A loudspeaker, speaker, or speaker system is an electromechanical
transducer that converts an electrical signal into sound. The term loudspeaker
can refer to individual devices (or drivers), or to complete systems consisting
of an enclosure incorporating one or more drivers and additional electronics. Loudspeakers
are the most variable elements in any audio system, and are responsible for marked audible
differences between otherwise identical sound systems. Loudspeaker performance
(i.e., their accuracy in reproducing a signal without adding distortion) is significantly
poorer than that of other audio equipment. For example, harmonic distortion in a typical
loudspeaker can be 100 to 1000 times greater than that in amplifiers. The frequency
response of a loudspeaker is often referenced as being within ±3 dB of perfect linearity
(though many speaker designs fall far outside this range), whereas an amplifier may
vary less than 0.1 dB.
To reproduce a wide range of frequencies, most loudspeaker systems require more than one
driver, particularly for high sound pressure level or high fidelity applications. Individual
drivers are used to cover different frequency ranges. The drivers are named subwoofers,
for very low frequencies; woofers, for low frequencies; squawkers<, for
middle frequencies; tweeters, for high frequencies; and supertweeters,
for very high frequencies. An filter called a crossover separates the incoming signal
into different frequency bands appropriate for each driver. A loudspeaker system with 'N'
separate frequency bands is described as "N-way speakers": a 2-way system will have woofer
and tweeter speakers; a 3-way system a combination of woofer, tweeter, and mid-range
speakers, and so on.
|
|
Student Login
©
2007 Nasson Institute