Understanding speaker parts
It is imperative to understand the parts of a speaker since it helps to demonstrate how speaker specifications compare to each other. And complete understanding of how a speaker is built internally provides enhanced technical knowledge that helps to visualize what different specifications count depending on how the speaker will be utilized.
Some of the basic applications vary depending on requirements. It’s important to know that regardless of whether the speakers are for home theaters, TV installations, wireless Sonos speakers, soundbars, and residential or commercial applications the speakers are primarily built the same way.
Basic speaker parts
All speakers share the same essential speaker parts, and those are the driver, enclosure, diaphragm, cone, voice coil, dust cap, spider, surround, driver diaphragm, basket, gasket, magnet, and assembly.
The driver
A loudspeaker is defined as a sound driver or driver.
The driver is the main element of the speaker system since it converts line-level voltage from your speaker amplifier into sound by pushing and pulling air molecules in waves that the human ear recognizes as sound.
A driver can be made from different materials — from the reinforced paper cone shape, a metal dome diaphragm, or a carbon fiber element, all within a metal coil.
The enclosure
Made from wood, plastic, and in some cases drywall or concrete, the enclosure is the box or cavity where the driver is mounted.
The enclosure can contain one driver or several drivers. However, No speaker can exist without an enclosure.
The dimensions of the enclosure determine the volume of air movement. Therefore, the sound force a speaker can create in a given room.
This correlation states that the size of a speaker enclosure should be related to the size of the room.
A loudspeaker engineered for a bigger room will, unfortunately, not sound as good in a smaller place. And correlatively, the same holds for the other way around.
Speaker enclosures come in several designs such as ported reflex that have a hole in the front or back to leak more bass.
Fascinating enough, some others are entirely sealed — well-designed sealed enclosures tend to produce more accurate sound.
Well-made speaker enclosures use structures that have been reinforced and are mostly referred to in speaker specs as braced enclosures.
All done to reassure that the enclosure vibrates as little as possible to avoid undesirable coloration to sound. Especially at the resonant frequency of the enclosure, which tends to be closer to the upper bass frequencies.
The diaphragm
The diaphragm is the device that converts mechanical motion into sound waves.
The cone
The cone is a diaphragm that is attached to the voice coil.
The cone is the part that contains a bigger surface and is designed for maximum air movement when the voice coil moves.
The body of the cone can be made from paper, carbon fiber, black polypropylene, aluminum, titanium, phenolic, magnesium, granite, fiberglass, ceramic, or Kevlar.
The voice coil
The voice coil made from a copper wire is an electromagnet that provides the motive force to the cone by the reaction of a magnetic field to the current passing through it.
The voice coil is a set of windings wound around an aluminum, Nomex, Kapton, or other material forms.
It is made using flat or round wound wire. Nominal impedances are 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 16, or 32 ohms.
The dust cap
The dust cap is a diaphragm designed to cover the voice coil opening other internal parts of the speaker. It can be made of paper, aluminum, felt, rubber, screen, or polypropylene.
The spider
The spider is made from treated paper coated with adhesive glue, located internally inside the speaker.
The primary function of the spider is to preserve the voice coil appropriately aligned and to reassure that the speaker comes back to its normal position between vibrations.
It’s like a safety mechanism that ensures all interior parts stay in place. The spider snuggly fits around the voice coil and is attached to the speaker basket.
The surround
The surround is the poly-foam, foam, butyl, accordion, or a single cloth or “m” roll cloth ring that holds the cone and the basket together.
It acts as a suspension system that works harmonically with the spider to bring the cone to its normal position between vibrations.
Driver diaphragm
The driver diaphragm is attached to the metal basket via an acoustic spider suspension at one end and a flexible surround at the other.
The basket
The basket is a structure made from aluminum or plastic that protects all the interior parts and serves as structural reinforcement so no additional distortions can be created.
The gasket
Made from foam, rubber, or chip cardboard and the primary function of the gasket is to minimize vibration between the driver and the enclosure.
The magnet
The magnet is made of a group of metals called ferromagnetic metals.
These are metals like iron and nickel.
These metals have the unique property of being capable of being magnetized.
On a speaker, the magnet is a big mass located on the back of the speaker.
The magnet serves as a negative or positive inverter for the voice coil, which in return makes the diaphragms move and make the driver make a sound.
The assembly
The diaphragm, spider, and surround are firmly attached to a voice coil suspended by a magnetic field created by a permanent magnet.
The entire assembly is free to move following the movement created by the voice coil in response to the electric signal.
This movement moves air into the room to create sound.
Speaker design
It is essential to understand speaker parts by the way they are designed since speaker design helps to demonstrate how speaker specifications compare to each other and how their warranty varies depending on specifications.
A complete understanding of how a speaker is built internally provides enhanced knowledge that can be visualized to depict what differences count on different types of speakers.
That’s mostly why a great loudspeaker manufacturer spends years and millions of dollars researching and developing a model line that it’s worth carrying the manufacturer’s logo.
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