Loudspeakers produce sound waves by causing a thin diaphragm to vibrate and disrupt the air pressure around it in the form of the intended sound wave. An amplified audio signal (alternating current) that has the same waveform as the sound wave is responsible for vibrating the speaker diaphragm.

Because vibration speakers convert electrical energy into mechanical energy, they are also known as transducers. The solid surface will vibrate with the speaker, displacing air molecules around it. Just as with any other sound, your ear detects the movements of the colliding air molecules.

Sound is a type of energy made by vibrations. When any object vibrates, it causes movement in the air particles. These particles bump into the particles close to them, which makes them vibrate too, causing them to bump into more air particles. This movement, called sound waves, keeps going until they run out of energy.

A vibration speaker is similar, except that there’s no diaphragm. Instead, the voice coil attaches to a movable plate. The solid surface will vibrate with the speaker, displacing air molecules around it. Just as with any other sound, your ear detects the movements of the colliding air molecules.

Making Sound: Magnets This changes the magnetic forces between the voice coil and the permanent magnet, moving the coil and attached diaphragm back and forth. When the coil moves, it pushes and pulls on the speaker cone. This vibrates the air in front of the speaker, creating sound waves.

Exciters work by vibrating the surface they are mounted to, creating a high-quality invisible speaker. Because the substrate/surface is being vibrated to produce the sound, there is no need for grills or openings in the surface, making the system more resistant to vandalism or weather ingress.

Vibration speaker (resonance speaker) refers to a horn without a diaphragm. The vibration speaker is the latest innovative product and is now extremely popular on the market. The purpose of the resonant speaker is to break the limitation of the sound effect of traditional ordinary speakers.

A speaker will have a resonant frequency at which it is most efficient at converting the input electrical power to audio output power.

A speaker’s frequency response range is a measurement of how wide a selection of sounds it can reproduce. The human ear is capable of hearing sounds from 20 – 20,000 Hz. The lower the number the lower the tone and vice versa. Most speakers are capable of responding from around 45 – 20,000 Hz.

Ideally, frequency response should be measured in an anechoic chamber with the loudspeaker under test driven with a sine wave signal slowly swept through the audible frequency range of 20Hz to 20kHz. A microphone placed on a preferred axis in the far-field of the loudspeaker will then record and plot the output.

The most common crossover frequency recommended (and the THX standard) is 80 Hz. On-wall or Tiny ‘satellite’ speakers: 150-200 Hz. Small center, surround, bookshelf: 100-120 Hz. Mid-size center, surround, bookshelf: 80-100 Hz.

Most average tower speaker’s will play down to around 40-Hz. at their -3 dB point and they will continue to play lower, just not as loud. It is not that hard to get down to 20-Hz. You should just not rely on regular full range speakers, that really are not designed to play that low.

Mid-size center, surround, bookshelf: 80-100 Hz. Large center, surround and bookshelf: 60-80 Hz. Very large center, surround, bookshelf: 40-60 Hz. Tower speakers with 4”-6” woofers: 60 Hz.

Obviously for home theater applications, your system should be able to reproduce 20Hz (or lower) for maximum effect. In order to get the full benefit of your AV receiver’s internal crossover, if you have a subwoofer your front (left, center, right) speakers should be set to ‘small’ – regardless of their capabilities.

The height speaker channels should be placed in the upper left/right corners of the front stage. Typically, this will be 40-45 degrees off-axis and about 8 feet in height. A downward tilt of the speaker will improve mid/high frequency response and reduce ceiling bounce reflections.

How to Test your PC Speakers

1. Right-click the Volume icon in the notification area.
2. From the pop-up menu, choose Playback Devices.
3. Select a playback device, such as your PC’s speakers.
4. Click the Configure button.
5. Click the Test button.
6. Close the various dialog boxes; you passed the test.

No. You do not need to have matching size surrounds in a setup. You want the majority of your budget to focus on your left, right, and center main channels and your subwoofer.

dB Settings for Surround Sound Speakers If your AV receiver’s setting is at, say, -25 dB, and you turn it up to –22 dB, that 3-dB increase in loudness should sound “slightly louder.” Going from –25 dB to –15 dB, an increase of 10 dB, should sound about “twice as loud”.

As long as you are capable of sitting far enough away from the speakers to let the drivers in a speaker sum properly, the room size and speaker size is unrelated.

A speaker or sub will not be too big for a room, as long as it fits in. However powerful systems could reproduce an explosion with the same destructive results.

The 12-inch subwoofers handle more power, they play louder, they are boomier, and many people find that they just sound better. If size, power, space, and budget aren’t issues, go with the 12 inch subwoofers. If 12s won’t work, go with 10 inch subwoofers. If 10-inch subwoofers won’t work, go with 8 inch subwoofers.

Thus, the less technical answer to the question is that , all other factors being controlled, the 15″ will be louder than the 12″. You can feed it more power and get more volume, and for low frequency signals, that is indeed important, as they may be otherwise imperceptible.

The answer to the question of whether 15 inch subwoofers have better base than 12 inch subs is not an easy one to answer. The fact is, “better” is a personal opinion. 15 inch subwoofers are larger and displace more air than 12 inch subwoofers do, so the 12 in will have a crisper, sharper sound than the larger ones.

It depends on how the coil of the subs handle power and on the mechanical aspects of the design as well. The 2 subs will probably be just a bit louder (you would need a meter to tell) because the single sub would be entering into power compression and becoming less efficient as you increase the power.

Best 15-inch Subwoofers – Reviews

• Skar Audio EVL-15 D2 Subwoofer. Our Rating: 93/100.
• Skar Audio Single 15″ 1200W Subwoofer. Our Rating: 90/100.
• Rockville W15K9D2 15″ Subwoofer.
• American Bass TNT1544 15 inch Sub.
• Kicker S15L7 4-ohm 15″ Car Audio Subwoofer.
• Rockford Fosgate P3D2-15 Punch P3 Sub.
• Pyle 15 Inch 8OHM Woofer.