mardi 17 décembre 2013

Don't Be Mislead By The Manufacturer Ratings Of Today's Wireless Loudspeakers

By Michelle Finger


Cordless speaker suppliers normally publish the frequency response of their goods which, however, doesn't automatically show you a great deal regarding the sound quality. I will clarify the meaning of this phrase and even give some suggestions on how to interpret it when searching for a set of cordless speakers. A set of cordless loudspeakers are going to transmit and the reproduce a sound signal that is inside the frequency response range. This range is specified by showing 2 frequencies: a lower and also upper frequency. To give an example, the lower frequency could be 20 Hz and the higher frequency 20 kHz. From this specification it appears the cordless speakers would be able to function as a set of HIFI speakers. It might seem the larger the frequency response the better the cordless loudspeakers. That, on the other hand, will not necessarily be the case. You should evaluate the specifications more closely to be able to adequately understand all of them.

The truth is, a set of cordless loudspeakers with a frequency response from 10 Hz to 30 kHz might actually have much worse audio quality than a set that provides a frequency response from 20 Hz to 15 kHz. Different makers often make use of various methods in order to establish frequency response. The most widely used way is to describe the frequency response as the frequency range within which the wireless loudspeakers will have fairly constant sound pressure level with a highest drop of 3 decibel (dB). Normally the decline in sound pressure level is greatest at the upper and lower frequency.

The fact is, a set of wireless speakers that has a frequency response from 10 Hz to 30 kHz can actually have much poorer audio quality than a set which provides a frequency response from 20 Hz to 15 kHz. Different makers appear to use different methods to establish frequency response. Normally, the frequency response shows the normal operating range of the wireless speakers. Within this range, the sound pressure level is essentially constant. At the lower and upper cutoff frequencies the gain will drop by no more than 3 decibels.

In order to better understand the frequency response behavior of a certain type, you should attempt to find out under which conditions the response was calculated. You will probably find this information in the data sheet of the cordless loudspeakers. However, most makers will not show those in which case you might need to contact the maker directly. Actually amps might have different frequency responses depending on the speaker driver element which is built in.

You additionally may need to look at the circumstances under which the frequency response was calculated. You usually will not find any information about the measurement conditions, unfortunately, in the producer's data sheet. The fact is that a large number of amps which are incorporated into the wireless loudspeakers are going to behave in a different way with different speaker loads. This is because of the fact that different loudspeaker loads will cause changes to the behavior of the output power stage of the amp. Mostly current wireless loudspeakers which use digital or "Class-D" amplifiers can have changes in the frequency response with various driver loads. The primary reason is the fact that Class-D amps employ switching FETs as the power phase which produce a great deal of switching components. These components are eliminated using a filter that is part of the internal speaker amp. A changing loudspeaker driver load will impact the filter response to some amount. Normally the lower the loudspeaker driver impedance the lower the maximum frequency of the built-in amp. In addition, the linearity of the amplifier gain is going to depend on the driver load.

A few of the most recent digital amplifiers feed back the audio signal after the lowpass filter to compensate for this tradeoff and to make the frequency response of the amplifier independent of the attached driver load. However, if the amp is not constructed well, this kind of feedback could potentially cause instability and also cause loud noise being produced by the amplifier if specific loudspeakers are connected. An additional approach makes use of audio transformers between the power stage of the amp and several outputs. Each output is designed to attach a different loudspeaker load. This approach makes sure that the amplifier will be loaded equally and also improves amplifier efficiency.




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