Distortion in loudspeaker transducers

e96mlo · 19th August 2003, 04:39 PM

Does anyone know where to obtain any good information on the subject?

Since a lot of people go through lots of trouble to get really low distortion in power amplifiers, why not do the same with the speakers?

Where should I start my search?

/Marcus

Bas Horneman · 19th August 2003, 04:53 PM

Hi,

You must have read my mind...I dunno if you follow Lynn Olson. I do ...he can make something seem so easy.

Anyway Lynn has this thing about DHT triodes having very low intrinsic or inherent distortion. (Without feedback)...before I was never into distortion specs...who cares? I mean j-fets have low distortion but honestly who would use them for creating a musical illusion?

Let's just say Lynn changed my mind on this..and now I've been thinking of speakers....in the same way you have...

Now I have read about line array's or multiple drivers for a given frequency range having very low distortion as well. Because of the amount of drivers. So reading up on line arrays could be handy.
http://www.audiodiycentral.com/resource/pdf/nflawp.pdf

Secondly the distortion in the enclosures that the drivers are mounted is just as important? Here a dipole comes to mind...i.e. no-box, no colouration...(obviously an exageration)

Cheers,
Bas

Vikash · 19th August 2003, 05:14 PM

Types of distortion thread

dwk123 · 19th August 2003, 05:38 PM

SL probably has the best treatment of distortion analysis that I've seen so far. He does a pretty exhaustive look at distortion in both woofers and mids when selecting the drivers for the Orion (and Phoenix for that matter)

http://www.linkwitzlab.com

MarcelvdG · 19th August 2003, 06:44 PM

If you have access to the Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, a good place to start could be

Mills P.G.L. , Hawksford M.O. Transconductance Power Amplifier System for Current-Driven Loudspeakers. Journal of the Audio Engineering Society,
Vol. 37, 1989, no. 10, p. 809-822

and all the references they quote. Searching this forum for Mills and Hawksford could also give some useful info.

e96mlo · 19th August 2003, 07:03 PM

Thank you all for the great answers!

I realize that minimizing distortion in speakers will be more expensive than doing so in amplifiers. Or (for the horn-solution) require a bigger living room =)

/Marcus

Bas Horneman · 19th August 2003, 10:23 PM

Quote:

I realize that minimizing distortion in speakers will be more expensive than doing so in amplifiers. Or (for the horn-solution) require a bigger living room =)

Hi Marcus,

Minimizing distortion does not have to be expensive. On the other hand it need not lead to good sound!? The converse is true as well. Horn's have a lot of distortion...but they sound good apparently...........go figure.

Cheers,
Bas

Brett · 19th August 2003, 10:47 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bas Horneman
Horn's have a lot of distortion

Nope, properly designed they have very low THD, IMD and FMD with the IMD esp being much lower than direct radiators.

Manufacturer specs for my compression drivers is <0.5% THD at 114dB.

Bas Horneman · 19th August 2003, 11:17 PM

Hi Brett,

Guess I have read to many "hi-fi" mags in my life..although I stopped around 10 years ago...I must have read a couple of times that horns --ie front loaded horns had massive distortion..!!!!

But I did some reading on the net...
http://www.ossaudio.com/hornbackgrounder.htm

And found out that someone must be lying!

Cheers,
Bas

19th August 2003, 04:39 PM	#1
e96mlo diyAudio Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Helsingborg, Sweden	Distortion in loudspeaker transducers Does anyone know where to obtain any good information on the subject? Since a lot of people go through lots of trouble to get really low distortion in power amplifiers, why not do the same with the speakers? Where should I start my search? /Marcus

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19th August 2003, 04:53 PM	#2
Bas Horneman diyAudio Moderator Emeritus Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: The Netherlands Blog Entries: 18	Hi, You must have read my mind...I dunno if you follow Lynn Olson. I do ...he can make something seem so easy. Anyway Lynn has this thing about DHT triodes having very low intrinsic or inherent distortion. (Without feedback)...before I was never into distortion specs...who cares? I mean j-fets have low distortion but honestly who would use them for creating a musical illusion? Let's just say Lynn changed my mind on this..and now I've been thinking of speakers....in the same way you have... Now I have read about line array's or multiple drivers for a given frequency range having very low distortion as well. Because of the amount of drivers. So reading up on line arrays could be handy. http://www.audiodiycentral.com/resource/pdf/nflawp.pdf Secondly the distortion in the enclosures that the drivers are mounted is just as important? Here a dipole comes to mind...i.e. no-box, no colouration...(obviously an exageration) Cheers, Bas

19th August 2003, 05:14 PM	#3
Vikash diyAudio Moderator Emeritus Join Date: May 2003 Location: UK	Types of distortion thread

19th August 2003, 05:38 PM	#4
dwk123 diyAudio Member Join Date: Feb 2002	SL probably has the best treatment of distortion analysis that I've seen so far. He does a pretty exhaustive look at distortion in both woofers and mids when selecting the drivers for the Orion (and Phoenix for that matter) http://www.linkwitzlab.com

19th August 2003, 06:44 PM	#5
MarcelvdG diyAudio Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Haarlem, the Netherlands	If you have access to the Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, a good place to start could be Mills P.G.L. , Hawksford M.O. Transconductance Power Amplifier System for Current-Driven Loudspeakers. Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, Vol. 37, 1989, no. 10, p. 809-822 and all the references they quote. Searching this forum for Mills and Hawksford could also give some useful info.

19th August 2003, 07:03 PM	#6
e96mlo diyAudio Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Helsingborg, Sweden	Thank you all for the great answers! I realize that minimizing distortion in speakers will be more expensive than doing so in amplifiers. Or (for the horn-solution) require a bigger living room =) /Marcus

19th August 2003, 11:17 PM	#9
Bas Horneman diyAudio Moderator Emeritus Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: The Netherlands Blog Entries: 18	Hi Brett, Guess I have read to many "hi-fi" mags in my life..although I stopped around 10 years ago...I must have read a couple of times that horns --ie front loaded horns had massive distortion..!!!! But I did some reading on the net... http://www.ossaudio.com/hornbackgrounder.htm And found out that someone must be lying! Cheers, Bas