VI.

Answers to Questions 1. State your observations of the frequency response of the speaker The speaker used in the experiment in terms of its frequency response is able to reproduce frequencies from 20 Hz to 20 kHz as shown and observed in the experiment. Although the speaker is able to reproduce these frequencies, it is noted that it tend to reproduce low frequency signal much louder than that of high frequency signals with equal magnitude. 2. Why do you need a larger speaker to reproduce the lower audio frequencies and smaller speakers to reproduce the higher audio frequencies? Every speaker are able to produce every frequency within the audio range, its just that, some speakers produce some frequencies much louder than the rest. Large speakers tent to reproduce low frequency audio signals much clearly because large speaker are heavy. The greater the mass of the cone, the slower it varies. Thus, low frequency signals which vary relatively slower will most likely be clearly reproduced by larger speaker. If we apply the same thinking, high frequency audio signals are much easily reproduced by small speakers because, these speakers are light and are able vary much easily than larger speakers. 3. How do speakers convert electrical signals to sound signals? The figure below shows the basic construction and parts of a speaker.

Electrical signals applied to the speakers through the terminals flows to the voice coil. These signals create a magnetic forces between the voice coil and the permanent magnet, moving the coil and the attached diaphragm back and forth. The voice coil

which acts as an electromagnet and the permanent magnet interact with each other. The alternating current constantly reverses the magnetic forces between the voice coil and the permanent magnet. When the coil moves, it pushes and pulls on the speaker cone. This vibrates the air in front of the speaker, creating sound waves. 4. What are the different types of transducer used by speakers to convert electrical energy to sound energy? Speakers are generally transducers that convert electrical energy into sound energy. Electrical energy applied to the voice coil is converted to magnetic energy which react with the permanent magnet thus production mechanical motion, this motion changes air pressure and finally process sound. A speaker therefor has an electrical to magnetic transducer, magnetic to mechanical (motion) transducer and finally, motion to air pressure transducer. VII. Analysis and Conclusion During the experiment, the group is able to come up with the following observation: 1. Procedure Number 4. The data gathered as the group performed procedure number four shows that the sound level meter (SPL) can read maximum sound label of 102 dBA when the position of the volume of the knob of the power amplifier is from 6 to 10. With this, we are able to determine the volume level of the power amplifier that will be used in the next procedure. 2. Procedure Number 6. Procedure number six measures the sound level of the sound reproduced by the speaker driven by a 1 Vp-p sine wave signal from a function generator from 20 Hz to 32000 Hz frequency range. The sound level meter used is the RS SPL with A frequency weighting. Based on the data gathered by the group, the frequency at which the maximum reading is recorded is at 5000 Hz at 107 dBA while the smallest recorded is at 32000 Hz which is about 67 dBA. At high frequency, the humming produced by the power amplifier is also noticeable. As we have noticed, the maximum reading recorded as seen in the data in procedure 6 is 107 dBA now, if consider the data gathered in procedure number 4 at 1000 Hz, the maximum reading is only 102 dBA even at a power amplifier volume of 10. This discrepancy on the data gathered could be attributed to the environment at which the experiment is conducted. Noise from the room and the adjacent rooms could have added to the sound measured.

If we try to plot the sound level measured against the frequency, we could get a frequency response that is similar to that of the A frequency weighted SLM. As shown in the figure below:

Based on the data gathered and the observation during the experiment, generally, low frequency signals tend to be louder than that of the high frequency signals. This observation is in line with the fact that the speaker used in the experiment is a large speaker and as what has been known, large speakers reproduce low frequency signals much easier than higher frequencies. As the frequency increases, the sound reproduced by the speaker is more and more difficult to hear. In conclusion, large speakers reproduce low frequency signals much easier than the rest of is frequency range. The frequency response will mimic the frequency response of the sound level meter used.