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Speakers and Sounds-II

© Asif Iqbal

The Tweeter

The tweeter gets its name because it “tweets”. A tweeter reproduces in the high frequency range covering 4000Hz to 20,000Hz. There are some tweeters that cover higher ranges (25,000 Hz and above) but I don’t know the practicality of those since you cannot hear anything that’s above 20,000Hz). The tweeter is the smallest driver on a speaker face, usually 2 to 4 inches across. Tweeters are critical to the listening experience. Tweeters handle all the high notes and are therefore critical to the sounds of nearly all lead instruments.

Midrange

In a two-way speaker (two drivers), a tweeter is usually mated with a woofer to cover the middle range of frequencies. But in three-way systems (three drivers), a midrange speaker is used. The Midrange reproduces frequencies from 200Hz to 4000Hz. This is probably the most important frequency range because human voice resides hear. The midrange is also important because many complex musical instruments and notes come in this range of frequencies. The midrange is necessary for all high quality systems since the two-way speaker systems cannot handle the midrange frequencies justly.

The Woofer

The woofer is the “booming” part of a speaker system. It handles the lower frequencies from 20Hz to 500Hz. All bass and beat resides in this frequency range. It is normally the largest driver in the speaker cabinet, sometimes exceeding 12 inches in diameter. The size is necessary because when low frequency sounds are to be reproduced the air has to be really moved. Apart from its enormous size you can identify a woofer by looking for the driver that vibrates the most. A woofer practically jumps out of its sockets when high bass is played. Because of their larger size, woofers require huge amount of power and are also difficult to move, meaning that they cannot cover large ranges of comparatively high and low frequencies. The average woofer covers frequencies from 50Hz to 500Hz. Frequencies below the 50 Hz range are covered by a special sub-woofer. Normally if you hear a sub-woofer playing alone you will hear only hear a boom and a boom and a boom boom boom!!!

The Cabinet

The cabinet or the housing is also an important aspect and plays a critical role in sound quality. The best cabinets are made from medium density fiberboard. The cabinet plays an important role in creating the bass or the booming sound that your woofers and sub-woofers create. The cabinet should not vibrate with the vibrations of the speaker drivers otherwise the sound will be distorted.

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