Acoustics

Today,we are going to deal with one of the most interesting topics - Acoustics.Acoustics may be defined as the Science that deals with the study of sound (All types,including Ultrasound and infrasound) .But we shall confine ourselves just to the plain old "sound". Today in the modern world,we have numerous forms of Devices to transmit Sound - Most of them being just the variation of the plain old Loud Speaker.The most popular forms of these are the ones used in Headphones and Earphones,to which we'll confine ourselves today.

What You See

First of all,as you see,the driver (the speaker) contains a circular plastic paper (also known as the "cone") ,which is attached to a movable coil (the circular orange thingy in the centre).Next,you notice a shiny metallic object in the centre,around the coil,which is the magnetic housing part (we'll again come to this part later..).Finally,you notice two wires coming out of the driver unit.

The driver used in this photograph is 30mm wide in diameter.

How it Works 

When Sound signals are passed through the wires,the coil,which is wrapped around the golden core,magnetises the core, proportionally to the strength of the signal that flows in..Since the core is fixed,it's movement seems impossible,hence,the coil is forced to vibrate instead,which inturn vibrates the plastic papaer stuck to it...and this,inturn prouduces Sound.As simple as that...But wait...we do have some issues...

Headaches

So..by now...you must be wondering...if the construction of a speaker was as simple as described above,then why do we have companies like Bose/Sony/Pioneer/JBL..etc.. charging way too much for just a speaker?

The answer is simple - They charge us for the Sound quality their Drivers provide.

So...what factors affect the quality of sound?

There are many factors affecting the quality of the sound produced by a driver,the most prominent ones are-

• Diameter of the Driver
  
• Quality of the material used in the cone
• Quality of the core used
• Power and Quality of the magnets used
• Precision in the Positioning of the cone and the coil
• The casing in which the driver is to be kept.
• Resonance,if any

Now you get it?Thats why these huge corporations charge you so much for a device as simple as a speaker..

Stay tuned,coz the next post is going to be about a realtime example of the differences between a branded and a Cheap,Unnamed chinese Driver.

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