Driver size VS Quality VS Quantity (1 Viewer)

[3spddrft]

I've been studying audio and speakers for the past few months and I'm still confused about quite a few things. One thing is how size of speakers effects performance.

Sony has what appears and sounds to be a decent system with golf ball size speakers. However, I've listened to a number of Klipsch, Defintive, Focal, etc bookshelfs that sound about the same untill you started getting drivers above 5" I think part of it is you rarely see those golf ball size speakers auditioned with something other than a big blockbuster movie soundtrack. Perhaps they would be a lot more disapointing with music.

Also, has anyone ever heard speakers with 3 or more small drivers. I've just started to read about Line Array and I'm comparing it to my Altec Lansing computer speakers. What kind of performance could be expected out of a bookshelf speaker with three 4" drivers.

Thanks for any input I can get.

Tim

 

[Alon Goldberg]

When you audition satellite speakers, stop for a moment and listen to the mid-range, you'll find its completely muffled and inadequate, especially when listening to music. The manufacturers will try to impress you with the big home theater bass, but ultimately the speakers will always disapoint if you do some subjective listening against bookshelf speakers with larger drivers.

Also, more drivers does not always equate to better sound. I have wonderful 2-way transmission-line loudspeakers in my stereo system, with a 29mm Vifa Ring Radiator tweeter and 150mm ScanSpeak mid-woofer. These will put almost any 3-way system to shame.

In my opinion it comes down the the quality of the drivers, the cabinet, and the crossover. As for driver size, no satellite speakers are going to offer a design that can meet a bookshelf or loudspeaker, regardless of the quantity of drivers.

 

[Cees Alons]

The size of the driver is hardly related to quality.

Size of the cone (as well as its mass) determines the frequency range the speaker can confidently reproduce. Small speakers may not be good in the midrange and bass frequencies. Big speakers may have problems radiating the higher frequencies (unless bi-coned: a much smaller one on top of a larger cone).


Cees

 

[3spddrft]

You still need a larger size to produce more sound though. A smaller speaker may produce the same range as another it won't be able to produce it on the same scale. Is this correct?

 

[Cees Alons]

No, it isn't correct as long as we're talking the usual size ranges (extremely tiny speaker drivers would become a problem, of course

).

The amount of "sound" that comes from a speaker depends on the amount of power it can take (how is the voice coil constructed, can it take more current?) and the "efficiency" (with the same amount of audio power fed into it, a more efficient speaker will produce more sound). Both are construction parameters (design), and not directly related to the size of the cone. Efficiency, for instance, is greatly influenced by the power of the magnet and the way the voice coil is placed in it's magnetic field.


Cees