The 3 most common speaker drivers: horn, cone, and dome
All speakers are essentially transducers, which means that they convert one form of energy-in this case electricity-into another form-in this case, we take the form of sound Experience mechanical vibration. Since the role of the transducer is to push or "drive" the sound forward, the term "driver" is usually used to refer to the transducing element in the speaker. Drivers are sometimes referred to simply as speakers. This term also refers to the sum of all the components that produce sound from the housing to the internal sound damping material and other components (such as crossovers). In this article, "speakers" and "drivers" refer to the speaker components responsible for dispersing sound.
Horn speaker
As the name suggests, the horn speaker has an open funnel shape, just like a horn. Many people will recognize this design from pictures of old gramophones (also called phonographs). Early designs used horns to amplify the sound produced by the vibrating diaphragm: the horn has two functions: to transmit the vibration generated by the diaphragm to the air and make it louder.
The horn loudspeaker is a very effective design because, compared to a cone-shaped diaphragm, the diaphragm does not have to oscillate violently in order to produce a loud sound. Due to their high efficiency, speakers are still used in PA speakers to send out notification and warning signals. Another advantage of horn speakers is their directivity. The sound can be directed at the listener instead of dispersing the sound throughout the room. This creates a much smaller "sweet spot" for the listener, but eliminates most of the problems people encounter in room acoustics because there are fewer reflected sounds. However, this small optimal listening area may be a bit impractical and is usually not conducive to appreciation of the high range, because the high range tends to beam rather than disperse anyway. Another practical difficulty with horn speakers is the extremely low end. In order for the horn speaker to reproduce convincing bass, it must have a huge size.
Despite the limitations of home high-fidelity audio, there are still many high-end horn speakers available today. Many people appreciate their excellent dynamics and fast transient response, which can provide highly realistic live sound for music, especially jazz. The horn can also be played louder without distortion. Last but not least, horn speakers are attractive conversation fragments.
Speaker driver Ultima 40 Mk2 charming copper midrange driver
Cone speaker
Cone is a form we know in school geometry class, used in the most popular form of driver structure: cone loudspeaker. A typical cone driver consists of a tapered membrane with a dust cap in the middle and a component that does not affect the sound. For sound reproduction, the membrane is responsible. The membrane is attached to the voice coil, and the voice coil moves in accordance with the push and pull of the magnetic field generated by the current passing through the coil in the magnetic field. This movement in and out (referred to as offset) makes the cone speaker the most dynamic reason for the driver design discussed here, and is why this type of driver is sometimes referred to as a "dynamic speaker." The longer the driver's stroke, the greater the amount of air it can push. In order to create low-frequency sound, a lot of air needs to be moved, which can be achieved by using a large woofer or increasing the driver offset. In view of all these changes, cone speakers are not as efficient as horn speakers, but allow for more compact, user-friendly speaker designs and a more powerful and accurate low end.
The diaphragm of a cone speaker (which can also be round instead of cone) can be made of a variety of materials, all of which have similar high rigidity and light weight characteristics. Paper, aluminum, aramid, polypropylene, and polystyrene are all common materials in the construction of cone drives. Cone speakers are used in many different scenarios, but are mainly used to build midrange and bass drivers. Although they are sometimes used in tweeter designs, dome drivers are usually more effective here.
Dome speaker
Like horns and cone speakers, this name almost describes this form. Dome speakers are usually concave and smaller than cone speakers. However, the advantage of this design is that it provides a wider dispersion angle for the upper limit range to avoid the beam tendency of the upper limit frequency.
Dome tweeter
Unlike horn speakers, dome speakers are a fairly new invention. In the 1960s, the German company Braun successfully used dome speakers for the first time. The original design came from an Italian manufacturer, but Braun engineers had the idea of using different materials. After many trials, BASF’s composite materials of tar, rubber, glue and paint were chosen and succeeded. Since then, dome tweeters have been widely used, and the use of structural materials is as diverse as those used in cone membranes: aluminum, ceramics, titanium, beryllium and even silk are often used.
Coda: A speaker driver dedicated to sound and power
Since the invention of the phonograph in 1877, the driver design has changed a lot. Although the use of horn speakers outside of PA systems is quite rare, cone and dome speakers can be found in almost every home. Today's typical speaker systems usually use a combination of cone and dome drivers-cones for midrange and bass, and domes for treble ranges.
