Sound of the bipolar transistors

In simple terms, the magnetic force generated by a coil is proportionate to current and number of turns (Also called ampere turns). With speaker coil having number of turns fixed, the magnetic force generated is then proportionate to the current which is the only variable. This generated magnetic force either attracts or repels (in proportion to the current) with the permanent magnet. The only thing that changes here is the current. All other mechanical dynamics bla bla do not change. No need to be a NASA scientist to explain this. Regards.
F=IBL
F in Newton I in Amper. L in meters. B in Tesla.
If you apply I in DC, the F will result a diaphragm displacement proportional to the current.
If you apply Iwft at resonant frequency Fwft will result speed of the diaphragm.
If you apply Iwft higher than the resonant, Fwft will result acceleration of the piston diaphragm proportional to the current.
We are talking of a full range speaker. With crossover filters, the current amp goes all wrong.
 
In simple terms, the magnetic force generated by a coil is proportionate to current and number of turns (Also called ampere turns). With speaker coil having number of turns fixed, the magnetic force generated is then proportionate to the current which is the only variable. This generated magnetic force either attracts or repels (in proportion to the current) with the permanent magnet. The only thing that changes here is the current. All other mechanical dynamics bla bla do not change. No need to be a NASA scientist to explain this. Regards.
Moving cone and air means doing work and this requires power.
This is why voltage is needed as well as current.
Both are linked by speaker impedance.
Current drive increases voltage and thus SPL at high frequencies and especially around the bass resonance where the impedance is high.
That may or may not be desirable.
Typically the strong emphasis at the bass resonance is not desired with hifi.
Results with tube guitar amps using little or no NFB can be favorable.
 
Last edited:
If you apply Iwft at resonant frequency Fwft will result speed of the diaphragm.
I suspect that you mean the effect of electromotive force (EMF). My simulation shows that the voltage amplifier can offer even worse results. I have actually already presented the following post-oscillations in comparison:

after_osc-wf.JPG


The voltage amplifier delivers shorter oscillations, but with larger amplitude and distorted:

after_osc-fft.JPG
 
Current or voltage square wave response doesn't mean much with a complex, frequency dependent speaker impedance.
The voice coil is driven by (real) power.
Speaker SPL response essentially follows power input at each frequency.
So we would have to compare power square wave response.
 
Maybe read up on FFT and associated artefacts with a limited window.
Then you would have had the same effect on both curves. Actually, even without FFT, it's good to see that I(R_v) has a steep fall first and then a slow rise and an even slower afterswing. This is not a clean sine wave! A lot of distortion was mixed in. I(R_i) only sounds at the natural frequency of the loudspeaker, but again much quieter.

Anyway, only power square wave response matters.
How exactly do you want to calculate that? How much power is converted into sound? Simply sketched, without numbers.
 
It is kind of trivial that current drive gives a better current square wave response than voltage drive.
In fact a perfect current source must give a perfect current square wave, while a voltage source will give a perfect voltage square wave.
Question is how this translates to speaker SPL response.

To get the power signal P(t) = V(t) * I(t) you need to multiply voltage and current signals.

To answer your question:
Only about 5% of delivered power is converted to sound with a high efficiency speaker.

With SS guitar amps the ouput impedance is often increased by speaker current NFB in order to get a sound coloration similar to a tube amp.
 
The Lorentz force F = I*B*L is the basis of all calculations. This is essentially the conversion element that converts electrical energy into sound energy. But there is a nuance. Mr. HAYK pointed this out. This concerns driving the speakers with the voltage.

The movement of the coil in the magnetic field induces the voltage Vind = v*B*L, which counteracts the output voltage of the amplifier Vout. v is the speed of the coil. Therefore the Lorentz force reduces to F = I*B*L = ((Vout - Vind)/R)B*L = ((Vout - v*B*L)/R)*B*L = (Vout/R )*B*L - v(B*L)²/R.

The first term (Vout/R)B*L corresponds to purely driving the loudspeaker with the current and the second term v(B*L)²/R is the electrical damping.

But because the speed of the coil can be completely arbitrary, i.e. depending on how many and which elementary waves are hitting each other at the moment, driving the loudspeakers with the voltage is fundamentally flawed.
 
Sorry, dropping obscure names doesn't impress me.
Being a physicist I know that a force by itself doesn't cause work or useable energy (as opposed to potential energy).
Not being a speaker expert I know that:
  • Speaker SPL increases proportional to power.
  • Speaker frequency response is typically flatter with voltage drive than with current drive. This might be due to the fact that electrodynamic speakers are optimized for voltage drive.
To convince me I would have to see sound measurement data.
 
Last edited:
Being a physicist

I'm even more surprised that you ignore the elementary laws of physics.

Let's assume the speaker diaphragm suspension has a spring constant k and a DC current flow through the coil. There must be a balance between Lorentz force and spring force. The diaphragm should therefore be shifted by the distance x: I*B*L = k*x, x = I*B*L/k. At the same time this means that the diaphragm has the potential energy: Epot = (1/2)*k*x^2. Now, when the current and accordingly the Lorentz force become zero, the spring force will pull the diaphragm back and so the diaphragm will start moving, dragging the air with it. In this way, the potential energy that was stored in the diaphragm with the help of the Lorentz force is converted into sound energy.