Two Way Radio Speaker

black.blogr.com - stories - 2010-03-15-Speaker-wire

Speaker wire, like any other linear electrical component, has three parameters which determine its performance: resistance, capacitance, and inductance. If a perfect wire were possible, it would have no resistance, no capacitance, and no inductance. The shorter a wire is, the closer it comes to being perfect, as resistance decreases as length decreases in all conductors (except superconductors). Resistance is the property which has the most effect on speaker wire performance, whereas capacitative and inductive characteristics of speaker wire are insignificantly small relative to the loudspeaker itself. Larger conductors (smaller wire gauge) have less resistance but increased Skin Effect. As long as speaker wire resistance is kept to less than 5% of the speaker's impedance, the conductor will be adequate for home use. Speaker wires are selected based on quality of construction, price, aesthetic purpose, and convenience. Stranded wire is more flexible than solid wire, and is suitable for movable equipment. For a wire that will be exposed rather than run within walls, under floor coverings, or behind moldings (such as in a home), appearance may be a subjective benefit, but it is irrelevant to electrical characteristics. Better purification of oxidizing materials such as copper is said to result in more consistent conductive properties throughout the length of the wire, but this is a non-issue in terms of its effects on sound quality. Better jacketing may be thicker or tougher, less chemically reactive with the conductor, less likely to tangle and easier to pull through a group of other wires, or may incorporate a number of shielding techniques for non-domestic uses. automotive fuses Even with poor-quality wire, an audible degradation of sound may not exist. Many supposedly audible differences in speaker wire can be attributed to listener bias or the placebo effect. Listener bias is enhanced in no small part by the popular manufacturers' practice of making claims about their products either with no valid engineering or scientific basis, or of no real-world significance. Many manufacturers catering to audiophiles (as well as those supplying less expensive retail markets) also make unmeasurable, if poetic, claims about their wire sounding open, dynamic, or smooth. To justify these claims, many cite electrical properties such as skin effect, characteristic impedance of the cable, or resonance, which are generally little understood by consumers. None of these has any measurable effect at audio frequencies, though each matters at radio frequencies. glass fuses Resistance is by far the most important specification of speaker wire. Low-resistance speaker wire allows more of the amplifier's power to energize the loudspeaker's voice coil. The shorter the cable and the greater the conductor's cross-sectional area, the lower its resistance. Depending on the hearing ability of the listener, this resistance begins to have an audible effect when the resistance exceeds 5% of the speaker's impedance. A speaker wire impedance takes into account the wire resistance, the wire path (coiled wire acts as an inductor), and the dielectric properties of local insulators. The latter two factors also determine the wire's frequency response. The lower the impedance of the speaker, the greater a significance the speaker wire's resistance will have. Thicker wires reduce resistance. The resistance of 16-gauge or heavier speaker connection cable has no detectable effect in runs of 50 feet (15 meters) or less in standard domestic loudspeaker connections for a typical 8 ohm speaker. As speaker resistance drops, lower gauge (heavier) wire is needed to prevent degradation to damping factor measure of the amplifier's control over the position of the voice coil. Insulation thickness or type also has no audible effect as long as the insulation is of good quality and does not chemically react with the wire itself (poor-quality insulation has occasionally been found to accelerate oxidation of the copper conductor, increasing resistance over time). High-power in-car audio systems using 2-ohm speaker circuits require thicker wire than 4 to 8-ohm home audio applications. Speaker wire terminations are optional and largely for convenience. Bare wire ends work just as well electrically, and may work better mechanically as adding a termination introduces another potential point of error in installation or failure over time. The most common termination types are solder-tinned wire ends, soldered or crimped pin or spade lugs, banana plugs, and 2-pin DIN connectors. Which type to use is determined by the connectors on the equipment at each end of the wire. In recent years, the Neutrik Speakon connector is appearing more and more on professional audio equipment. One reason is simple: in many European countries the banana plug can fit into 230v main electrical sockets. A mistake will damage equipment, and could possibly injure or kill someone as well. Recent EU regulations prohibit banana plugs in non-AC equipment, unless equipped with a safety pin mechanism preventing insertion into a wall outlet; there is such a connector available (from WBT Connectors), but it is not widely used.[citation needed] Additionally, the Neutrik Speakon connector twists to lock in place, preventing one cause of intermittent failure, and accidental disconnection common in well-used banana plug connections. The Speakon also carries more current than heavy-duty 15A 1/4" phone plugs (originally used in the telephone industry), and does not short two conductors together at insertion/removal. Categories: Loudspeakers | Signal cablesHidden categories: Articles lacking in-text citations from October 2008 | All articles lacking in-text citations | Articles needing additional references from October 2008 | All articles needing additional references | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from November 2008

Source: black.blogr.com - stories - 2010-03-15-Speaker-wire