Help me out please...

fnord · 20th June 2006, 05:55 PM

I don't know anything about loudspeakers and I'm doing a science fair project on how to make them louder. I know that a 3 dB increase is twice as much power, but how can you increase the dB? How do you increase watts? Does magnetism have anything to do with it?

anatech · 20th June 2006, 05:58 PM

Hi fnord,
If you increase the magnetic field, you will also alter many parameters of a speaker. This may or may not be what you want (increasing the electrical damping).

What you can do is keep the voice coil cool. That can buy you a couple dB at high levels easily.

I'm sure some other members will chime in with some better ideas.

-Chris

ajazz · 20th June 2006, 06:04 PM

Just add a Horn in front

tade · 20th June 2006, 06:08 PM

or in back

ajazz · 20th June 2006, 06:44 PM

Either way !

If in front keep the rear enclosed with a infinite baffle or a tuned port and if in rear follow the jensen example.

xstephanx · 20th June 2006, 06:59 PM

add a larger baffle? this could give you more DBs where the original baffle step would roll off!

hornloading si a good one

reflex laoding can give you some free dee bees at lower frequencies. so that would also include PRs.

vinylkid58 · 20th June 2006, 07:23 PM

Hi fnord,

Go to the local library, or better yet, your local University library and read up on loudspeaker theory and gather as much info as you can on how they work.

Jeff

PeteMcK · 21st June 2006, 03:33 AM

http://home.planet.nl/~ulfman/

roger_lew · 21st June 2006, 05:28 AM

fnord,

How old are you so we can get a sense of your background knowledge, and the background knowledge of your audience?

Also what is your budget?

Speakers are basically electric motors that produce sound waves. When they use more power they sound louder because they are moving more air.

A decibel (db) is actually not a measure of loudness. Loudness is a perceptual measure, where decibels are a physical measure of sound pressure (SPL) or volume. How loud humans perceive sound is measured in phons. The reason loudness is measured separately from volume is because human hearing can only hear a limited range of frequencies (20 to 20,000 Hz), and humans do not hear all frequencies of equal volume as equally loud. If you play a sound that starts at 10 Hz (extremely low)and sweeps through the entire range of human hearing you will perceive the sound as gradually getting louder and then gradually getting quieter because of our perception of sound.

Have you seen the rodent detectors that work with high pitched sound waves? They emit sound that is beyond the range of human hearing to annoy the pests. It doesn't bother us humans because it is beyond our range of hearing.

I think ajazz's idea is a good idea for a science fair. Putting a horn on a speaker is sort of like cupping your hands around your month when you yell. You could have some sort of detachable horn that you could remove and replace quickly while the speaker is playing to show people that it actually does make the speaker sound louder! From my experience people like things they can observe themselves.

Hope that helps,
Roger

fnord · 22nd June 2006, 05:08 PM

I'm 14 and I don't really have a budget because the program I'm in is supposed to supply us with materials, but we have to write to different companies to ask them to donate materials for our cause.

My partner and I are probably going to do Ajazz's idea, but we don't really know what we're going to need exactly. If someone could list the supplies that we'll need and type of speaker or whatever I would appreciate it. Thanks

20th June 2006, 05:55 PM	#1
fnord diyAudio Member Join Date: Jun 2006	Help me out please... I don't know anything about loudspeakers and I'm doing a science fair project on how to make them louder. I know that a 3 dB increase is twice as much power, but how can you increase the dB? How do you increase watts? Does magnetism have anything to do with it?

20th June 2006, 06:59 PM	#6
xstephanx diyAudio Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: t-dot, canada	add a larger baffle? this could give you more DBs where the original baffle step would roll off! hornloading si a good one reflex laoding can give you some free dee bees at lower frequencies. so that would also include PRs. __________________ CREEEAAAAAMMMMM CHEEEEEESSSSSSEEEEEEE!!!!! EEEEESSSSEEEEEEHC MMMMMAAAAAEEEERRCCC!!!!

21st June 2006, 03:33 AM	#8
PeteMcK diyAudio Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Sydney	stick a Karlson slotted tube in front of them... http://home.planet.nl/~ulfman/

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20th June 2006, 05:58 PM	#2
anatech diyAudio Moderator Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Georgetown, On	Hi fnord, If you increase the magnetic field, you will also alter many parameters of a speaker. This may or may not be what you want (increasing the electrical damping). What you can do is keep the voice coil cool. That can buy you a couple dB at high levels easily. I'm sure some other members will chime in with some better ideas. -Chris

20th June 2006, 06:04 PM	#3
ajazz diyAudio Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: INDIA	Just add a Horn in front

20th June 2006, 06:08 PM	#4
tade diyAudio Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Ralieigh nc	or in back

20th June 2006, 06:44 PM	#5
ajazz diyAudio Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: INDIA	Either way ! If in front keep the rear enclosed with a infinite baffle or a tuned port and if in rear follow the jensen example.

20th June 2006, 07:23 PM	#7
vinylkid58 diyAudio Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Victoria, B.C.	Hi fnord, Go to the local library, or better yet, your local University library and read up on loudspeaker theory and gather as much info as you can on how they work. Jeff

21st June 2006, 05:28 AM	#9
roger_lew diyAudio Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Moscow, ID	fnord, How old are you so we can get a sense of your background knowledge, and the background knowledge of your audience? Also what is your budget? Speakers are basically electric motors that produce sound waves. When they use more power they sound louder because they are moving more air. A decibel (db) is actually not a measure of loudness. Loudness is a perceptual measure, where decibels are a physical measure of sound pressure (SPL) or volume. How loud humans perceive sound is measured in phons. The reason loudness is measured separately from volume is because human hearing can only hear a limited range of frequencies (20 to 20,000 Hz), and humans do not hear all frequencies of equal volume as equally loud. If you play a sound that starts at 10 Hz (extremely low)and sweeps through the entire range of human hearing you will perceive the sound as gradually getting louder and then gradually getting quieter because of our perception of sound. Have you seen the rodent detectors that work with high pitched sound waves? They emit sound that is beyond the range of human hearing to annoy the pests. It doesn't bother us humans because it is beyond our range of hearing. I think ajazz's idea is a good idea for a science fair. Putting a horn on a speaker is sort of like cupping your hands around your month when you yell. You could have some sort of detachable horn that you could remove and replace quickly while the speaker is playing to show people that it actually does make the speaker sound louder! From my experience people like things they can observe themselves. Hope that helps, Roger

22nd June 2006, 05:08 PM	#10
fnord diyAudio Member Join Date: Jun 2006	I'm 14 and I don't really have a budget because the program I'm in is supposed to supply us with materials, but we have to write to different companies to ask them to donate materials for our cause. My partner and I are probably going to do Ajazz's idea, but we don't really know what we're going to need exactly. If someone could list the supplies that we'll need and type of speaker or whatever I would appreciate it. Thanks

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