RCF Speakers
Posted by smithwilliam on July 14th, 2011
Speaker systems are very important because they are the units that actually reproduce the sound from electrical energy. When I buy speakers, I only want to get high end. Here is what you need to know, and what to look for:
Woofer: A large speaker designed to reproduce the lower frequencies of the audio spectrum.
Mid: A medium sized speaker designed to reproduce the middle frequencies of the audio spectrum.
Tweeter: A small sized speaker designed to reproduce the highest frequencies of the audio spectrum.
You've certainly heard of "subwoofers" that reproduce the lowest of the audio frequencies. Essentially, these are the same thing as woofers, just bigger and with more power handling. The result? Thunderous bass! Like the gods sent it themselves...
You might also encounter "midbass" drivers. These are similar to woofers, but are usually used to bring more bass to the front soundstage. Often times, they are connected to crossover networks.
Another type of speaker you might encounter is called a "supertweeter", and reproduces the highest frequencies in the audio spectrum.
When you buy a "speaker", you are actually buying a speaker system. AKA, more than one thing working together to produce a result. Let's take a look at the types of speaker systems available...
Basically, there are two types of speaker "systems" that exist.
1. "Coaxial", "three way", "full-range", etc.
These speaker systems are designed to fit into the factory speaker location in your vehicle. They are often referred to as a "speaker", but have more than one speaker, and will also contain a crossover. (coaxialspeak.jpg)
These speaker systems essentially take everything from the above speaker system, and break it up into parts. (componentspeak.jpg)
To restate the obvious, one speaker system has all of its components in one package, and the other speaker system has all of its components in seperate packages. Both speakers do the exact same thing, and work in the exact same way, BUT COMPONENT SYSTEMS ARE BETTER.
But before I do, you should know about the PROPERTIES OF HIGH FREQUENCIES. OK, it's boring, so I'll give you the executive summary: High frequencies are extremely narrow in their dispersion. (Whu huh?) In short, high frequencies (if we could see them) disperse like a string. Low frequencies, if we can see them disperse like a fan. So, since high frequencies don't disperse very well, they need to be aimed at the ears, otherwise we won't hear them! This is one of the advantages of component systems; they allow the tweeters to be aimed! Why do we want this? So when a singer hits an "s word", or a cymbal crashes (both of these things happen in the higher frequencies), the sound will SPARKLE, rather than sound dead and flat.
Another advantage of components: Their crossovers are usually higher quality units than you'll find in coaxial or full-range speakers systems. This is good because you'll introduce less distortion to your speakers, and be certain that your speakers are only playing the frequencies that they're designed to play. The result? BETTER SOUND.
The last advantage of components is that they are GENERALLY designed for people who are more interested in sound quality. Because of this, components are generally higher in quality. When it comes to coaxials, even the most expensive models will be eclipsed by the quality of components in the same price range.
OK, OK. I know not everyone will consider component speaker systems. The truth is that they are harder to install properly and more expensive. Of course, if sound quality is your thing, you'll go through the extra effort! Even car manufacturers are getting with the program these days, and include component speaker systems in their vehicles. Even my lowly Honda Civic has
So, you've probably noticed me using the word "crossover" above. What you may not know is what a crossover is, and what it does. Basically, a crossover takes a full spectrum audio signal, and breaks it up into different frequency "bands", and sends the appropriate frequencies to the appropriate speakers. Here's a picture! (xover.jpg)
If this explanation was too simple for you, you can check out my crossover page for more in depth info. Thanks!
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