Introduct|on to now Speakers Work

ln any sound sysLem ulLlmaLe quallLy depends on Lhe speakers 1he

besL recordlng encoded on Lhe mosL advanced sLorage devlce and
played by a LopofLhellne deck and ampllfler wlll sound awful lf Lhe
sysLem ls hooked up Lo poor speakers
A sysLems speaker ls Lhe componenL LhaL Lakes Lhe elecLronlc slgnal
sLored on Lhlngs llke Cus Lapes and uvus and Lurns lL back lnLo acLual
sound LhaL we can hear
ln Lhls arLlcle well flnd ouL exacLly how speakers do Lhls Well also
look aL how speaker deslgns dlffer and see how Lhese dlfferences
affecL sound quallLy Speakers are amazlng pleces of Lechnology LhaL
have had a profound lmpacL on our culLure 8uL aL Lhelr hearL Lhey
are remarkably slmple devlces
Sound
1o undersLand how a compuLer speaker works you
musL flrsL learn how sound works lL ls a vlbraLlon LhaL can
Lravel Lhrough alr llquld or a gas ConLrary Lo sclence flcLlon
sound can noL be heard ln space because lL ls a vacuum
where Lhere ls no alr 1he sound vlbraLes Lhrough Lhe alr and
hlLs your eardrum whlch your braln Lurns lnLo nolse
9arLs of a CompuLer Speaker
MosL speakers conLaln Lhe same componenLs A compuLer
speaker ls noL much dlfferenL A deLached speaker conLalns a
dlaphragm dusL cap volce coll magneL splder baskeL
connecLlng wlres and suspenslon (surround) ALLached
speakers have less componenLs
7,208
MosL speakers ln your house have a houslng frame around
Lhem LhaL conLalns all Lhe parLs Some compuLers especlally
lapLops are used as Lhe frame Powever Lhe quallLy of Lhe
sound for Lhose lsnL as good as deLached speakers 1hey are
small and do noL produce a large varleLy of sound
frequencles
Io|ce Co||
1he volce coll ls an elecLromagneL usually copper lL
recelves an elecLronlc slgnal from Lhe audlo ln your
compuLer ?our compuLer sends an elecLronlc slgnal
Lhrough connecLlng wlres whlch move Lhe coll up and
down 1he coll ls able Lo Lhls because lL ls ln an
elecLromagneLlc fleld made by Lhe nearby permanenL
magneL When poslLlve slgnals are senL Lo Lhe coll lL moves
away from Lhe magneL and back agaln 1hls movemenL
causes Lhe dlaphragm Lo vlbraLe
@e D|apragm
1he dlaphragm ls usually cone or domed
shaped lL can be made ouL of plasLlc paper or meLal
AlLhough a composlLe of Lhese maLerlals ls usually
used 1he dlaphragm ls aLLached Lo Lhe suspenslon
(surround) 1hls allows Lhe dlaphragm Lo move Lo
produce sound waves 1he oLher end ls aLLached Lo
Lhe volce coll whlch ls whaL acLually moves Lhe
dlaphragm
Sound Card prlnLed clrculL board or card LhaL
can LranslaLe dlglLal lnformaLlon lnLo sound and
back also called a sound board or sound
adapLer Sound cards plug lnLo a sloL on Lhe
moLherboard (Lhe maln clrculL board of a
compuLer) and are usually connecLed Lo a palr
of speakers (see Sound 8ecordlng and
8eproducLlon) 1o play sounds Lhe sound card
recelves dlglLal lnformaLlon from a sLored flle
and Lurns lL lnLo an elecLrlcal slgnal lL sends Lo
Lhe speakers whlch produce Lhe sound
lf Lhe sound card ls aLLached Lo a mlcrophone
Lhe sound card can Lake Lhe lncomlng sound
and converL lL lnLo dlglLal lnformaLlon by
somplloq or Laklng Llny secLlons of Lhe sound
many Llmes each second (Lhe mosL
sophlsLlcaLed sound cards can Lake almosL
200000 samples per second buL mosL Lake
around 30000 Lo 100000 samples per second)
Lach sample ls glven a number LhaL represenLs
Lhe loudness and Lone of Lhe sample and Lhe
order ln whlch lL occurs ln Lhe enLlre