loudspeaker

loudspeaker, in sound reproduction, device for converting electrical energy into acoustical signal energy that is radiated into a room or open air. The term signal energy indicates that the electrical energy has a specific form, corresponding, for example, to speech, music, or any other signal in the range of audible frequencies (roughly 20 to 20,000 hertz). The loudspeaker should preserve the essential character of this signal energy in acoustical form. This definition of a loudspeaker excludes such devices as buzzers, gongs, and sirens, in which the acoustical signal energy does not correspond in form to the electrical signal. The part of the speaker that converts electrical into mechanical energy is frequently called the motor, or voice coil. The motor vibrates a diaphragm that in turn vibrates the air in immediate contact with it, producing a sound wave corresponding to the pattern of the original speech or music signal. Most frequently the motor consists of a coil of wire moving in a strong magnetic field, but the diaphragm may also be operated by electrostatic forces or by the action of a piezoelectric material.

A single loudspeaker cannot fully reproduce the entire frequency range of recorded sound, so it is customary to divide the frequency spectrum into parts that are reproduced by different kinds of speakers designed for a particular frequency range. The low-frequency speaker is called a woofer, and the high-frequency speaker is called a tweeter. In many sound reproduction systems a third, or midrange, speaker is also used, and in a few systems there are separate “subwoofers” and “supertweeters” to reproduce the extremities of the audible spectrum.