POWER-HANDLING LIMITATIONS
CONNECTING A SUBWOOFER SYSTEM
The
EXCURSION IN A SEALED ENCLOSURE Sealed enclosures exert the most control over the motion of a subwoofer because the air inside the box acts like a spring against the motion of the subwoofer cone. Larger boxes allow for more excursion, thus providing more
EXCURSION IN A PORTED ENCLOSURE
Vented and bandpass enclosures have the lowest amount of excursion for the amount of sound out- put. This is a result of port output reinforcing the sound output from the subwoofer. The mass of the air contained in the port provides an acoustic
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
• |
overexcursion are often caused by overdriving |
an amplifier into “clipping.” A severely clipped |
signal, or square wave, contains nearly twice |
the power of a clean sine wave at the same |
level. Bass that sounds broken up and distorted |
at higher volumes is usually indicative of an |
amplifier that is clipping and being asked to |
deliver power beyond its ability. |
• |
tions allow for greater cone excursion than |
subwoofers mounted in an enclosure. For this |
application, power handling should be reduced |
to half of its published specification. |
• Study the excursion curves on the enclosed |
Kappa Series data sheet and note the differ- |
ences for different enclosure applications. The |
type and size of box used will produce different |
excursion demands on the subwoofer and, con- |
sequently, different levels of power handling. As |
long as the recommended enclosure parame- |
ters are used, the subwoofer will perform prop- |
erly in its enclosed environment. However, any |
design deviation may result in less than opti- |
mum performance, and may also subject the |
subwoofer to overexcursion (i.e., where the |
voice coil leaves the gap) that can eventually |
damage the speaker. For additional help with |
IMPEDANCE CONSIDERATIONS
To achieve maximum amplifier output, you should design a subwoofer system that provides
the lowest impedance that your amplifier can drive safely. Here are some design tips:
•Don’t mix different subwoofer or enclosure types in the same system. For example, use only all
•Connect a
terminal impedance (i.e., the sum of speaker impedance, wire resistance, and the direct- current resistance of any crossover coil connected to the subwoofer) to amplifier output impedance, connecting subwoofers in series reduces the damping factor of the amplifier to a value less than one. Doing so may result in poor system damping.
•You must use both coils of a
•Most amplifiers deliver exactly the same amount of power bridged into a
•The formula for total system impedance of voice coils connected in parallel is:
I = 1⁄(1⁄ w1 + 1⁄ w2 + 1⁄ w3 ...)
where I is the total system impedance in ohms, and w is the nominal impedance of a voice coil in ohms.
•The formula for total system impedance of voice coils connected in series is:
I = w1 + w2 + w3...
CONNECTIONS
The following illustrations show parallel and series speaker connections.
Figure 1. Parallel connection
ENGLISH
load on the subwoofer’s cone at the tuning fre- quency, and this added mass decreases sub-
this issue, please contact your authorized |
Infinity dealer. |
Figure 2. Series connection
POWER CONSIDERATIONS
To design a subwoofer system that maximizes available amplifier power, keep the following rules in mind:
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