P

PASSIVE RADIATOR

A loudspeaker component that looks like a woofer but isn't, for it has neither voice coil nor magnet. Like a tuned port, a passive radiator is part of a secondary sound producing system used either to improve efficiency or to widen bandwidth by utilizing the real woofer's back wave.

A passive radiator may be loaded with more mass than can be obtained in a tuned port of standard size, so it may be the solution in a particularly small cabinet. A sales advantage of the passive radiator is that it often makes the buyer think he is getting a large woofer when he isn't.

PHASE or PHASING

Sometimes called polarity, when it refers to the plus/minus of interconnections. In a more general sense, it refers to the timing of a waveform. Particularly important in stereo. Two speakers connected to the amplifier out of phase so that one is pushing (waveform is increasing) while the other is pulling (waveform is decreasing) will usually sound flat. Misphasing can cancel out most of the bass, particularly if the speakers are close together. Speaker hook-up wire is generally color-coded or otherwise coded so that both speakers can be grounded to the negative output connection of the amp, putting them "in phase".

PHASE is also important in each individual speaker system. Suppose you have a woofer

and tweeter producing the same sound simultaneously. The timing or phasing of the sounds will be influenced by cross-over design, mass, , impedance etc.

In the more general meaning of phase, one complete cycle of a sound wave can be considered to be 360 degrees of phase. 180 degrees is one half way through the sound cycle, etc. As frequency rises, inductance alone can cause phase shifts of as much as 90 degrees. At the cross-over point phase shifts as great as 120 degrees are not uncommon. For this reason, crossovers are sometimes wired 180 degrees out of phase (by reversing wires) for a net reduction in mis-phasing or mis-timing.

Another interesting area of phase change is around woofer resonance. Right at resonance there is generally minimum phase shift, but phase does shift dramatically just above and just below resonance.

In a speaker with high Q, phase shift around resonance will be greater. There is some dispute and discussion as to whether one can actually hear this phase shift. Since variations in frequency response are often associated with variations in phase response, it's difficult to know which one is being heard. It's generally accepted that drastic shifts in phase are audible as distortion. To put it differently, it's desirable to have a system in which phase shifts only gradually with change in frequency response

POLARITY

A special case of phasing (either 0 or 180 degrees, plus or minus).If you touch a battery's terminals to those of a woofer, the woofer will move in one direction, either in or out. The convention is that if the woofer cone moves out, the positive terminal of the battery is touching the positive terminal of the woofer. In this case the polarity is positive. If the battery's terminals were reversed, the woofer cone would move in, representing negative polarity , or a reversal of polarity.

PRO LOGIC

Produced by DOLBY Labs for home theater systems, using four amplifier channels for Left, Right, Center and Rear (Ambient) speakers.

S

SATELLITES

Very small speaker enclosures with only a tweeter or a mid-range and a tweeter. These are designed for high frequencies only and are usually combined with a bass unit, sub-woofer or other main speakers.

Satellites can be used as main speakers, when combined with a sub-woofer or bass unit or as rear channel speakers.

(See HOME THEATER)

SOFT DOME TWEETER

A dome tweeter made out of relatively soft material, which allows radiation from only a portion of the dome (mostly adjacent to the bond to the voice coil)

(See DOME TWEETER.)

SPEAKER CONTROLS

Some loudspeakers have controls which allow the owner to modify their sound. Usually there's a knob to change tweeter response, and in three-way or four-way systems, a knob or knobs to change the intensity of midrange response.

The purpose of these controls is to permit the speakers to be "tuned" to the room in which they will perform and/or to the ear of the listener. Some individuals spend a great deal on speakers then fail to get maximum performance from them by neglecting to find the optimum settings for controls (a process which may take quite a bit of time and