ELX 3.

AUDIO SYSTEM, DOMESTIC APPLIANCES REPAIR AND MAINTENANCE

Week 4 and 5

Week 4 KINDS OF SPEAKER ENCLOSURES

A speaker in free air is like a fish out of water. Test on unbaffled speakers versus
properly enclosed speakers show that after installation in a suitable box, a speaker can deliver up to
100 times greater sound intensity at low frequencies than it can in free air. The unbaffled speaker’s lack
of ability in bass performance explains why its sound is so thin and unbalanced.
Speaker building is a versatile hobby that is growing in popularity, it combines many different
skills with electronics, acoustics, and furniture design. Speaker building often makes as much use of art
as of science. As a home speaker builder, you can design a system that looks and sounds the way you
choose.
LOUDSPEAKER

The term loudspeaker may refer to individual transducers (also known as drivers) or to
complete speaker systems consisting of an enclosure and one or more drivers. To adequately and
accurately reproduce a wide range of frequencies with even coverage, most loudspeaker systems
employ more than one driver, particularly for higher sound pressure level or maximum accuracy.
Individual drivers are used to reproduce different frequency ranges. The drivers are
named subwoofers (for very low frequencies); woofers (low frequencies); mid-range speakers (middle
frequencies); tweeters (high frequencies); and sometimes supertweeters, for the highest audible
frequencies and beyond. The terms for different speaker drivers differ, depending on the application. In
two-way systems there is no mid-range driver, so the task of reproducing the mid-range sounds is
divided between the woofer and tweeter. Home stereos use the designation tweeter for the high-
frequency driver, while professional concert systems may designate them as "HF" or "highs". [citation
needed]
When multiple drivers are used in a system, a filter network, called an audio crossover, separates
the incoming signal into different frequency ranges and routes them to the appropriate driver. A
loudspeaker system with n separate frequency bands is described as "n-way speakers": a two-way
system will have a woofer and a tweeter; a three-way system employs a woofer, a mid-range, and a
tweeter. Loudspeaker drivers of the type pictured are termed dynamic (short for electrodynamic) to
distinguish them from other sorts including moving iron speakers, and speakers
using piezoelectric or electrostatic systems.
The most common type of driver, commonly called a dynamic loudspeaker, uses a
lightweight diaphragm, or cone, connected to a rigid basket, or frame, via a flexible suspension,
commonly called a spider, that constrains a voice coil to move axially through a cylindrical magnetic
gap. A protective cap glued in the cone's center prevents dust, especially iron filings, from entering the
gap. When an electrical signal is applied to the voice coil, a magnetic field is created by the
electric current in the voice coil, making it a variable electromagnet. The coil and the driver's magnetic
system interact, generating a mechanical force that causes the coil (and thus, the attached cone) to
move back and forth, accelerating and reproducing sound under the control of the applied electrical
signal coming from the amplifier.
FULL-RANGE DRIVERS

A full-range driver is a speaker designed to be

used alone to reproduce an audio channel without the
help of other drivers, and therefore must cover the entire
audio frequency range. These drivers are small,
typically 3 to 8 inches (7.6 to 20.3 cm) in diameter to
permit reasonable high frequency response, and
carefully designed to give low-distortion output at low
frequencies, though with reduced maximum output
level. Full-range (or more accurately, wide-range)
drivers are most commonly heard in public address
systems, in televisions (although some models are
suitable for hi-fi listening), small radios, intercoms,
some computer speakers, etc. In hi-fi speaker systems,
the use of wide-range drive units can avoid undesirable
interactions between multiple drivers caused by non-
coincident driver location or crossover network issues.
Fans of wide-range driver hi-fi speaker systems claim a
coherence of sound due to the single source and a
resulting lack of interference, and likely also to the lack
of crossover components. Detractors typically cite wide-
range drivers' limited frequency response and modest
output abilities (most especially at low frequencies),
together with their requirement for large, elaborate,
expensive enclosures—such as transmission lines,
quarter wave resonators or horns—to approach
optimum performance. With the advent of neodymium
drivers, low-cost quarter-wave transmission lines are
made possible and are increasingly made available
commercially.

SUBWOOFER

A subwoofer is a woofer driver used only for the lowest-pitched part of the audio spectrum:
typically below 200 Hz for consumer systems, below 100 Hz for professional live sound, and below
80 Hz in THX-approved systems.[25] Because the intended range of frequencies is limited, subwoofer
system design is usually simpler in many respects than for conventional loudspeakers, often consisting
of a single driver enclosed in a suitable box or enclosure. Since sound in this frequency range can easily
bend around corners by diffraction, the speaker aperture does not have to face the audience, and
subwoofers can be mounted in the bottom of the enclosure, facing the floor. This is eased by the
limitations of human hearing at low frequencies; such sounds cannot be located in space, due to their
large wavelengths compared to higher frequencies which produce differential effects in the ears due to
shadowing by the head, and diffraction around it, both of which we rely upon for localization clues.
To accurately reproduce very low bass notes without unwanted resonances (typically from
cabinet panels), subwoofer systems must be solidly constructed and properly braced to avoid unwanted
sounds of cabinet vibrations. As a result, good subwoofers are typically quite heavy. Many subwoofer
systems include integrated power amplifiers and electronic subsonic (sub)-filters, with additional
controls relevant to low-frequency reproduction (e.g., a crossover knob and a phase switch). These
variants are known as "active" or "powered" subwoofers, with the former including a power amplifier. In
contrast, "passive" subwoofers require external amplification.
 In typical installations, subwoofers are
physically separated from the rest of the
speaker cabinets. Because of propagation
delay, their output may be somewhat out of
phase from another subwoofer (on another
channel) or slightly out of phase with the rest
of the sound. Consequently, a subwoofer's
power amp often has a phase-delay
adjustment (approximately 1 ms of delay is
required for each additional foot of separation
from the listener) which may improve
performance of the system as a whole at
subwoofer frequencies (and perhaps an
octave or so above the crossover point).
However, the influence of room resonances
(sometimes called standing waves) is typically
so large that such issues are secondary in
practice. Subwoofers are widely used in large
concert and mid-sized venue sound
reinforcement systems. Subwoofer cabinets
are often built with a bass reflex port (i.e., a
hole cut into the cabinet with a tube attached
to it), a design feature which if properly
engineered improves bass performance and
increases efficiency.

WOOFER
A woofer is a driver that reproduces low frequencies. The driver works with the characteristics
of the enclosure to produce suitable low frequencies (see speaker enclosure for some of the design
choices available). Indeed, both are so closely connected that they must be considered together in
use. Only at design time do the separate properties of enclosure and woofer matter individually. Some
loudspeaker systems use a woofer for the lowest frequencies, sometimes well enough that a
subwoofer is not needed. Additionally, some loudspeakers use the woofer to handle middle
frequencies, eliminating the mid-range driver. This can be accomplished with the selection of a
tweeter that can work low enough that, combined with a woofer that responds high enough, the two
drivers add coherently in the middle frequencies.
MID-RANGE SPEAKER

A mid-range speaker is a loudspeaker driver also known as a squawker that reproduces a band
of frequencies generally between 1–6 kHz, otherwise known as the 'mid' frequencies (between the
woofer and tweeter). Mid-range driver diaphragms can be made of paper or composite materials, and
can be direct radiation drivers (rather like smaller woofers) or they can be compression drivers (rather
like some tweeter designs). If the mid-range driver is a direct radiator, it can be mounted on the front
baffle of a loudspeaker enclosure, or, if a compression driver, mounted at the throat of a horn for added
output level and control of radiation pattern.

TWEETER

A tweeter is a high-frequency driver that reproduces the highest frequencies in a speaker

system. A major problem in tweeter design is achieving wide angular sound coverage (off-axis
response), since high frequency sound tends to leave the speaker in narrow beams. Soft-dome tweeters
are widely found in home stereo systems, and horn-loaded compression drivers are common in
professional sound reinforcement. Ribbon tweeters have gained popularity in recent years, as the
output power of some designs has been increased to levels useful for professional sound reinforcement,
and their output pattern is wide in the horizontal plane, a pattern that has convenient applications in
concert sound.
TYPES OF ENCLOSURE

There are many different types of enclosures, and it's not possible to cover them all in any
detail. Of those listed, they are shown in order of complexity, from the simplest to the most challenging
to build. Some are very common (simple sealed and vented enclosures for example), with others used
primarily by hobbyists and a few 'boutique' manufacturers.

The volume occupied by the speaker driver(s) needs to be added to the total volume calculated,
and if a port is used, the volume of that must be included as well. The same applies to bracing materials
- they all occupy space in the enclosure and need to be accounted for. You may find that you need to
add extra bracing once the enclosure is (almost) finished, so a bit of extra volume can be added just in
case. You can usually change the internal volume by a small amount without it having a serious impact
on performance, and remember that the listening room will have much greater effects on overall sound
quality than any small miscalculation of internal volume.

A. OPEN BAFFLE (DIPOLE)

The open baffle or dipole speaker is favored by some, most notably the late Siegfried
Linkwitz. An open baffle (or open-backed box) was used from the earliest days of amplified sound, and
is by far the easiest to build. Ideally, the baffle should be large compared to wavelength (the 'infinite'
baffle), but this is very difficult to achieve at low frequencies. So, while they are easy to build, they are
not so easy to design (or even produce) in sizes that suit low frequencies. One wavelength at 100Hz
is already 3.43 metres, so the size rapidly gets out of hand.
 For higher frequencies, it can
be argued that dispensing with the box
prevents internal reflections. This is
quite true, but of course the rear
radiation is introduced into the room,
which has its own reflections, most of
which are completely unpredictable
and can be a lot harder to deal with
than an enclosure's internal
reflections. Open backed speakers
are very common for guitar amplifiers,
where the open back provides a stage
sound that most guitarists prefer. An
open backed box can be likened to a
flat baffle that's been 'folded' to reduce
its size. Of course, this also protects
the rear of the speaker from damage
in transit - especially important for
guitar systems.

Dipole 'Enclosure' ('Infinite Baffle'/ Open

Backed)

A. SEALED ENCLOSURE (ACOUSTIC SUSPENSION)

The sealed enclosure is very common, and can work very well if the internal volume is calculated
to match the speaker's characteristics. The Thiele-Small parameters of the driver will show that
optimum performance requires an enclosure of just the right size. If it's too small there will be a
pronounced bass peak, followed by a sharp rolloff at 12dB/ octave. Of anything that would qualify as
an 'enclosure', this is the simplest.

Rather than being radiated into the room, the

sound from the rear of the speaker cone is
absorbed, using proprietary fibre mats, felt,
carpet, fibreglass, or a combination of these
materials. Ideally, no rear radiation will be
reflected back through the cone, something that
becomes critical at midrange and higher
frequencies. Bass can be very good (often with
equalisation), but this requires drivers with a
larger than normal maximum excursion
(Xmax). Sealed cabinets are common for
instrument amplifiers (guitar, bass, keyboards).

Sealed Enclosure

C. BASS REFLEX (PORTED BOX ENCLOSURE)

This is probably the most common enclosure in use today. It was used in very early speaker
systems, but it was basically a 'trial-and-error' design until the loudspeaker parameters were properly
quantified by Neville Thiele and Richard Small. This allowed mathematical calculation of the enclosure
and port sizes, and it was then possible to design a system, build it, and have it perform as
expected. Many of the early 'tuned' boxes were what's now commonly referred to as 'boom boxes',
because they had excessive and often 'one note' bass. Countless programs have been written to allow
users to design an enclosure, based on the Thiele-Small parameters.

This has removed much of the

guesswork, but by themselves, the
programs are (mostly) unable to provide
a complete design. Most provide the
necessary internal volume and port (vent)
diameter and length, but further
'tweaking' is nearly always needed.
These enclosures, the rear radiation is
utilized to boost the bass response below
the loudspeaker driver's resonant
frequency. The combination of the
enclosure volume and the vent length
and diameter form a Helmholtz resonator,
which (when done properly) reinforces
the low frequency response without
creating excessive bass and/or poor
transient response. It's important to
understand that the Thiele-Small
parameters are 'small signal', meaning
that the performance is not necessarily
the same at high power levels. Only the
bass region is affected by a bass reflex
enclosure, and mid to high frequencies
still need to be absorbed within the
enclosure.

Bass Reflex Enclosure

D. PASSIVE RADIATOR

A variation on the 'traditional' bass reflex enclosure uses a passive radiator. This is pretty much
a loudspeaker with no magnet or voice coil, and it's generally tuned for a resonant frequency somewhat
below that of the woofer. Some have weights that can be added or removed to tune the resonant
frequency of the radiator. These have some advantages over a port, in that there is no possibility of
'chuffing' or other noises that a ported enclosure can create if the air velocity is too high.

Fairly obvious, a passive radiator

takes up more space on the baffle than a port,
but some people prefer them for a variety of
reasons. This is a configuration that seems to
be somewhat 'seasonable', gaining or losing
favor for no apparent reason. There used to
be many passive radiators on the market, but
they appear to be less common than they once
were.

Passive Radiator
Enclosure

E. APERIODIC ENCLOSURE

An aperiodic enclosure is a halfway between a sealed and vented box. The vent is deliberately
restricted, so it's either a leaky sealed box, or a 'constricted' bass reflex. There's quite a bit of
information on the Net, but not all of it is useful, and design equations are hard to come by.
 The above is one of many different ways
that an aperiodic enclosure can be
configured. This isn't a technique that's widely
known, and it's also not one I've experimented
with. Many claims are made, and there are
many variations - in some cases, just a small
hole or a series of narrow slots is used, with
appropriate damping material covering the
openings. There appears to be little consensus
from designers, so the technique is somewhat
experimental. It's claimed that with an
appropriate aperiodic 'vent' that the enclosure is
made to seem much larger than it really is, and
it's not uncommon to see aperiodic enclosures
that appear much too small for the driver used.

Aperiodic
Enclosure

A. ISOBARIC ENCLOSURE (WITH/WITHOUT PORT/VENT)

Isobaric speakers are not particularly common, and are only ever used for the bass region. The
benefit is that the required cabinet size is halved compared to a single driver, allowing a more compact
system. The disadvantage is that the efficiency is also halved, because the same power is fed to the
two drivers, but output level is not increased. Although the drivers are shown 'nested', with the front
driver partially inside the rear driver, they can also be mounted face-to-face. The enclosed volume
between the drivers must be small to ensure optimum coupling.

Isobaric enclosures can be used with or

without a vent, depending on the desired
outcome. Most speaker design software can
accommodate isobaric configurations, but the
mechanical details can be awkward to
produce. There are some commercial isobaric
enclosures, but they aren't especially common in
the market. This is a good design to use if the
driver you wish to use requires a box that's larger
than you can accept, but no isobaric enclosure
should normally be operated above around
300Hz or so. The cost, weight and relative
inefficiency of isobaric enclosures limits their
usefulness for commercial systems.

Isobaric Enclosure
Week 5 SPEAKER BOX CONSTRUCTION

INTRODUCTION

The principles of good speaker enclosure design and construction hold for any speaker project,
regardless of box type. By heeding those principles, you can build with confidence and prevent long
debugging procedures. If you are inclined toward novelty in your choice of furniture, you can express it
in your speaker enclosures by such superficial aspects of design as external appearance. For those
design features that affect the sound, stick to basics.

DESIRABLE ENCLOSURE CHARACTERISTICS

The single most desirable characteristic of a good enclosure is that it does not seriously alter
the sound of the speakers installed in it. A speaker system is different from a musical instrument in one
important aspect: the speaker should produce no sound of its own. An instrument produces sound; a
speaker reproduces it. if the speaker adds anything to the signal it receives, it is producing distortion. If
the enclosure walls vibrate audibly, they will color the sound and weaken the true bass response by
absorbing low frequency energy. A bad enclosure shape can spoil reproduction by lumping the
inevitable air resonances around a narrow band of frequencies, producing a boomy system.

ENCLOSURE SHAPE

Enclosures with nonparallel walls, such as triangular boxes, have fewer problems with internal
reflections. Most speaker builders, as well as other audio fans, choose ordinary box-like enclosures
because they are easy to build and they “look like speakers.” To make the most of these enclosures,
avoid extreme shapes. As a rule of thumb, make no internal dimension more than three times that of
any other. Such an enclosure can act like a resonant pipe. At the other extreme, if all dimensions are
equal, you have a cube, which is one of the worst shapes of all.

One preferred ratio of dimensions is 0.6:1:1.62. this ratio, used for its acoustical properties, is
the same golden ratio used by artist since the Egyptian pyramids. Unless you have a special reasons
to use another ratio, it is a good choice. Table 3-1 lists the correct internal dimensions for speaker boxes
with net interval volumes from 400 cubic inches (0.23 cubic foot) to 10,000 cubic inches (5.8 cubic feet).
If you use the data from table 3-1, your enclosure will have about 10 percent overvolume to allow space
for drivers, cleats, and other internal parts. Although the columns are labeled “D”, “W”, and “L” for depth,
width, and length, you can switch the values obtained for D and W to obtain a narrower, deep box if by
that change you have enough width to accommodate your woofer.

Here is an example of how you can use the chart. Suppose you want to build a box with a net volume
of 4000 cubic inches (2.3 cubic feet). Follow the horizontal line from 4000 in the left column to obtain
the three internal dimensions. The second column shows that the volume produced by the figures from
the chart will be about 4400 cubic inches. Multiplying 10 1/8 X 16 3/8 X 26 ½, or, changed to
decimals,10.125 X 16.375 X 26.5, gives a total volume of 4394 cubic inches. The total volume obtained
for the various sizes of enclosures listed in the chart will sometimes be slightly below the value shown
in the second column, sometimes larger.greater accuracy isn’t necessary.

Note that the dimensions given in table 3-1 are internal measurements. You must add enough
length and width to the wall panels to account for wall thickness. For an enclosure with bevel joints,
using ¾-inc plywood. You would add 1 ½ inches to the internal length and width to obtain the proper
external dimensions of the side, top, and bottom panels. If you add a liner, such as asphalt roofing
materials, you would add enough extra widht and length to account for a double thickness of the liner
and enough depth for a single thichness. This assumes that the liner is used on the interior surfaces of
the top, bottom, side, and back panels but not on the speaker board.

SPEAKER PLACEMENT

The first rule on driver placement is: put the high frequency speakers above the low frequency
speakers (fig. 3-1). If followed, this practice puts the tweeters nearer ear level, where their directional
sound wont be lost, and woofers nearer the floor for good bass reinforcement. In some cases there are
special reasons to place the tweeter below the woofer (fig. 3-2).

The second rule is: put the drivers in a vertical line with little or no horizontal displacement.
When speakers are mounted side by side, there will be a difference in the path length from each speaker
to the listener’s ear, producing phase distortion. Sometimes lack of space makes side-by-side mounting
inevitable.

The third rule is: if the vertical line of drivers is placed off center, make the second speaker
board of your stereo pair a mirror image of the first (fig. 3-3). This allows you to place the speakers so
that in both enclosures the drivers will be off centered inward, or outward, rather than having one
enclosure with the drivers inward and the other with the drivers outward from the space between your
speakers.
CONSTRUCTION RULES

There are many ways to build a satisfactory speaker enclosure. In building any speaker box,
observe the accepted rules of construction.

 Rule 1: Make a rattle-free box. The best way to avoid rattles is to do a good job of gluing the
joints. Expereinced carpenters use just enough glue to hold, but not enough to squeeze out
onto raw woods and spoil the appearance. That technique works well with most furniture but, if
overdone, can cause problems in speaker boxes. If you make one panel removable, use
carefully installed foam weather-stripping material to seal the box and prevent rattles. Such
panels usually will be held in place with wood screws. Size #8 X 1 ¼ inch is about right, screwed
into solid wood cleats. Position the weather stripping so the screws won’t cath and damage it.
when installing removable panels, place the screws no further apart than about 4 or 5 inches.

 Rule 2: Make the box airtight. Even the smallest gap between joints can cause air noises that
mar performance. If the air leak is significant, it can unload the woofer, increasing distortion and
limiting its power-handling ability.

 Rule 3: Don’t forget damping materials. Speakers that don’t have enough damping material
sound loud, even at low volume. Damping material is necessary to absorb sound from the rear
 of the cone – sound that otherwise would be bounced around the box and reflected out through
the cone. Damping materials suppresses mid-range peaks, making the response curve much
smoother.
If you are building a reflex system. Keep the port free of damping material or any other
obstructions, unless it is called for in the design. One traditional rule of thumb is to put damping
material on the interior of the back panel, one side, and either the top or bottom panel. The
theory behind this advice is that one layer of damping material in each dimension will absorb
rear reflections. The real worl, one should aim for a margin of safety and put damping materuial
on every interior wall except the speaker board.
What kind of damping material should should you use? Fiberglass is probably the most
used because it is widely available and its characteristics are well known. Small closed-box
speaker enclosures should be filled with damping material. For this purpose, polyester fiber is
the preferred choice.

 Rule 4: Install drivers from outside the box. In earlier days, the typical high-fidelity speaker
was bolted to the rear of the speaker board (fig. 3-15). In some enclosures, that is the only
practical way to mount a driver; but, if the panel is thick, such mounting produces a cavity at
the front of the speaker that can color the sound. The sharp edge of the speaker cut-out could
diffract the sound waves, producing interference that causes dips and peaks in the mid-range.
Front mounting solves these problems and permits a more vibration-proof box because there
is no need for a removable panel. When every panel is glued to the others rather than held by
screws, its unlikely that rattles can develop with use.
Some speakers come with a mounting gasket on the rear of the frame; others have no
rear gasket. To install a speaker with no rear gasket, set the enclosure on its back and wire the
speaker. Run a bead of silicone rubber compound around the edge of the speaker cut-out and
press the speaker into place. Leave the box in that position for several hours, preferably
overnight, untill the silicone glue sets. The silicone rubber forms a perfect gasket and glues the
speaker to the board.

 Rule 5: choose an open grille cloth. Don’t cover super tweeters with a thick drapery material.
Use a grille cloth made for the purpose, or test any cloth that you want to use by holding it up
to the light. If you can see through it, it is probably a suitable choice. A better test is to hang the
cloth over your speakers and listen. If you can hear any change in the sound when the cloth
goes on, try to find a better material. Obviously, you should try to find a material that is both
acoustically acceptable and has the kind of appearance you like.