Saturday, December 21, 2013

Don't Be Mislead By The Manufacturer Specifications Of Recent Wireless Speakers

By Michelle Finger


When purchasing a new set of cordless loudspeakers, you probably will take a look at the technical specifications. One often found spec is the frequency response. This specification while significant will not tell the entire story relating to how good the speakers are going to sound. I will shed light on the meaning of this phrase and also offer a few recommendations on how to interpret it while looking for a set of cordless speakers. A set of cordless loudspeakers are going to transmit and the reproduce an audio signal that is within the frequency response range. If the frequency range is 20 Hz to 20 kHz for instance, the cordless loudspeakers can transmit all signals with a frequency higher than 20 Hz and lower than 20 kHz. Then again, there is much more to understanding the wireless loudspeakers's overall performance than merely looking at these numbers.

Cordless loudspeakers are created to transmit and the reproduce a sound signal to medium or higher sound level. Suppliers usually show the frequency range over which the cordless speakers function. This range is specified by listing 2 frequencies: a lower as well as upper frequency. As an example, the lower frequency may be 20 Hz and the upper frequency 20 kHz. Using this spec it seems the wireless speakers can operate as a set of HIFI speakers. Yet, there is certainly far more to understanding the wireless loudspeakers's performance than simply reviewing these numbers.

The truth is, a set of wireless speakers with a frequency response from 10 Hz to 30 kHz may actually have much poorer sound quality than a set that offers a frequency response from 20 Hz to 15 kHz. Different manufacturers apparently employ different ways to establish frequency response. Typically, the frequency response displays the standard working range of the wireless speakers. Inside this range, the sound pressure level is basically constant. At the upper and lower cutoff frequencies the gain is going to decrease by at most 3 decibels. Then again, a few makers push this standard to the limit and tend to show an upper frequency where the cordless speakers are going to barely generate a beep any longer. Also, just considering these 2 numbers doesn't say much about the linearity of the frequency response. A complete frequency response chart, on the other hand, will show whether or not there are any kind of peaks and valleys and in addition show the way the frequency response is to be interpreted. You can even wish to request a phase response chart which also provides crucial hints regarding the quality of sound.

Nevertheless, a lot of makers ignore this particular established practice. They push the lower frequency and upper frequency to where the cordless loudspeakers barely offer any sound response. What's more, these numbers say next to nothing about how linear the cordless speakers are working inside this range. Ideally you should really make an effort to get a frequency response chart from the manufacturer. In this diagram, you will find the way the wireless speakers function within the frequency response range. You can even discover any kind of peaks and / or valleys the wireless speakers could possibly have. Peaks along with valleys might cause colorization of the audio. If at all possible the sound pressure level of the cordless speakers needs to be linear over the entire working range.

To better comprehend the frequency response behavior of a specific model, you should attempt to figure out under which circumstances the response was calculated. You'll find this information in the data sheet of the wireless speakers. Then again, most producers won't show these in which case you might need to make contact with the producer directly. The fact is that numerous amps which are incorporated into the wireless speakers are going to function in a different way with different loudspeaker loads. This is mainly because that various loudspeaker loads can cause changes to the behavior of the output power stage of the amp. This change is most obvious with many wireless speakers that use digital amps, also called Class-D amps. Class-D amplifiers employ a lowpass filter within their output as a way to reduce the switching components which are created from the internal power FETs. Then again, the frequency response of the amp now is determined by the loudspeaker driver load because the behavior of this lowpass filter is affected by the load impedance. Usually the lower the loudspeaker driver load impedance the lower the upper cut-off frequency of the amplifier

Several of the latest digital amps feed back the audio signal following the lowpass filter to compensate for this tradeoff and to make the frequency response of the amplifier independent of the attached driver load. On the other hand, if the amplifier is not constructed properly, this type of feedback may cause instability and lead to loud noise being generated by the amplifier if certain loudspeakers are connected. Different amps employ transformers and provide outputs for several loudspeaker loads. Aside from improving the frequency response of the amp, this technique generally also improves the amplifier power efficiency.




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