woofer
Sign in to saveA woofer or bass speaker is a technical term for a loudspeaker driver designed to produce low frequency sounds, typically from 50 up to 200 Hz. The name is from the onomatopoeic English word for a dog's deep bark, "woof" (in contrast to a tweeter, the name used for loudspeakers designed to reproduce high-frequency sounds, deriving from the shrill calls of birds, "tweets"). The most common design for a woofer is the electrodynamic driver, which typically uses a stiff paper cone, driven by a voice coil surrounded by a magnetic field.
~13 min read
Article
11 sectionsContents
- Design
- Active loudspeakers
- Equalized loudspeakers
- Digital filtering crossover and equalization
- Cone materials
- Frame design
- Power handling
- Public address (PA) and instrument applications
- Frequency ranges
- See also
- References
A woofer or bass speaker is a technical term for a loudspeaker driver designed to produce low frequency sounds, typically from 50 up to 200 Hz. The name is from the onomatopoeic English word for a dog's deep bark, "woof" (in contrast to a tweeter, the name used for loudspeakers designed to reproduce high-frequency sounds, deriving from the shrill calls of birds, "tweets"). The most common design for a woofer is the electrodynamic driver, which typically uses a stiff paper cone, driven by a voice coil surrounded by a magnetic field.
The voice coil is attached by adhesives to the back of the loudspeaker cone. The voice coil and the magnet form a linear electric motor. When current flows through the voice coil, the coil moves in relation to the frame according to Fleming's left hand rule for motors, causing the coil to push or pull on the driver cone in a piston-like way. The resulting motion of the cone creates sound waves, as it moves in and out.