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
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
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
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
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
http://www.linkwitzlab.com
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.
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.
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
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
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
Bas Horneman said: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.
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
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
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