Powerful loudspeakers are required in many public address scenarios. This could be a presentation, speech, concert, etc. Because there is such a high demand for PA speakers, there are plenty of speaker brands that produce PA speakers. Although these speakers are relatively simple (compared to their more precise studio monitor and HiFi home-theatre counterparts), some…
Amplifiers can be found all around us if we choose to look for them. They’re in our phones, televisions, entertainment systems, vehicles, shopping malls, and many other places. Though we may think of active amps when we think of amplifiers, there are also passive amplifiers that are common enough in our daily lives. What is…
Audio equipment can be expensive but totally worth it to us gear heads. As with any purchases we make, it’s always great to weigh out our options and look for the best deal. With the rise in online shopping, it’s not uncommon for musicians, engineers, audiophiles and hobbyists to purchase their audio equipment online. This…
There are many specifications used to define speakers, and power handling or “wattage rating” is one of the most common specs we encounter when reading into using or buying a speaker. The spec will look something like 1000 W; 350 Wrms, or 800 Wpeak. What is speaker power handling (wattage rating)? The speaker power handling…
There are many different speaker manufacturers in the world today. Think of all the demand for speakers and how people use speakers on a daily basis. There are speakers in our vehicles, home entertainment systems and favourite nightclubs; in our portable wireless devices and stationary instalments; in public places from shopping malls to houses of…
Loudspeakers come in a wide variety of designs and are defined by a rather large amount of specifications. We can learn a lot about a speaker before ever plugging it in and/or connecting it to an amplifier by reading its specifications or datasheet. What are loudspeaker specifications? Loudspeaker specifications, shown on spec/data sheets, are pieces…
Speaker drivers and enclosures are quite complex in their design and functionality and can be measured in a wide variety of specifications and parameters. What are Thiele-Small Parameters? Thiele-Small (T/S) Parameters are a series of measurements that define the mechanical, electrical and electromechanical properties of a loudspeaker. The TSPs apply particularly to individual drivers and…
Loudspeakers are rather insensitive and inefficient transducers. Knowing and comprehending their sensitivity and efficiency ratings is key to understanding how speakers work as a whole. What are speaker sensitivity and efficiency? Sensitivity and efficiency are similar specifications/measurements of how well a speaker converts amplifier power (electrical energy) into acoustic (mechanical wave) energy. Put differently; they…
Whether we’re aware of them or not, crossover networks are used in nearly all our loudspeakers and play a major role in how we hear the speaker drivers. What is a speaker crossover network? A speaker crossover is a network of filters that separate bands of frequencies of an input audio signal and outputs each…
Speakers are these incredible devices that turn electrical audio signals into sound waves for our listening pleasure (or displeasure), and they wouldn’t be able to do so without drivers. So, it goes without saying that speaker drivers are essential to speaker design and that we should understand how they work. What are speaker drivers, and…
Seeing a speaker driver by itself seems to be a rare occurrence as the vast majority of speakers are designed into boxes known as enclosures. To fully understand how speakers work, we must understand why they are designed into such enclosures and whether enclosure design is a major factor in loudspeaker performance. Why do loudspeakers…
If you’ve ever dealt with speakers, you’ve likely heard the terms “tweeter,” “woofer,” “subwoofer,” and maybe even “full-range” and “mid-range.” With so much terminology (jargon and informal), it can be difficult to understand exactly what is meant when discussing mid-range speakers, tweeters and woofers. What are the differences between mid-range speakers, tweeters and woofers? These…
