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GLOSSARY OF AUDIO TECHNICAL TERMS
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Impedance
The opposition of a circuit or speaker to ac current; the combined effect of a speaker's resistance, inductance, and capacitance that opposes the current fed to it. It is measured in ohms and varies with the frequency of the signal.Infinite Baffle
A flat surface that completely isolates the back wave of a driver from the front.Kilohertz (kHz)
one thousand hertz.Low-Pass Filter
An electric circuit designed to pass only low frequencies. See Band-pass and High-pass filters.Lobing
The tendency of a speaker system that consists of more than one driver to produce a lobed frequency response in space with in-phase reinforcement (lobes) from the various drivers occurring at some elevations and out-of-phase opposition (nulls) at points between the lobes.Midbass
Mid level bass, usually frequencies just above the sub-bass range, from around 100-400Hz or so.Midrange (mids)
The frequency range above bass but below treble that carries most of the identifying tones of music or speech. It is usually from 300-400Hz to 3kHz or so.Noise
Any undesirable sound reproduced in an audio system.Octave
A range of tones where the highest tone occurs at twice the frequency of the lowest tone.Ohm
A unit of electrical resistance or impedance.Ohm's Law
A basic law of electric circuits. It states that: the current [I] in amperes in a circuit is equal to the voltage [E] in volts divided by the resistance [R] in ohms; thus, I = E/R.Out of Phase
When your speakers are mounted in reverse polarity, i.e., one speaker is wired +/+ and -/- from the amp and the other is wired +/- and -/+. Bass response will be very thin due to cancellation.Passive Crossover
Uses inductors (coils) and capacitors to direct proper frequencies to appropriate drivers.Phase
Refers to the timing relationship of two or more signals or soundwaves. It's especially important to be sure that your stereo speakers are playing "in phase." This means that the drivers (cones and domes) of your right and left speakers are moving in and out at the same time. If your speakers are out of phase you'll hear significantly less bass, and instead of producing a strong center image, the sound tends to stay localized at the speakers.Phase Coherence
The relationship and timing of sounds that come from different drivers.Phase Distortion
A type of audible distortion caused by time delay between various parts of the signal; can be caused by equalizers.Polarity
The orientation of magnetic or electric fields. The polarity of the incoming audio signal determines the direction of movement of the speaker cone. Must be observed when wiring speakers, so that they are "in phase". See Out of Phase.Ported Enclosure
A type of speaker enclosure that uses a duct or port to improve efficiency at low frequencies. Excellent design for lower power systems, as the port often adds up to +3dB to low frequency efficiency.BACK 1 2 3 4 NEXT
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