Greetings! Car silk tweeters are available in the radio markets in my city. The pair are there, but I didn’t understand how to fit them into the column; they have fastenings for standard clips.
Recently I started working closely on a set of acoustics for an open loggia. The subwoofer had been gathering dust for a long time without use (in the photo below there is a black pipe in the upper left corner), line arrays were made, everything was hung, but there was not enough mid-bass. I made a “Saltykov cube” on the existing 25GDN-1, without an HF link. During the tests, I remembered about the tweeters, connected one - it became clear that it was better with it than without it.
How the speakers are arranged. All about the body.
The speaker housing is the next important link. Previously, we already figured out why we need and how speakers work in Hi-Fi speakers. How can you ensure that the speaker plays music with high quality? The answer lies precisely in the speaker housing.
Why does a speaker need a housing?
The speaker is a key element in the design of any speakers, which converts the electrical sound signal into sound waves. We discussed this issue in more detail in the previous article. When the speaker is operating, you can see a characteristic back and forth movement of the cone. When the diffuser moves forward, a zone of increased air pressure is created in front of it (the air is simply compressed). At the same time, there is more space for air at the rear - a zone of low pressure is formed. It turns out that the diffuser creates sound waves both in front and behind. And these waves collide - this is called an “acoustic short circuit”. You won’t get good sound this way; obvious problems will arise at low frequencies (low-frequency waves are the longest).
Triangle Comete EZ Bookshelf Speaker System
For a speaker to work well at all frequencies, it is necessary to prevent these sound waves from colliding so that they do not cancel each other out. In general, this problem can be solved by installing a speaker in the shield. The dimensions of this shield must exceed the sound wavelength at the lowest frequencies. However, this solution is not suitable for home use. Then the engineers came up with the idea of making a case for the speaker - a box in which the speakers are installed with the front part facing out. This housing eliminates the possibility of mutual acoustic suppression of the front and rear sound waves (one wave goes outside, the second remains in the housing).
The speaker body is not a simple box
Not every box is suitable for housing a speaker. Unless, of course, we still want to get high-quality sound. The task of industrial engineers is to calculate the sizes, shapes of speaker cabinets and many other characteristics. For example, remember that during operation the speaker body is subject to constant mechanical stress due to mechanical movements. This means that vibrations will be transmitted to the body. If the walls of the case are too thin or made of resonating materials (for example, plastic), then the appearance of audible unpleasant overtones is inevitable. But making the column walls too thick is also not advisable, that is, here you need to find the optimal solution.
Triangle Australe EZ Floorstanding Speaker System
One of the important points in creating a housing for a speaker is the correct choice of its dimensions (internal volume). It must be done in accordance with the characteristics of the speaker. Indeed, the air that is inside the closed speaker housing will be very reluctant to compress and expand. This will make it difficult for the speaker cone to operate. For example, take a bicycle pump and try to move the piston with the tube hole closed - you will hardly be able to easily move your hand. The speaker cone will have to overcome similar air resistance inside the speaker when it moves back and forth. This will not have the best effect on the sound of the speaker at low frequencies and on its overall performance (sensitivity). Of course, the speaker body can be made larger and then the air resistance inside will have less of an impact on the speaker’s performance. But there is another way to solve this problem.
Floorstanding speaker system Triangle BR08
What is a bass reflex?
The next element of the speaker design comes to the rescue - the bass reflex. Perhaps you have noticed that many speakers have holes on the front or back? They are usually round, but sometimes they come in other shapes, such as rectangular. These are bass reflexes, which are a kind of “exhaust pipe” of the speaker.
The bass reflex is a pipe in the speaker body that provides energetic low-frequency output and the ability to reproduce deep bass.
The shape and length of this pipe, as well as the diameter of the hole itself, are selected based on many factors, the size of the column and the parameters of the speaker. It is thanks to the bass reflex that even small speakers can sound bassy. In addition, their speaker cones move more freely than in the case of a closed cabinet. This means that the sensitivity of the speakers increases.
The principle of operation of the bass reflex
How does a bass reflex work? At first glance, it releases the same sound waves from the back of the woofer cone. But that is not all. According to its name and principle of operation, a bass reflex device reverses the phase of the sound wave passing through it. Therefore, it not only does not suppress, but also enhances the sound (in a certain frequency range) that the speaker reproduces.
Bass reflex in the floor-standing speaker system Triangle Antal 40th Anniversary
The bass reflex is not as simple as it seems. This is a complex resonant system. The sound quality of the acoustics depends on the correct calculation of this system. The design of the bass reflex is determined individually for each speaker model. The bass reflex output holes can be located on the front or rear panels of the housing. Their location does not affect the operating principle or sound quality in any way. However, installing speakers with a rear-facing bass reflex has its own characteristics. It is usually not recommended to install them close to the wall of the room, otherwise there may be an overabundance of bass (although some audiophiles may even like this).
Even the best speakers will not provide high-quality sound if they are installed in an incorrectly manufactured cabinet. Fortunately, modern hi-fi is produced by experienced companies.
When you decide to buy speakers from a well-known brand, you can be sure that the sound will delight you for many years.
We'll talk about other elements in the following articles. And you can choose the acoustics you like right here and now: https://overton.ru/catalog/akusticheskie-sistemy/
