Professional Documents
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Convention Paper
Presented at the 118th Convention
2005 May 2831
Barcelona, Spain
This convention paper has been reproduced from the author's advance manuscript, without editing, corrections, or consideration
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Journal of the Audio Engineering Society.
ABSTRACT
Magneto-dynamic loudspeakers are affected from a wide variety of problems due to the voice coil inductance. This
inductance is not a constant parameter but is dependent on the frequency, the displacement and the actual current
flowing in the coil. Moreover these last two dependencies are also non-linear. Several causes of distortion, affecting
mainly the vocal range, are derived from these phenomena. A practical solution to minimize the inductance is
investigated. This solution is based on additional fixed coil positioned in the gap provided with 2 additional
terminals offering various connection possibilities. This device is referred as A.I.C. (Active Impedance Control).
Advantages of this approach will be discussed and measurements results will be shown as well.
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Voice coil and Inductance
The loudspeaker moving coil is usually made out of
multiple copper or aluminum turns exhibiting a
significant value of inductance at the input terminals.
This inductance is augmented by the presence of iron
parts like the pole piece and the top plate. Its effect is
clearly visible in standard impedance measurements vs.
frequency leading to a general rise of input impedance
when the frequency increases. This measured curve is
anyway a result where many causes sum together:
motional impedance, radiation impedance, the coil turns
and geometry, materials and geometry of the magnetic
circuit and so on. In order to be sufficiently precise, the
term inductance here should not really be used
because in the moving coil loudspeaker the voice coil
does not exhibit a pure inductance but actually a semiinductance [1]. The magnetization present on it,
actually changes the properties of the iron parts
resulting in different permeability. By the way, we will
use the term speaker inductance here not meaning a
real pure inductance but a semi-inductance. Anyway,
this speaker inductance is the main obstacle to current
flowing in speaker voice coil at high frequency. The
rising of the impedance at high frequency is one of the
first basic issues that a designer has to face in his first
cross-over designs. In fact, a noticeable deviation in
low-pass filters cut-off frequency from the theoretical
one is a very common problem to deal with. If this was
the only problem, a simple component values
adjustment can easily work this out. The real issue is
that the inductance value is firstly displacement
dependent, and secondly current dependent as well.
Moreover
inductance
modulation
is
directly
accompanied by a magnetic flux modulation, so both
come together at the same time.
1.2. Inductance modulation
While the voice coil is moving inward and outward
from its rest position, the relative position between the
coil and the iron parts changes causing a continuously
changing inductance value from that the speaker has at
the rest position. When a loudspeaker is driven by a
voltage source, a very common case, the driving current
is dependent in any moment from the impedance that
this source sees from the output terminals. This cause
the current flowing through the voice coil to be
modulated by the impedance (admittance) variations
Simply shorting it
1.
2.
3.
All the 500 speakers and all the 600 speakers were
measured in equivalent use conditions.
05-10-2004 17.28.17
180.0
CLIO
dBSPL
Deg
120.0
108.0
110.0
36.0
100.0
-36.0
90.0
-108.0
80.0
70
100
1k
CH A dBSPL 1/6 Octave 48kHz 131K Rectangular Start 2.42ms
File: resp-sine-2coil.mls
Stop 14.94ms
10k Hz
FreqLO 79.87Hz
-180.0
20k
Length 12.52ms
dBSPL
Sinusoidal
08-03-2005 10.26.31
180.0
CLIO
08-03-2005 10.18.09
180.0
CLIO
Deg
110.0
108.0
100.0
36.0
90.0
-36.0
80.0
-108.0
70.0
50
100
1k
Hz
-180.0
10k
Sinusoidal
07-03-2005 13.37.35
180.0
CLIO
dBSPL
Deg
110.0
108.0
100.0
36.0
90.0
-36.0
80.0
-108.0
Deg
dBSPL
110.0
108.0
100.0
36.0
90.0
-36.0
70.0
50
100
1k
Hz
-180.0
10k
-108.0
80.0
70.0
50
Sinusoidal
100
1k
Hz
-180.0
10k
Sinusoidal
07-03-2005 13.37.35
180.0
CLIO
Sinusoidal
07-03-2005 12.43.50
180.0
CLIO
10.0
Deg
dBV
Deg
110.0
108.0
-10.0
108.0
100.0
36.0
-30.0
36.0
90.0
-36.0
-50.0
-36.0
80.0
-108.0
-70.0
-108.0
dBSPL
70.0
50
100
1k
Hz
-180.0
10k
Sinusoidal
1k
Hz
-180.0
10k
Sinusoidal
07-03-2005 13.34.47
180.0
CLIO
10.0
dBV
Deg
-10.0
108.0
-30.0
36.0
-50.0
-36.0
-70.0
-108.0
07-03-2005 12.27.49
180.0
CLIO
10.0
dBV
Deg
-10.0
108.0
-30.0
36.0
-90.0
50
-50.0
-36.0
-70.0
-108.0
-90.0
50
100
-90.0
50
100
1k
Hz
100
1k
Hz
-180.0
10k
-180.0
10k
Sinusoidal
07-03-2005 13.17.16
180.0
CLIO
10.0
Sinusoidal
07-03-2005 17.02.42
180.0
CLIO
dBSPL
Deg
dBV
Deg
-10.0
108.0
110.0
108.0
-30.0
36.0
100.0
36.0
-50.0
-36.0
90.0
-36.0
-70.0
-108.0
80.0
-108.0
-90.0
50
100
1k
Hz
-180.0
10k
Sinusoidal
70.0
50
Deg
110.0
108.0
100.0
36.0
Hz
-180.0
10k
Sinusoidal
07-03-2005 16.32.01
180.0
CLIO
10.0
dBV
Deg
-10.0
108.0
-30.0
36.0
-50.0
-36.0
-70.0
-108.0
90.0
-36.0
80.0
-108.0
-90.0
50
100
1k
07-03-2005 16.22.03
180.0
CLIO
dBSPL
70.0
50
100
1k
Hz
100
1k
Hz
-180.0
10k
-180.0
10k
Sinusoidal
07-03-2005 17.01.35
180.0
CLIO
10.0
Sinusoidal
11-03-2005 15.45.38
180.0
CLIO
0.0
dBV
Deg
dBV
Deg
-10.0
108.0
-10.0
108.0
-30.0
36.0
-20.0
36.0
-30.0
-36.0
-50.0
-36.0
-40.0
-108.0
-70.0
-108.0
-90.0
50
100
1k
Hz
-180.0
10k
-50.0
10
Ax: 89.1934 Ay: -63.9709
-180.0
100
1k
Sinusoidal
11-03-2005 15.40.23
180.0
CLIO
0.0
dBV
Deg
-10.0
108.0
-20.0
36.0
-30.0
-36.0
-40.0
-108.0
Sinusoidal
1k
10k Hz
Delay [ms] 2.271
11-03-2005 15.59.36
180.0
CLIO
0.0
dBV
Deg
-10.0
108.0
-20.0
36.0
-30.0
-36.0
-40.0
-108.0
-50.0
10
Ax: 89.1934 Ay: -65.4428
-180.0
100
1k
10k Hz
Delay [ms] 2.292
20k
-180.0
100
20k
-50.0
10
Ax: 89.1934 Ay: -65.2827
10k Hz
20k
Sinusoidal
11-03-2005 15.54.18
180.0
CLIO
0.0
FFT
11-03-2005 16.16.22
100.0
CLIO
0.0
dBV
Deg
dBV
-10.0
108.0
-20.0
50.0
-20.0
36.0
-40.0
0.0
-30.0
-36.0
-60.0
-50.0
-40.0
-108.0
-80.0
-100.0
-50.0
10
Ax: 89.1934 Ay: -7.8043
-180.0
100
1k
10k Hz
Delay [ms] 2.271
20k
FFT
-150.0
1k
10k Hz
20k
11-03-2005 16.09.44
100.0
CLIO
0.0
-100.0
20
100
Ax: 82.2832 Ay: -82.1819
FFT
11-03-2005 16.22.06
100.0
CLIO
0.0
dBV
-20.0
50.0
dBV
-20.0
50.0
-40.0
0.0
-40.0
0.0
-60.0
-50.0
-60.0
-50.0
-80.0
-100.0
-80.0
-100.0
-100.0
20
-100.0
20
100
Ax: 82.2832 Ay: -80.8102
-150.0
1k
10k Hz
20k
-150.0
100
1k
10k Hz
20k
Sinusoidal
14-03-2005 10.40.25
180.0
CLIO
Sinusoidal
50.0
14-03-2005 10.50.43
180.0
CLIO
Ohm
Deg
Ohm
Deg
80.0
108.0
40.0
108.0
60.0
36.0
30.0
36.0
40.0
-36.0
20.0
-36.0
20.0
-108.0
10.0
-108.0
0.0
10
-180.0
100
1k
CH A Ohm Resolution 1/24 Octave Unsmoothed Delay [ms] 0.000
File: 520 transcoil -40dBu CV.sini
0.0
10
100
1k
CH A Ohm Resolution 1/24 Octave Unsmoothed Delay [ms] 0.000
File: 520 blocc impedenza transcoil -40dBu CV.sini
10k Hz 20k
Dist Rise [dB] 30.00
Figure 49: Free air impedance measurement over a 600type loudspeaker: AIC disconnected (light gray), AIC
paralleled to the voice coil (black) or AIC shorted
(dark gray).
-180.0
10k Hz 20k
Dist Rise [dB] 30.00
Sinusoidal
25.0
14-03-2005 10.44.08
180.0
CLIO
Ohm
Deg
20.0
108.0
15.0
36.0
10.0
-36.0
5.0
-108.0
0.0
10
-180.0
100
1k
CH A Ohm Resolution 1/24 Octave Unsmoothed Delay [ms] 0.000
File: 520 anello base -40dBu CV.sini
10k Hz 20k
Dist Rise [dB] 30.00
ALS
-40.0
13-03-2005 11.38.19
CLIO
dBV
-50.0
-60.0
-70.0
-80.0
-90.0
20
100
Ax: 3364.6680 Ay: -54.6397
1k
10k Hz
20k
6. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We would like to thank very much the 18 Sound facility
and technical staff for their hardware and hard work
support and for their.... patience.
7. REFERENCES
[1] A model of loudspeaker driver impedance
incorporating eddy currents in the pole structure,
John Vanderkooy, J. Audio Eng. Soc. March 1989
Volume 37 pp 119-128
[2] Distortion in Dynamic Loudspeakers due to
Modulation of the Permanent Field, J.R. Gilliom,
42nd Convention of the Audio Engineering Society,
Los Angeles, 1972 May 2-5
[3] Nonlinearities in Moving-Coil Loudspeakers with
Overhung Voice Coils, David R. Birt, J.A.E.S.
Volume 39, April 1991
5. CONCLUSIONS
The aiming of this study is oriented to show how much
can be reduced the inductance modulation effects and
the related flux modulation in midrange loudspeakers.
Several practical solutions were discussed and some of
them are already well known. Among them, the Active
Impedance Control (A.I.C.) clearly shows some
advantages in distortion reduction turning out to be
particularly effective in reducing inductance modulation
while minimizing its absolute value as well. This
reduction seems to be particularly maximized in the
vocal range in comparison with other well known
devices like the copper ring positioned in the gap and
the demodulating ring at the base of pole piece. Early
listening test run over some samples already confirm
these results in improved mid-range sound quality. This
device is also particularly effective in linearization of
impedance vs. frequency curve allowing for simpler
passive crossover design.