Close

Meeting Report – Feb 2012 – Distortion Control in High Power Woofer Designs

Distortion Control in High Power Woofer Designs

On Monday Feb 13th Michail Barabasz of loudspeaker driver and enclosure manufacturer Lorantz Audio Services presented to the Melbourne Section on high power woofer design.

He started his presentation with a history of his company; from its birth in the mid-seventies at the time of the closure of the Plessey/Rola loudspeaker manufacturing plant, which had employed Michail as a loudspeaker design engineer, through to the present day where it manufactures both Hi-Fi and Musical Instrument drivers and bass cabinets which are sold locally and internationally.

After paying tribute to Neville Thiele and Richard Small’s contribution to the understanding of the science of loudspeaker science, Michail then went into great detail about the materials and design process of modern loudspeaker drivers – particularly for high power woofer designs.
Cone materials and composition were covered, as was the typical magnetic circuit and the selection of the right driver for an application.

He did identify the most important parameters for a driver to be Fundamental Resonance, Equiv Volume of Compliance, Total Q, and Linear Cone Excursion.

It proved to be a most interesting and informative evening for the 22 members and visitors who attended, all of who surely finished the evening with a better understanding of the challenges of loudspeaker driver design, and a better insight into how to specify the correct driver for an application.

Audio recording of the presentation can be played or downloaded here