no signal-
the movable plate is bent slightly toward the fixed plate.

 If 400 V audio signal is applied to the speaker then the positive half cycle of the signal
increases from zero the voltage between the plates rises from 1,000 V toward 1,400 V and
the movable plate bends from its original position toward the fixed plate.

 As the ac passes its peak and returns to zero, the voltage between the plates drop, from
1,000 V to 600 V. Instead of moving again toward the fixed plate, the movable plate moves
farther away.

 The bending of the movable plate identical to the ac swing and there is no frequency
doubling.

• A detailed view of a modern electrostatic speaker is shown in Fig. 1.5.

 The practical speaker of today uses push-pull, with a built-in step-up transformer to work
from the ordinary 8 ohm amplifier output tap.
 The polarizing voltage is applied to the centre or movable plate through a resistor that
keeps the voltage stable during variations in the signal voltage.
 The signal voltage is applied to the m o outside plates. Because the diaphragm is
centered between the two plates that attract it equally, there is no bending when there
is no signal.
 Also, because of the push-pull action the diaphragm can move twice as for in response
to signal voltages for the same amount of compression of the dielectric material.

 The major weakness of electrostatic speaker requires the DC bias is that 1i to be much
larger than the applied audio signal. In practical speakers, 1,000 to 1,200 volts may be
used.
 Further, when the bass frequency ranges, a great deal or power would he required to
get enough output.
 To produce such power, the speaker area would have to be very large. So, even though full
range electrostatic speakers have been constructed.

 In practical use electrostatic speakers have been mostly confined to frequencies above
1,000 Hz.

 The step-up transformer and the high voltage polarizing supply is usually built right into the
modem electrostatic.

 Often the electrostatic unit and its matching woofer are sold together as a complete
system.

 Some high class systems use electrostatics to reproduce the high frequencies. Koss uses
electrostatics on some of their stereo headphones.
 PERMENANT MAGNET LOUDSPEAKER
 Principle:
 The moving-coil loudspeaker works on the principle of interaction between a magnetic field
and current in the same way as an ac motor works.
 A coil, called voice coil, is placed in a uniform magnetic field.
 When the audio current passes through the voice coil, there is an interaction between the
magnetic field and the current, resulting in a force working on the movable coil.
 This force is proportional to the audio current, and hence causes vibrator motion (moor like
action) in the coil, which makes a conical paper diaphragm to vibrate and produce
pressure variations in air, resulting in sound waves.
 The force on the coil due to interaction between the current through coil and the
magnetic field is given as eqn 1 and 2
 The required stiffness to restrain the motion. The spiders also keep the coil centered, so
that the cone moves forward and backward only.
 Leads from the voice coil are cemented to the cone surface. From there, It is brought to
the terminals mounted on the metal frame or basket.
 Functioning:
 When audio current flows through the voice coil placed in a magnetic field, a force equal
to newton’s act on the coil and moves it to and fro.
 The paper cone attached to the coil also moves and causes compression and rarefaction
cycles in the air.
 Thus, audio current is converted into sound waves. The equivalent circuit of the cone
speaker is shown in Fig. 1.7.
 There are two transformations. One is electromechanical and the other is mechano-
acoustical.
 The electromechanical transfer, represented by transformer Tm, transfers force
(produced by the source current in inductance L of the voice coil and the associated
resistance R to the movable mechanical parts (voice coil, diaphragm, springs and core).
 Mass, compliance and friction of the moving parts are represented by Lm, Cm and Rm
which are analogous to inductance, capacitance and resistance, respectively.
 At low audio frequencies, Lm is negligible and the output depends on the compliance,
Cm .
 At high audio frequencies, Cm is negligible and the output depends on Lm. So the high-
frequency speakers (tweeters) are of low mass, and the low-frequency speakers (woofers)
arc of high compliance (large size).
 Typical frequency response of a 20-cm sized cone-type loudspeaker is shown in Fig. 1.8.
 Direct Radiating Type:
 The whole paper in a cone-type loudspeaker acts as a diaphragm and causes pressure
variations direct in the listeners' area. Hence it is called `direct radiating type loudspeaker'.

 Characteristics of the Cone-type Speaker:

 Efficiency is quite low, about 5 percent only.
 The poor efficiency is due to the fact that it acts as a direct radiator, and so there is
complete mismatch between the low acoustic load presented by the large volume of air
and the high mechanical load presented by the voice coil and cone assembly,Signal to
noise Ratio .
 It is 30 dB or better.Frequency Response It is restricted to mid-frequencies only.

 Frequency response drops at low and high audio frequencies for a typical loudspeaker.
However a massive loudspeaker (called woofer) for low frequencies and small size
speaker (called tweeter) for high frequencies can be designed.
 3 dB frequency response of a typical speaker is from 60 Hz to 2000 Hz. Low-frequency
woofer speakers with baffles will give frequency response up to 30 Hz, High-frequency
tweeters extend the higher frequency response to 10 kHz or even higher.
 Distortion Non-linearity due to non-uniformity in the magnetic flux density causes severe
non linear or amplitude distortion (up to about 10%).
 Directivity Basically, the loudspeaker is Omni-directional. But baffles and enclosures modify
the directivity so that most of the power is in the front.
 High audio frequencies are concentrated in a narrow cone about the axis of the radiator.
 Impedance The effective impedance taking into account the mechanical and acoustical
loads varies from 2Ω to 32Ω .
 The common impedances in commercial speakers are 4, 8 or 16Ω (200 to 300Ω
impedances are obtained in an electrodynamic type cone speaker).
 Power handling Capacity Power range of speakers lies between a few milliwatts (for 2 cm
speaker) to about 25 watt for large size speakers. (Electrodynamic speakers can withstand
a few hundred watts of input power)
 Advantages:
 Small size
 Low cost
 Satisfactory frequency response

 Disadvantages:
 Poor efficiency
 Very low and high frequencies are attenuated

 Applications:
 Radio receivers
 TV receivers
 WOOFERS
 There are two types of low-frequency speaker, the commonly known woofer, and the more
recent addition the sub roofer.
 The latter is used for the reproduction of frequencies below those produced by the woofer,
and it is generally purchased as an odd on to an existing system,
 The low-frequency speaker provides the bass of any hi-fi system.
 Its sole purpose is to reproduce the low-frequency notes of the program source.
 The prime requisite for low-frequency reproduction is a large diaphragm, the larger the
better.
 The smallest diaphragm for any halfway decent woofer is 8 inches; for a subwoofer it is 12
inches.
 In addition to large size, the diaphragm must be of fairly heavy construction. Light
diaphragms just can’t hold up under the vibrations encountered under the lower audio
ranges.
 A woofer must be able to vibrate back and forth very easily. (i.e.) have high compliance.
One way to accomplish this is to have the diaphragm loosely connected to the frame.
 The gasketing that holds the periphery of diaphragm to the frame/basket is fastened so
that it barely keeps the diaphragm from slipping loose, but no more shown in Fig. 1.9. With
this construction it takes less force to move the diaphragm any circular distances.
 Rather than the loose suspension system, the cone is supported by a very flexible material
so that it can be moved very easily by the voice coil.
 The suspension is tight but the sine wave at the diaphragm edge is made very flexible.

 A woofer must also have a large voice coil to handle considerable heat.
 The larger the voice coil, the more the current produced by the amplifier output circuit
and, therefore, the more the power the woofer can handle.

 Finally, a strong magnet can be of great help to move the heavy voice coil and cone
assembly too well. The better the woofer, the heavier the magnet assembly.
 To sum up, a good woofer must have a large, heavy diaphragm, a strong magnet, high
compliance and a large voice coil.
 TWEETERS
 There are two main types of high frequency speakers; the well-known sweeter and the more
recent supertweeter. Supertweeters can be add-ons or they can be integral with the system.
 Six basic high-frequency speakers (tweeter) exists
 The cone is a physically disincentive version of the woofer.
 The dome, so called because of its dome-shaped diaphragm.
 The horn, so named because it is a horn.
 The Heil air-motion transformer which uses the principle of lever in its operation, named aid r
its inventor, Dr. Oskar Heil.
 High polymer molecular film tweeter, uses the piezoelectric effect for its principle of
operation (used exclusively by Pioneer)-
 The electrostatic tweeter works on the principle of attraction or repulsion between two
metal plates.
 CONE TYPE TWEETERS
 Since tweeters must reproduce high-frequency notes, they roust resonate at high
frequencies.
 High resonant frequencies are obtained with light weight, stiffly supported mechanisms.
 To make the diaphragm of a con type tweeter light, it must be small.
 When the size and weight is reduced the diaphragm in turn, reduce the size of the ice coil
also.
 Luckily, high frequencies card only a comparatively small amount of electric power,
therefore, the small voice coil is not subjected to electrical overload.
 Without exception, it is wound with light weight wire such as aluminium wire or ribbon.
 The lightness of the moving system provided by aluminium makes the high frequency
response much better than if copper were used.
 Cone type radiators tend to concentrate radiation of the high frequency components of
a sound in a narrow cone about the axis of the radiator.
 The degree of directivity of speaker is indicated by a directivity pattern in Fig.1.9. The axis
of the radiator is considered the reference line with an angle of zero degrees, Directivity
pattern are normally shown as a top view in the horizontal plane through the radiator axis.
 A cone in free space should have the same pattern in a vertical plane,.
 The line OA in Fig. 1.10 indicates by its length that the sound radiated along it is a
maximum to comparison to that in any other direction.
 At an angle 450, the line OB is a measure of the relative sound intensity in that direction-
Since OR is only half as long as a listener along OB would listen only about half the volume
compared to what a person along OA. At angles near 900, the pattern indicates minimum
(zero) radiation.
 In any practical setup, such a zero area would not exist cause sound waves reach there
by reflection.
 At an angle 450, the line OB is a measure of the relative sound intensity in that direction-
Since OR is only half as long as a listener along OB would listen only about half the volume
compared to what a person along OA. At angles near 900, the pattern indicates minimum
(zero) radiation.
 In any practical setup, such a zero area would not exist cause sound waves reach there
by reflection.
 Because, directivity normally varies considerably with frequency, a complete diagram (Fig.
1.11) must show separate patterns for each of at least several frequencies.
 Fig.1.11 depicts variation of directivity with frequency for a 12-inch cone, assuming that
the speaker is mounted in an infinite baffle. The radiation pattern will be narrow at highs
than at lows.
 A single cone-type tweeter distributes high-Frequency sounds unevenly. It lobes the higher
frequencies directly out in front and tends to cause a drop of at the sides.
 This effect can be overcome by arranging two or more cone tweeters as shown in
Fig.1.11. In this way, overlapping individual lobes from separate speakers cover the listening
area.
 DOME TYPE TWEETERS

 Uniformly dispersed flat energy response begins with a speaker system's ability to rd i ate
sound at ail frequencies evenly in all directions.

 Even dispersion of sound energy means that the sound emanating from the program
source will be heard same by listeners in all parts of the room.
 For low frequency sounds this problem of dispersion is not of practical consequence, since
they are very nearly omnidirectional.
 The limiting factor for high-frequency sounds is that a speaker will begin to directional
when its circumference equals the wavelength of the frequency being reproduced.
 Directionality increases the wavelength decreases with respect to the speaker’s
dimensions,
 The laws of physics dictate the most direct approach to the problem of even dispersion of
high-frequency energy; the rivers used must he as small as possible.
 Dome tweeters, Fig.1.13 are designed according to this principle in order to use these
physical laws to the listener's advantage.
 HORN TYPE TWEETER

 To obtain reasonable output from a loudspeaker, we must vibrate large amounts of air.
 For this, usually a fairly large vibrating surfaces, such as the cones in woofers.
 The larger the cone surface, the greater the output. But the tweeter's cone (diaphragm)
must be small to attain its high-frequency response.

 Thus only a small amount of air can be moved, reducing the output power.
 The increase in acoustic output from any type of diaphragm , couples directly to a horn,
converting the system to a horn loaded one. Fig. 1.13 shows the relative difference in size
between the diaphragms of a cone-type tweeter and a horn-loaded one.
 The driving force of the voice coil of the latter is distributed between the small mass of the
diaphragm and the mass of air in the horn.


 Since air weights much less than paper or metal the overall load on the voice
coil for the same acoustic output as that of the cone type tweeter, can be
greatly reduced, Also, for the same electrical input, the output of the horn
loaded system is greater.
 A horn is a tube so flared (tapered) that the diameter incases from a small value
at one end called the throat to a large value at the other end called the mouth.
 Horns, Fig. 1.14 have been used for centuries for increasing the radiation of the
human voice and musical instruments.
 The horn does acoustically what the cone does mechanically. It couples the
small voice coil area to a large area or air.
 In this way, the horn acts as an acoustic transformer and converts the relatively
high impedance at the throat and driver.
 The horn is a fixed physical boundary for its enclosed column of air and does not
vibrate itself.
 Acoustic energy fed to its throat must therefore be obtained from a vibrating
diaphragm which converts mechanical motion from the driver voice coil to acoustic
energy.
 Although the cone type radiator acts as both diaphragm and radiator and transducer,
from mechanical to acoustic energy, the horn acts only as a radiator, with both input
and output energy being acoustic.