Saturday, September 29, 2012

A Comparison Of Wireless And Normal Loudspeakers

By Michelle Finger


Wireless speakers can be an intriguing substitute for corded speakers given that they reduce the feared speaker cable mess. Still, just how do wireless stereo speakers stack up against regular loudspeakers when it comes to audio fidelity? Are wireless speakers a serious competitor? On this page, I'm going to shed some light on these issues.

Wireless loudspeakers by nature are certainly more complex when compared with normal speakers considering that these incorporate a cordless receiver in addition to an audio amplifier. For this reason the audio fidelity of awesome wireless speakers is determined by various variables. First off, the wireless transmission has to be top notch. The cordless transmission of prior generation wireless speakers could leave a lot to be desired. The cordless signal would contain a lot of noise and in addition generate pops or clicks when some other cordless product is switched on. Contemporary cordless protocols generally transform the music signal to information which is then sent within the digital domain. Not only does digital cordless sound achieve CD-quality audio fidelity but it also has innovative methods for managing radio interference.

Cordless speakers have got a built-in power music amp. This amp drives the woofer as well as tweeter. The music fidelity of this amp is also vital for the overall speaker sound quality. Many wireless speakers utilize switching (also called Class-D) audio amps because of their high power efficiency. Analog and switching (Class-D) amplifiers have got quite different working concepts. So as to offer a low output impedance, a linear amplifier possesses a power-transistor stage which usually consists of two complementary power transistors. Those transistors are controlled through an analog audio voltage. Class-D amps use a power output stage that is very similar in design to the power stage of linear amps. Class-D switch this power stage to both power rails and in doing so produce a rectangular wave voltage. Caused by the switching, the output signal includes a large amount of energy at the switched-mode frequency which is usually removed through a subsequent low-pass filter stage.

Switched-mode amplifiers have several challenges with harmonic distortion as their operating method is nonlinear in nature. Then again, recently, the audio quality of Class-D power amplifiers is getting close to that of analog amps. Newer kinds of Class-D amplifiers compare the amplified audio signal with the initial music signal and are able to compensate for offsets and in that way decrease the harmonic distortion of the amplified signal. Notice however that a low distortion won't always necessarily mean good sound fidelity. Certain amps using moderate filters and distortion of around 0.05% meet or exceed comparable amplifiers which have less than 0.001 % audio distortion in terms of audio quality.

The speaker design by itself also has a huge affect on the sound quality. One obstacle in producing wireless loudspeakers is usually that there are several parts that have to be built into the loudspeaker enclosure such as the wireless radio and also audio amplifier. Those components are often pretty big. Hence they will affect the air volume of the loudspeaker. Also, sound waves will bounce off most of these parts and quite possibly cause rattling which will influence the audio. In addition, the speaker housing requires openings to allow accessibility to the loudspeaker control elements. Those holes furthermore affect the audio quality of the loudspeaker. The skill of perfecting wireless speakers necessitates perfecting the above aspects within the loudspeaker design. Existing cordless products have advanced a great deal with regard to sound fidelity over older types but still have got some way to go.




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