Design of a Midrange Driver: Rent Com Inc: Audio Visual, Video, Projection, Presentation Rental AV Equipment

Design of a Midrange Driver

The circuit in the following figure depicts a simplified electrical equivalent circuit of a compression driver, and the analysis of it yields a series of useful equations for driver parameters. These are set forth in several texts, dating back to Olson's work in the 1930's and 40's. Viewing transducers as ladder networks of resistive and reactive components leads to an understanding of the inherent signal delay properties of such systems. It is the energy storage characteristics of the devices reactive elements that cause phase (time) anomalies. The clever transducer designer understands that these are present and accounts for them in the design.

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Notice that the only thing that stands between the amplifier and the diaphragm is the mechanical resistance REM, which simplifies to:

This simple relationship tells us that the higher the field intensity and the larger the volume of the voice coil, the greater the efficiency (due to lower losses in REM).

The M4 maximizes both of these important parameters, making the M4 the most efficient loudspeaker on the market to date. Let us look deeper into the anatomy of the M4 and examine why it stands alone as the optimum driver for the critical midrange.