PAPERS

Augmented Passive-Radiator Loudspeaker

Systems, Part I*

THOMAS L. CLARKE

Ocean Acoustics Laboratory, Miami, FL 33149, USA --"......

The augmented passive-radiator loudspeaker system is a natural extension of both the

vented-box and the drone-cone systems. Additional radiation associated with the aug-
mented passive radiator provides an additional degree of design freedom, which permits
the duplication of any vented-box or drone-cone alignment as well as the realization of
new alignments having improved low-frequency performance. Driver and passive-ra-
diator displacement requirements are similar to those of the drone-cone system.

0 INTRODUCTION a more favorable location, lowering the cutofffrequency

and improving the transient response.
The passive-radiator (or drone-cone) loudspeaker en- Fig. l(a) shows the augmented passive-radiator sys-
closure was first described by Olson in 1935 [1]. A
rem as described by Clarke [4]. The enclosure volume is
rigorous analysis of its response characteristics has been
divided into two parts, V_and V2. The rear of the driver
carried out only quite recently by Small [2] and by radiates intovolume V_,and volume V_is in turn coupled
Nomura and Kitamura [3]. More recently descriptions with the portion of the passive radiator labeled Sm. The
of variants of the drone-cone loudspeaker have appeared driver, Vl, and the portion Spl of the passive radiator
in Clarke [4] and Hossbach [5]. The variants, which thus constitute a drone-cone system. The portion Sp2 of
might be described as augmented passive-radiator en- the passive radiator shares the motion of the whole
closures, are capable of alignments that give better per- passive radiator and is baffled by V2. Portion Sp2 thus
formance than conventional sealed-box, vented-box, contributes to the acoustic radiation from the system at
and drone-cone systems, that is, properly aligned aug- low frequencies where the passive radiator is operating.
mented passive-radiator systems offer an improved The exact shape of the passive radiator is irrelevant.
tradeoff of low-frequency response, enclosure size, and
Two cones of unequal areas joined apex to apex and
efficiency, suspendedin the enclosureopeningsform a convenient
The drone-cone loudspeaker enclosure has many ad-
way to realize the augmented passive radiator, as shown
vantages over alternative enclosures. It has a lower fre-
inFig.l(b).
quency cutoff than a comparably efficient sealed system In Part I of this paper the augmented passive-radiator
of the same size. A drone-cone system is less vulnerable
system is analyzed by the methods described in [6]. The
to low-frequency noise than a vented-box system and
basic analytical results produce a useful design proce-
does not produce vent noise. The drone-cone system, dure for the augmented passive-radiator system and
however, has a notch in its frequency response which
illuminate its relationship to drone-cone systems and to
raises its cutoff frequency, and this notch can make
vented-box systems. In addition, both the small and the
acceptable transient response difficult to achieve. In
large signal behavior of the augmented passive-radiator
augmented passive-radiator systems this notch takes on system are investigated in detail.
Part II is a discussion of these results and presents
* Manuscript received 1978 Octol_er 26; revised 1980 De- examples of synthesis, for both a given driver and a
cember30. givenset of realizablespecifications.

394 © 1981 Audio Engineering Society, Inc. 0004~7554/81/060394-11500.75 d. Audio Eng. Soc., Vol. 29, No. 6, 1981 June
 PAPERS AUGMENTED PASSIVE-RADIATOR LOUDSPEAKER SYSTEMS, PART I

I ANALYSIS driver voice coil to form a single acoustic resistanceRAT ,

where
The impedance-type acoustical analog circuit of an
augmented passive-radiator loudspeaker system is B212
shown in Fig. 2. The symbols in this circuit and that of RAT = R^s + (1)
Fig. 3 are defined as follows: (Rg -3- RE)SD2 '

The circuit may be further simplified by neglecting losses

eg = open-circuit output voltage of source or am- due to enclosure leakages, internal absorption, and pas-
plifier sire-radiator suspension losses. The acoustic compli-
Pg = equivalent pressure generator output ances CAps and CAB2 can then be lumped:
B = magnetic flux density in driver air gap

I = length of voice-coil conductor in magnetic I 1 "[- {Sp2 _2 !

field of air gap CAP -- CAPS [Sp I ]CAB2 (2)
Rg = output resistance of source or amplifier
RE = dc resistance of driver voice coil resulting in the simplified circuit shown in Fig. 3.
RAs = acoustic resistance of driver suspension Fig. 3 is identical in form to [2, Fig. 2], which is the
losses simplifiedacousticalanalog circuit of a drone-cone sys-
CAS = acoustic compliance of driver suspension tern. Many of the characteristics of augmented systems
MAS = acoustic mass of driver diaphragm assem- shouldthusbesimilartothoseofaconventionalsystem.
bly, including air load
CAm = acoustic compliance of air in driver eh- ............................

CAps = acousUccompliance ofpassive-radiatordia-

phragm suspension
MAp = acoustic mass of passive-radiator dia- v2
phragm, including air load ' -'
RAp = acoustic resistance of passive-radiator sus-
closure i_i__
pension losses sn /
CAm = acoustic compliance of air in enclosure used
.../T&
UD = volume velocity of driver diaphragm
Um to baffle velocity
= volume additionalof portion
passive-radiator
S},t of passive-
area SpI-(. !
radiator
diaphragm (a) (b)
Up2 = volume velocity of portion SE2 of passive-
radiator diaphragm Fig. 1. Cross-sectional views of two possible structures of the
augmented passive-radiator loudspeaker system. (a) Using a
UBi = volume velocity entering driver enclosure single cone. (b) Using two cones of unequal area.
Uol = total volume velocity leaving driver enclo-
sure MASCAS,, RA
S UD Upi MAP Up2

UB2 = volume velocity entering passive-radiator %,

UL' : v°lumevel°city°fdriverencl°sureleakage Bh_ _-'Vv% >3 ut,t< hpr_s_ _B_
Uo2 = total volume velocity leavingpassive-radia- RAt, RAL
2 RA82
tor enclosure
enclosure. (/_(Rg_
,f_ / egBI CAB,_
R 3 i RAp / tAB2

RAL
UL2 1 =
=acoustic resistance
t°tal v°lume of driver enclosure leak-
°fpassive-radiat°renclosureleakage
vel°city _x"]j (Rg_ %'qj/
AB,_ [ Sr_flh 1_2 I
age losses
RAm = acoustic resistance of driver enclosure inter- Fig. 2. Complete acoustical analog circuit of the augmented
ual absorption losses passive-radiatorloudspeakersystem.
RIL e = acoustic resistance of passive-radiator en-
closureleakagelosses MASCAS
RAB 2 = acoustic resistance of passive-radiator eh- , 0 "8,
closure internal absorption losses ' T Mi;_
S D = effective area of driver diaphragm : RAT _ ._

Sp] = enclosurearea
of passive radiator coupled to driver CABIT/ Cfi['
P-j-

SE2 = passiVe-radiator
area °f passive
enclosure
radiat°r baffled bY _'_" g u°'_ 7

This circuit can be simplified by combining RAS with Fig. 3. Simplified acoustical analog circuit of the augmented
the resistance due to the electromagnetic damping of the passive-radiator system.

J. Audio Eng. Soo., Vol. 29, No. 6, 1981 June 395

CLARKE PAPERS

In particular, if the circuit values are identical, the driv- resonance due to losses from absorption, leakage, and
ing point impedance and the displacement functions of passive-radiator losses, respectively:
both the driver and the passive radiator are identical for
the two systems. Because of its construction, there is 1
QA - (]0)
additional volume velocity Up2 associated with the aug- roBCABiRABi
mented passive radiator, and the response functions of
the augmented and conventional passive-radiator sys- QL = roBCAmRALI (11)
tems are in general not identical. With proper choice of
1
system parameters, however, the response function of Qp - . (12)
an augmented passive-radiator system can be made roBCABIRAPT

identical to that of any vented-box or drone-cone system

alignment. The interactionof the driver, passiveradiator, and
In constructing the equivalent circuits in Figs. 2 and enclosure isbest described in terms ora set of dimension-
less ratios. These are the passive-radiator compliance
3, the variation of acoustic resistance and mass loading
ratio
with frequency has been neglected. Interaction of the

driver with the passive radiator has also been neglected ,. _ - CAp (13)
These approximations are justified in [2]. CAm
It is useful to introduce characteristic times and di-
mensionless ratios which parameterize the loudspeaker the system tuning ratio
system. For the driver these are
fB rob Ts
h = - - (14)
1 fs % TB
Ts2 = --= CAsMAs (3)
ros2 and the passive-radiator
tuningratio
rosMas

QT = RA T (4) -fP- roP- Ts (15)

Y fs ros Tp '
VAS = PoC2CAs . (5)
A useful relationship between these ratios is
Eq. (3) defines the resonance frequency of the driver,
ros= 2zrfs' Eq. (4) describes the damping of the driver Tp _ fB _ h
- X/_ + 1 . (16)
resonance due to both electromagnetic and mechanical TB fp y
friction losses. Eq. (5), where Pois the density of air (1.18
kg/m 3 at standard temperature and pressure) and c is The system compliance ratio can be defined in two ways.
the speed of sound (345 m/s at standard temperature
and pressure), gives the acoustic compliance of the driv- a' -- CAs (17)
er in terms of a volume of air that has the same acoustic CAm
compliance. It is assumed that the value of MAs (and
hence all derived quantities) includes the effect of the air is the ratio between the driver compliance and the com-
load on the driver when it is mounted in the enclosure, pliance in the air in the driver enclosure. In addition,

Analogous quantities are defined for the passive ra- CAs

diator: a = (18)
CAB 1 "1- CAB 2
1
TP 2 rop2 CAp MAp (6) is the ratio
pliance between
of the the driver
total volume compliance
of air and
enclosed by thethe com-
system.
1
QMP -- ropCApRAPw (7) - Sp1 + Sp2 (19)
'Y Sp 1
VAp = P0C2CAp. (8)
is the ratio of radiating area to driven area of the passive
Here RAp T includes the effect of RAp and of the passive- radiator.
radiator enclosure losses. It is assumed that MAp in- CAm
eludestheeffectof airload onthepassiveradiatorwhen e= (20)
mounted in the enclosure. CABI + CAB2
The enclosure with the passive radiator installed ex- is the ratio of driver enclosure volume to total volume. If
hibits a resonance frequency in the same manner as a CAps >> (Spl/Sp2)2CAB2 = CAB2/('y -- 1) 2, that is,
vented box or a drone cone. This frequency is given by most of the passive-radiator stiffness is provided by the
air in the passive-radiator enclosure, a useful approxi-
1 CABiMAP
TB2 = -- = (9) mation is
rob2 1 + CABi/CAPs I - e
S------- (21)
Quality factors can be associated with the enclosure _(7 - 1)2 '

396 J. Audio Eng. Soc., Vol. 29, No. 6, 1981 June

PAPERS AUGMENTED PASSIVE-RADIATOR LOUDSPEAKER SYSTEMS, PART I

The above value is an upper limit and may be closely then thesecondpairofzerosisalsolocatedatthe origin.
approached by making the passive radiator physically Iftheapproximation (22) is used, condition (28) reduces
large and thus increasing CAps. to
From the analysis of Fig. 3, using the methods of[6] 1
and substitutingthe above dimensionlessparameters, 7 _ _ (29)
the system describing functions can be derived. Allow-
ance must be made for the volume velocity Up2 which Thus if, Eq. (28) or Eq. (29) is satisfied, the response
does not appear in Fig. 3. For the augmented passive- function becomes similar to that of a vented-box system.
radiator system the total output is given by the vectorial The response notch which causes difficulty in drone-
sum conesystems isremoved.

Uo = Ur) + Up] + Up2 -- Up + '7 Upi · (22) 2.1 Frequency Response

The response function is The frequency response G(jto) of Eq. (23) is examined
in more detail in the Appendix (included with Part II),
G(s) = s2Ts2(s2Tp2+ 1 - 6(7 - 1)) (23a) andausefuldesignprocedureforavarietyofalignments
D(s) is given. These alignments are similar to those given for
the drone-cone system in [2] and for the vented-box
where system in[7].

s3Tp2Ts A wide range of frequency responses is achievable due

= tovariablepositionsof the numeratorzerosinEq. (23).
D(s) $4Tp2Ts2 + QT In particular there is a family of systems satisfying Eq.
3. S2[(a ' 3. l)rp 2 -t- (6 nc ])Ts2 ] (28) or Eq. (29) which exhibit a pure fourth-order But-
terworth high-pass response. If 3' > 1/e in Eq. (29),
(6 + I)T s
+ s + (a' + 6 + 1) (23b) two response zeros are located on the joJ axis, and the
QT response is similar to that of a drone-cOne system with a

and s = o + jto is the complex frequency variable, steeper slope at cutoff. If 3' % l/e, two response zeros
are located on the real o axis. The response in this case
The displacement function of the driver diaphragm drops off less steeply than even a pure fourth-order
normalized to unity at zero frequency is given by
response, and as the zeros recede from the origin, the
response approaches that of a closed-box system [8].
X(s) = (oF 3' (5 3' l)(S2rB2 + l) (24) This last form of response has no direct analog in pre-
D(s) vious loudspeaker systems and might be called quasi
second order.
and the displacement constant is

(5+ I 2.2 Alignment

Kx = a' + (5 + I (25) The augmented passive-radiator system has six inde-
pendent system parameters: Ts, h, QT, a, 6 (or e), and 7.
The displacement function of the passive-radiator di-
As with a drone-cone system [2], specifying a given type
aphragm is given by of alignment (quasi maximally flat, etc.) is not sufficient
a' + (5 + 1 to uniquely determine these parameters. For the align-
Xp(s) - D(s) (26) ments considered in the Appendix (quasi maximally flat
[9] and elliptic [10]), specification of four variables al-
The voice coil impedance function is the same as that lows the other two to be found. Holding Ts fixed, since it
given in [2] with a' substituted for a, and will not be essentially only sets the frequency scale, specifying a, 6
repeated here. (or e),and 7 determinesthe other parameters.The aug-
mented passive-radiator system thus has three indepen-
2 RESPONSE dent design parameters, while the drone-cone system
has two (a and 6) and the vented-box system has one (a).
The response function of the augmented passive-radi- If, in addition, the system is required to be maximally
ator system given by Eq. (23) is of the same form as that flat, one independent design parameter is eliminated for
of a conventional passive-radiator system (e.g., [2, eq. each of the three systems. Fig. 4 plots system parameters
(27)]), that is, it is a fourth-order high-pass function, versus a and 3' for maximally flat alignments of the
One pair of numerator zeros is located at the origin and augmented passive-radiator system. A few curves of
the other pair is located at constant e and of constant (5are shown. In addition, lines

s2Tp2 = -1 -{- 6(3/ - 1) · (27) of constant normalized cutofffrequencyf/fs are plot-

ted. The curve labeled BW contains all alignments hay-
If lng a pure fourth-order Butterworthcharacteristic.
Alignments below the line BW have a double zero on the
(5('7 - 1) = 1 (28) jto axis, and those above and to the left of the line have

d. Audio Eng. Soc., Vol. 29, No. 6, 1981 June 397

CLARKE PAPERS

*zeros on the o axis: The points at a =x/2-, 3' = i corre- f3/fs=[ [.5 2 3

the points to the right of a =x/_ along 3, = I corre-

sponds totomaximally
spond the maximally fiat vented-box
fiat drone-cone systems,
systems. and
Thus both 3 / ',,*_" _,,_,.--' _

conventional passive-radiator and vented-box systems _,'" _'__,

can be regarded as limiting cases of the augmented T /\ ;b",. \ --~

Fig. 5 plots system parameters versus a' and 7. Here 2 t

curves of constant 6 are shown along with curves of
constantf3/fs. Again the curve BW corresponds to the
pure fourth-order Butterworth alignments. Design based / _ o_,.-_,"_
/ \ .e.,._ 'I 1

on a' and
enclose is useful when isthe
the 7passive-radiator volume unlimited
essentially available to /_ \," \,
that
passive-radiator system, so I /._' I!/ %
61_
_,I m ///_ \I_ \_.o_'4
3_'_fXx_ -i
I

.5 I 2 ;:5 5 I0
CAB2 (21{
CAp = CAPS (< (T -- 1) 2 ' (30)
Fig. 4. Curves of constant e, (5,andre/rs for maximally fiat
augmented passive-radiator system alignments plotted against
In this case CAp and (5are determined entirely by the pas- a and 3'.The curve BW is the locus of Butterworth alignmer/ts.
sive-radiator compliance and e is irrelevant.
Alignments with 7 < 1 have not been investigated.
With proper.choice ofSpl.andSe2anyvalueof 7 should 6,4S=o9 I .1.5 2

[5] correspond to negative

beachievable.Infact, valuesstructurespresented
some ofthe of 7. There wouldin 3' / / // / / /

1, as the response notch would then occur at a higher

seem to be little value in using a value of-,/smaller than /0///tO// //
frequency.The case 3,--0 and 640 corresponds to a _' 8 /j / / / /
would combine
closed-box some
system, andcharacteristics of thevalues
perhaps unusual closed-box
of 3, 2 _")I[ / /_ //
and the drone-cone systems, t 'tt t'
Alignment
given charts have
the Appendix for been calculated
a number by the methOdin
of combinations ofe t_t 7 //.._'"_
and 3'. Fig. 6 is an alignment chart for the line BW _ _ t'''rt'_ //'%/"'tx'
't,
shown in Fig. 4. It gives values for both e and _ so that a' [_ _// /// ?/
may be determined if unlimited passive-radiator enclo- I t f t _/
sure volume is available. Using Fig. 6, a losslesssystem 2 3 .5 IO
with Butterworth response may be designed for any Off
value of a _> _. This family of alignments illustrates
how any vented-box or drone-cone system alignment Fig. 5. Curves of constant 6 and fJfs for maximally flat
may be used-as a basis for a whole family of augmented augmented passive-radiator system alignments plotted against
a' and 7- The curve BW is the locus of Butterworth align-
passix(e-radiator system alignments; details are given in ments.
the Appendix, Part II.
Certain values of -,/are naturally achieved using start- ..... Âf . .

dard components. In particular, 7 = 1.67 is approxi- BUTTERWORTH . [/

mated by the combination of an 8-in (203-mm) cone °6 I I' \ I I I ' ' ,mi _ [_ f3/fs
with a 6½-in (165-mm) cone, a 12-in (305-mm) with an 1 ql H/, I 3/% h

mm) cone. Similarly, 2.33 corresponds to a 10-in (254- .4 [/'12 '

mm) with an 8-in (203-mm), a 12-in (305-mm) with a II
10-in(254-mm)or a 15-in(381-mm)cone with a 12-in 01 iY'
8-in (203-mm), or a 15-in (381-mm) with a 10-in (254- I l/I
The transient response for the Butterworth alignment E' e
is identical to that presented in [7, Fig. 14] for vented-
boxsystemswith
(305-mm) cone. Butterworth alignments.Similarly,the {2
,2 O 6
3, > 1/e alignments exhibit transient response similar
to drone-cone systems [2, Fig. 12]. In particular for 2 3 5 7 [0
small values of a, the 3/ > 1/e alignments exhibit unac-
ceptablelevelsof overshootand ringing. C_
Assuming that CAps %_ CAB2/('y -- 1)2, values ofe Fig. 6. Alignments for fourth-order Butterworth responses
were chosen which bracket the case e = 1/'7 for -,/ = from the augmented passive-radiator system.

398 d. Audio Eng. Soc., Vol. 29, No. 6, 1981 June

PAPERS AUGMENTED
PASSIVE-RADIATOR
LOUDSPEAKER
SYSTEMS,
PARTI

1.67 and 3' = 2.33. System responses for these cases are

shown in Figs. 7-10, and alignment charts for lossless 0

systems are presented in Figs. 11-14. Alignments for

the charts. The responses tend to be smoother for 5' < Ot=o6_ ,3
l/e, especiallyvalues
intermediate for small values
of e and ofa.be However,
3' can interpolatedthe from
case _.._
3/ _ 1/_ tends to produce a lower cutoff frequency. _ _10

2.3 Effects of Misalignment and Losses

----I0 i.
The sensitivity of an augmented passive-radiator sys-
tem to alignmenterrorsissimilarto that of thevented- 3
box and drone-cone systems. The effect of errors in / /
c=o33
enclosure
resonancefrequencyon the systemresponseis / /
--
shown in Fig. 15. Fig. 16illustratesthe effectsof errors - 2..0 J _ f
in the driver damping factor. As with other systems, 2'') 4
errors of 20% or less have only a small effect on the ,5 cots
system response.
The effect of system losses (Q^, Q[, and Qp) on the Fig. 9. Responses obtainable from the augmented passive-
radiator system for 7 = 2.33, e = 0.33.

mO

9 (:z=.6
z- .5
-I0
,.C//-,oo /// /_,o
/ / / / _=,:_,
---I0 t.5

/ / / / _:5't
_
-5>0
////
, , , , -20
///
, , , ,
.5 I 2 4 .5 I 2.. 4
cots wTs

Fig. 7. Responses obtainable from the augmented passive- Fig. 10. Responses obtainable from the augmented passive-
radiator system for 3' = 1.67, e = 0.40. radiator system for 3' = 2.33, e = 0.55.

0 - --ELLIPTIC I 'QB3

O[ =o6-- f3/fs
h

-,o .4 _h¢.llllll ,_ J_lll 12

--,o o, _ ':_411lllr_l
e =.75 ]
'.' o II
_I_-_'_T Io
-2..0 , , , .3 .5.7 I 2 .3 57 I0
.5 I 2 4
wTs C_
Fig. 8. Responses obtainable from the augmented passive- Fig. 11. Alignment chart for lossless augmented passive-ra-
radiator system for 'y = 1.67, e = 0.75. diator system with 3/ = 1.67, e = 0.40.

J.AudioEng.Soc.,
Vol.29,No.6,1981
June 399
CLARKE PAPERS

augmented passive-radiator system is similar to that for shown in Fig. 17. Passive-radiator losses have the least
passive-radiator systems. The effect of these losses on effect on the system and absorption losses the greatest
the response of the a = 5 Butterworth alignment is effect.
Rather than presenting four more alignment charts
........ EL!IPTIC' , , for the lossy augmented passive-radiator system, we

.6 _e=[. ,C=.75 3 f3/fs duce adjusted values of h,f3, and QT in the presence of
h losses:

[ QT¢'i_ [l__s
I ! found the following equations to be useful as they pro-
.4 2 y ] _ ] + ] 1
QTI _ _ I Qi_' QA _-L + 2Qp (3la)

._1 _:3_11 I_ _ =x/,+ (_+,_2_,, _3,b,

O[ _ [O h' = hF (32a)
,3 .52 I 2 3 5 7 lO f3' _f3 F (32b)

1 1 da' + 1 + h'2 1 (32c)

C_ QT' - QT V_ + 1 + h2 Q^

Fig. 12. Alignment chart for lossless augmented passive-fa- Eq. (3lb) is derived by considering the effect of losses
diator system with 7 = 1.67, e = 0.75.
on the passive-radiator volume velocity at the enclosure.
resonance frequency. Shifting the enclosure resonance
t Ltl PHC' frequency upward by the amount given in Eq. (3lb)

[ '_, ........ I_/_/_f3 ? restores the passive-radiator output at the box reso-
,6 =2_3_ ' _='_ _ f3/fs nance frequency to its lossless value. The first term in

.4 I _Q __/T 2 'hY Eq.(32c)changesQTt°all°wf°rthenewvalue°fh,

the second term allows for absorption losses. and
The

0T '_ I hAL_'_ Ill/ [ weightedthan

sation sumother
Q_' was found to provide better individuai
simplecombinationsof compen-

.2 The response of the lossy a = 5 Butterworth align-

I _Y [ _/ I ment with h' and QT' given by Eqs. (31) and(32)is

0 IFIIIIIII!1 t llll --7 D presented (32)producereasonable

(31)and in Fig. la. Tbe adjustmentsresponsecurves.Al-
provided by Eqs.

.3 .5Y I 2 3 57 10 ternatively, if a can be varied, Keele's rule of thumb to

c>( h
Fig. 13. Alignment chart for lossless augmented passive-ra- Ct = 5 +50% -_x'x
diator system with }, = 2.33, e = 0.33. +20%L_
_'= m.5 x,-[--..
/
....... _ ' ' ' [ mlJm_ ,_ I 03 0 ¢=.67 /
.6 [ I _'--*-2.33, ¢=.55 I / jf ._ -.o
r I , ,Ira .... ' 11[/,/13 lO f3/fs _ -"_

"ZIIIII ELLIPTIC' I 1_,4'

I h '"'3
/t/_5,0

.4 '1_ _/I 2' '-'

co ,/,,/ -_o%
,, I'_ _ I -lo- //2'/

'_1 _ _ Ii
olq7 I111!1
I Io
.3 .s.zl 2 3 57 _o -2o ,
.5
,
I 2
, 4
,
c< o_Ts
Fig. 14. Alignment chart for lossless augmented passive-ra- Fig. 15. Effect of misalignment of h on augmented passive-
diator system with 7 = 2.33, e = 0.55. radiator system response.

400 J. Audio Eng. Soc., Vol. 29, No. 6, 1981 June

PAPERS AUGMENTED
PASSIVE-RADIATOR
LOUDSPEAKER
SYSTEMS,
PARTI

overvolume the box by 40% can be used to compensate 3.2 System Response Factor

for losses (as in [11]). Values of K,(c) were calculated for the lossless align-
3 EFFICIENCY ments presented in Figs. 6 and 11-14. They are plotted in
Fig. 19 together with values for drone-cone and vented-
3.1 Efficiency Factors box alignments as a function of a. For 3' _ 1/e the
system response factor is up to 50% greater than values
The piston range reference efficiency of the driver is for vented-box or drone-cone alignments having the
given by [10, Eq. (32)] same a. Alignments with 3' < 1/e (including the But-
4rr2 fs 3VAS terworthalignments)havesystemresponsefactorscom-
r/° - c3 QEs (33) parable to or a little smaller than those for the vented-
box or drone-cone systems.
Using the method of [7, sec. 5], Eq. (33) may be put into The Butterworth alignments (line BW in Fig. 19) illus-
the form trate that for identicalalignmentsthe systemresponse
factors are identical. As shown in the Appendix, Part II,
770= K f3 3 V B (34) any vented-box or drone-cone system alignment can be
extended to an entire family of augmented passive-radi-
where V_ is the net internal volume of the system enclo- ator system alignments; thus each alignment correspond-
sure, and K_ is an efficiency constant consisting of two
factors:

K_ = K_(Q)K_(o) (35) fl2) 0 - or=5 LOSSLESS_ _--..

where =_ _= ,.5 f/-_
_ c: .67 '.y \Q,e5
Kn(o) _ 411.2 VAS fs 3 1 (36) .._,'"_ y 'Qff§
C3 VB f3 QT _QD '------- Q p=5

is a systemresponse factor depending on the systemtype - I0 - j

and alignment, and

QT
Kv(Q)- QEs (37)

is a driver loss factor measuring the extent to which total - 2.0 j i i I

dampingis contributed by electromagneticdamping. ,5 ] 5> 4
cots
Fig. 17. Effect of enclosure losses on augmented passive-ra-
diator system response.

QT +100%

ir =1.5 _-_
oD 0 ¢=,67 rrlO- a=5 LOSSLESS__
'_ _=5 * 20/_7/_ -_ _= I.5 /.,'/It/
9 9 _ ¢=.67
1A/l-
-50% _ COMPENSATED
I0 - -I0 -

-20 , , , , -20 , , , ,
.5 I 2_ 4 .5 I 2 4
cots cots
Fig. 18. Augmented passive-radiator system response after
Fig. 16. Effect of misalignment of QTon augmented passive- alignment has been adjusted to compensate for enclosure
radiatorsystemresponse, losses.

d.Audio
Eng.Soc.,
Vol.29,No.8,1981
June 401
CLARKE PAPERS

lng to a point on the vented-box curve is the starting volume of the driver; here XMA X is the peak linear dis-
point ufa family of alignments. If the efficiency constant placement of the driver diaphragm. Kp is a power rating
of this family were plotted, it would be a horizontal line constant which depends on the alignment. In [7] and [2]
extending to the right of the starting point, it is shown that the value K v = 3 is a good approxima-
tion for all drone-cone and vented-box alignments. This
4 LARGE-SIGNAL RESPONSE value is also suitable for rating augmented passive-rs-
4.1 Driver Diaphragm Displacement diator systems. In practice the value Kp = 3 is very
conservative and can be increased several times in sys-
The driver displacement function for augmented pas- rems designed for ordinary domestic music reproduc-
sive-radiator systems [Eq. (24)] and the displacement tion:.
constant K x [Eq. (25)] are similar to those for drone- The displacement-limited electrical power input rat-
cone systems [2, Eqs. (23), (24)]. Because augmented lng is obtained by combining Eq. (38) with Eq. (34):
passive-radiator alignments generally have smaller val-

ues of (_than corresponding drone-cone alignments and PAR __ ip f3 VD2 (39)

because a' = a/e is greater than a, K x is generally PER -- % ,-n VB
smaller for the augmented passive-radiator system. Fig.
20 is a plot of KxlX(jto)[ for several lossless augmented 4.3 Passive-Radiator Displacement
passive-radiator alignments. The frequency scale is nor- The displacement-limited power rating of an augmen-
malized tofj. The plots are similar in shape to those for ted passive-radiator system can only be achieved if the
vented-box [7, Fig. 17] or drone-cone [2, Fig. 14] sys- passive-radiator volume displacement is sufficient. The
terns. The magnitude Kx IX(itu) I is considerably reduced structure of the augmented passive radiator lends itself
over that for the drone-cone system at both low and high to the design of large-displacement passive radiators.
frequencies. Of course the driver in an augmented pas- Because most of the stiffness is provided by the air in the
sive-radiator system has higher displacement sensitivity passive-radiator baffle (an air-suspension passive radia-
than the driver in a drone-cone system with identical tor?), the suspensions which support it in the openings
alignment, so that the driver displacements are identical, need only provide an airtight seal and a high compliance.
A feature which augmented passive-radiator systems Passive-radiator displacement requirements can never-
share with other systems, and which is apparent in Fig. theless be substantial, and they must be evaluated.
20, is that for low a alignments the minimum of driver In Fig. 21 normalized driver and passive-radiator dis-
diaphragm displacement occurs at a frequency appreci- placements are plotted for two lossless alignments with
ably higher thanfj. Thus K x [X(jto)l may have a larger different values of a. The passive-radiator displacement
amplitude at f3 than at higher frequencies, function Xp(s) [Eq. (26)] takes on appreciable values
only at frequencies near the system cutoff frequency.
4.2 Power Rating

The steady-state displacement-limited acoustic power

ratingis givenin simplifiedform by 0
_'= 2.33
PAR = Kpf34VD 2 (38)
¢=.43
where VD = XMAxSD is the peak linear displacement

LOSSLESS
.... i-'" ' ,n -to _c,:=l
%
/rz,.O_.k[ 5 ',,

/ ........ 4
IV, ENT,ED, III _%'?--- Kzt(G) _'-20
I 3
· [lll[[ [ [

I D0¢Jq4>C-L
[ ilr: 1.67 c:,40 / 2

.5 .5.7 I 2 ,,3 57 I0 -3o , ,

.CK .5 ! 2 4
w/2frf3
Fig. 19. Response factor K_(a)of efficiency constant for sev-
eral lossless augmented passive-radiator system alignments for Fig. 20. Diaphragm displacement function of augmented
vented-box and drone-cone systems (/5 = a). passive-radiator system as a function of normalized frequency.

402 d. Audio Eng. Soc., Vol. 29, No. 6, 1981 June

PAPERS AUGMENTED PASSIVE-RADIATOR LOUDSPEAKER SYSTEMS, PART I

The exact displacement requirements of the passive ra- the driver in the low e case for low values of a, rather
diator, of course, depend upon the spectrum of the than to a very much larger passive-radiator displace-
driving signal. Assuming a signal limited to the system ment in the high e case. This reflects the conservatism of
passband, Fig. 22 shows the ratio of maximum passive- the values of Kp given earlier. A value of VpR/Vr) = 2
radiator displacement volume VpR to driver displace- can thus be adopted for all alignments of augmented
ment volume for two alignments versus a. VpR is the passive-radiator systems. This value will conservatively
maximum linear volume displacement of the passive predict the required passive-radiator displacement.
radiator, that is, the sum of Spl and Sp2 times the maxi-
mum linear displacement. Forlarge a the twocurves are 5 PARAMETER MEASUREMENT

similar, and the passive-radiator displacement volume The small-signal parameters a', 6, h, QT, Ts, and 3' of
must be about twice that of the driver. The ratio ap- the augmented passive-radiator systems may be mea-
proaches 1 for the low e high 7 alignment at low a, and
sured by the method given in [2, sec. 8]. The augmented
increases for the higher e, lower 3/alignment. This diver-
gence is due more to the larger displacement required of passive radiator has additional parameters 'y and e. Also
the value of CAps or 8' = CAPs/C/_m may be desired.
The value of 3/ may, of course, be obtained approxi-

0 _'=I,5 mately
measure from physical the
accurately measurement, but it is difficult
effective diameter of a dia-to

Z e =0o67 phragm. The value ofb' may be obtained by measuring 6

ua with the passive-radiator baffle opened (rear of enclos-
l.l.I ure). The ratio e can be obtained fairly accurately from
c._ measurementsof enclosuredimensions.Finally,
CK
_..J

o-_
-,o 3/ = 1 + S
')
6' ' (40)

_ 6 REFERENCES
ua
,,N [1] H. F. Olson,"Loud Speakerand Methodof
-J PropagatingSound,"U.S.Patent1,988,250, application
_-20 1934 Feb. 17; patented 1935 Jan. 15.
tv-
O :'R [2] R.H. Small,"Passive-Radiator LoudspeakerSys-
z tems, Part 1, Analysis," J. Audio Eng. Soc., vol. 22,
pp. 592-601 (1974 Oct.).
[3] Y. Nomura and Z. Kitamura, "An Analysis of
Design Conditions for a Phase-Inverter Speaker System
-3.0 with a Drone Cone," IEEE Trans. Audio Electroacoust.,
,5 I 2 4 vol.[4]AU-21, pp. 397-407
T.L. Clarke, (1973 Oct.).
"Augmented Passive Radiator Loud-
W / 2 11_'3 speaker," U.S. Patent 4,076,097, application 1976 Aug.
4, patented 1978 Feb. 28.
Fig. 21. Displacement functions of driver and passive radia- [5] E. Hossbach, "Loud Speaker System," U.S. Pat-
tor as a function of normalized frequency, ent 3,772,466, application 1971 Nov. 24, patented 1973
Nov. 13.
[6] R. H. Small, "Direct-Radiator Loudspeaker Sys-

I 4-LIIII I 3 temAnalysis,"IEEErrans. Audio Electroacoust.,vol.

= ¢= Eng. Soc., vol. 20, pp. 383-395 (1972 June).
[7] R.H. Small, "Vented-Box Loudspeaker Systems,"
2 J. Audio Eng. Soc., vol. 21, pp. 363-372 (1973 June);
VpR pp. 438-444 (1973 July/Aug.); pp. 549-554 (1973 Sept.);
_,_ AU-19, pp.269-281(1971Dec.);republishedinJ. Audio
[8] R. H. Small, "Closed-Box Loudspeaker Systems,"

,3 ,5 2 I 2 3 5 7 10
pp63 _639 ,9730
J. AudioEng. Soc., vol. 20, pp. 798-808 (1972 Dec.); vol.
21 pp. 11-18 (1973 Jan./Feb.).
[9] A. N. Thiele, "Loudspeakers in Vented Boxes,"
Proc. IREEAustralia, vol. 22, pp. 487-508 (1961 Aug.);
republished in J. Audio Eng. Soc., vol. 19, pp. 382-392
(1971 May); pp. 471-483 (1971 June).
C_ [10] A. Budak and P. Aronhime, "MaximallyFlat
Low-Pass Filters with Steeper Slopes at Cutoff," IEEE
Fig. 22. Required ratio of passive-radiator displacement vol- Trans. Audio Electroacoust., vol. AU- 18, pp. 63-66 (1970
ume YPRto driver displacement volume VDas a function of a Mar.).
for two augmented passive-radiator alignments. [11] D. B. Keele, Jr., "A New Set of Sixth-Order

O.AudioEng.
Soc.,Vol.29,No.6,1981
June 403
CLARKE PAPERS

Vented-Box Loudspeaker System Alignments,"./. Audio er," CQ, vol. 20, pp. 101-104 (1979 Feb.).
Eng. Soc., vol. 23, pp. 354-360 (1975 June). [13] L. Weinberg, Network Analysis and Synthesis
[12] T.L. Clarke, "Build a Superthruster Loudspeak- (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1962), chap. 11.

THE AUTHOR
University of Virginia in 1975. He is currently a Ph.D.
candidate in applied mathematics and ocean engineer-
ingat the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida,
and expects to receive his degree in 1981 December.
From 1971 to 1973 Mr. Clarke was a radio engineer
for WFUN Miami after serving two years in the U.S.
Army. Since 1975 he has been a mathematician at the
Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laborato-
ries of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA), first at Marine Geology and
Geophysics Laboratory and currently at the Ocean
Acoustics Laboratory.
Mr. Clarke's research interests include modeling of
Thomas L. Clarke was born in Miami, Florida, in sediment transport in the ocean, as well as acoustics. He
1948. Florida International University in Miami has published over 15 technical and scientificpapers. He
awarded him a B.S. degree in mathematics in 1973, and is a member of the Audio Engineering Society and the
he received an M.S. in applied mathematics from the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematicians.

404 J. Audio Eng.Soc.,Vol. 29, No.6, 1981June