Basics
Clear for beginners, precise enough for professionals. Every article starts with a short explanation and names its sources.
Acoustics
Link to section “Acoustics”Sound, frequency, wavelength, level and phase – the physical basics for loudspeaker building.
- Beginner Decibels and Levels: Calculating with dB in Sound Reinforcement Levels in decibels are logarithmic ratios. Double the power gives +3 dB, double the sound pressure +6 dB, double the distance in the free field −6 dB. If you know these...
- Intermediate Phase and Interference: Why Loudspeakers Can Cancel Each Other Out When two sound waves meet in antiphase, they cancel each other out. Even small differences in arrival time shift the phase – more at high frequencies than at low ones....
- Beginner Wavelength and Frequency: Why Bass Needs So Much Space Wavelength is the speed of sound divided by frequency. In the bass, sound waves are several metres long – that is why horns need large mouths, and why standing waves and...
Loudspeakers
Link to section “Loudspeakers”Driver construction, Thiele-Small parameters, power handling and efficiency explained clearly.
- Beginner Reading a Datasheet: What the Numbers Really Say A datasheet is only as good as its conditions. Sensitivity without a reference, power handling without a test method or Xmax without a definition can hardly be compared....
- Intermediate Thiele-Small Parameters: The Characteristic Values of a Driver The Thiele-Small parameters describe a loudspeaker driver with just a few numbers. They allow you to simulate how it works in an enclosure. Many values are linked by...
Enclosure types
Link to section “Enclosure types”How bass reflex, sealed, bandpass, horn, tapped horn and scoop work – with pros and cons.
- Intermediate Bandpass Subwoofer: Driver Between Two Chambers In a bandpass, the driver sits between two chambers, and the sound only exits through ports. This gives a lot of level in a limited frequency band. 6th-order bandpasses...
- Beginner Bass Reflex: How the Enclosure with a Port Works A bass reflex enclosure has a port in which air resonates. Enclosure volume and port form a Helmholtz resonator. Around the tuning frequency, the port delivers a large...
- Beginner Sealed Enclosure: Air Spring Instead of a Port In a sealed enclosure, the driver works into a closed volume of air that acts like a spring. Below the resonance, the level falls at 12 dB per octave – more gently than...
- Intermediate Bass Horn: How a Horn Increases Efficiency A horn does not amplify by itself; it couples the cone better to the air – like an acoustic transformer. This brings a lot of efficiency, but requires large dimensions...
- Intermediate Hybrid Enclosure: When Principles Mix Hybrid enclosures combine several principles, for example a horn channel that at the same time tunes a compression chamber as a port. They are a compromise between size,...
- Beginner Scoop: Short Horn Channel with a Side Effect A scoop guides the sound to the outside through a short, curved channel. It is more compact than a bass horn, but has limits: below its usable range the driver is barely...
- Intermediate Tapped Horn: Both Sides of the Cone Feed a Horn In a tapped horn, the front and rear of the cone feed the same horn at two points. Both paths meet in phase at the horn mouth. The principle is considered particularly...
- Intermediate Transmission Line and Quarter-Wave Enclosures In a transmission line, the rear of the cone feeds a long, damped line. Practical designs emit sound at the end of the line. Tuned as a quarter-wave resonator, the line...
Placement
Link to section “Placement”Subwoofer arrays, cardioid, end-fire and delay lines.
DSP & controllers
Link to section “DSP & controllers”Crossovers, EQ, limiters and gain structure.
In preparation
Link to section “In preparation”- Horns
- Measurement
- Enclosure building
- Safety