The Main Issue With Planar Magnetic Loudspeakers, And How You Can Repair It
Planar Magnetic Loudspeakers and Ribbon Tweeters
Planar magnetic drivers and ribbon tweeters have many advantages over traditional dynamic speakers. Their large diaphragms need only just a tiny amount of movement (excursion), allowing them to create the same sound as a conventional speaker.
They also have dipolar radiation patterns, meaning they radiate equally in front and behind the speaker.
High-Resolution Sound
Planar and ribbon magnetic speakers are famous for their ability to produce precise, detailed sound. They are known for their high-resolution and reveal subtle nuance in music that other drivers can't reproduce or show.
Ribbon and planar drivers are not only accurate, but also offer superior soundstages, which allows them to reproduce a large soundstage with exceptional clarity. This makes them a fantastic option for audiophiles and home audiophiles who want to listen to music to the highest level possible.
A key feature of ribbon and planar drivers is their dipole radiation pattern, which radiates equal energy front and rear with inverted phase to create an incredibly spacious and natural soundstage. Their wide dispersion and dipole radiation pattern makes them ideal for large spaces, where they can create a natural and spacious soundstage.
Planar magnetic drivers also have a rapid response time, which allows them to reproduce transients with greater accuracy and speed than conventional cone drivers. This results in a crisp and detailed sound even at higher frequencies.
Planar magnetic drivers are also known for their low distortion. This is because they do not use an actual voice coil, but rather an electrostatic field. This allows the diaphragms move without causing vibrations which could cause unwanted distortion.
In addition, the distance between the magnets in a planar driver is much bigger than the gap in a conventional cone speaker. This provides a higher bass performance and a greater frequency response even at low intensities.
Although many of the advantages of planar magnetic drivers are appealing however, they have some limitations that need to be thought about. They can be expensive and require more power when compared to other types of speakers. Also, they can be large and difficult to fit into certain spaces. Finally, they can be sensitive to the acoustics of the room and require a lot of room treatment to achieve optimal performance. There are ways to minimize the issues. For instance, you can add an attenuation resistance (provided with speakers) and place it in the attenuation settings. You can also apply a variety of room treatments.
Wide Dispersion
Similar to electrostatic speakers, planar magnetic speakers produce sound by regulating the electrical charge that travels through wires suspended between magnetic. However have a peek at this website than an electrostatic charge which gives them a larger surface area and greater accuracy. This operational principle also allows them to be built them into smaller, less expensive headphones and speakers than electrostatic models.
In addition to offering wide dispersion, planar drivers deliver superior imaging and clarity of soundstage, particularly in the higher frequencies where they excel. This is a great benefit for audiophiles who love watching movies or music on a large screen or in an open space.
Additionally they can also produce deep bass since they can be augmented with boxed woofers which are attached to or separate from the diaphragm that resembles a ribbon. This is in contrast to traditional cone-type speakers that feature woofers that are located at the bottom, which cannot reproduce bass frequencies due to the physical limitations of woofer enclosures.
A planar driver has a low distortion rate, which is directly correlated to the dimensions and travel of the diaphragm. As a result, the planar speaker can deliver an extremely high volume of sound with very little distortion, which is the reason it can produce such clear and detailed sound.
Dynamic drivers in standard speakers and headphone typically exhibit significant distortion when driven to their extreme excursion limits. Dynamic drivers can create an unnatural or booming sound.
In addition, planar magnetic drives are also extremely efficient. They require less power to drive, which results in a lower power consumption and a less environmental impact. Their diaphragms, which are typically lighter than conventional speakers, also decrease the energy required to propel them to produce a specific sound pressure.
Many audiophiles have heard of speakers made of ribbon and planar such as those manufactured by Magnepan Infinity and Apogee Acoustics. However, an entirely new brand is on the market. New planar loudspeakers by manufacturers such as Clarisys Audio and Diptyque, for instance, feature the latest advancements in ribbon technology.
Low Distortion
Planar magnetic speakers have very low distortion due to the fact that they don't utilize the traditional dome-shaped diaphragm or cone. This is due to their unique design which eliminates the voice coil inductance which is common to dynamic driver drivers for speakers. (See U.S. patent 6,353,560). This guarantees that the diaphragm is always in phase with the magnetic field that surrounds it, resulting in a constant output. Most often, distortion occurs when high-amplitude waveforms are reproduced. With a single-ended planar magnetic driver, distortion is virtually nonexistent in all frequencies that go beyond the bass.
In addition to their extremely low distortion they also offer extremely high efficiency. This enables the drive to operate with a lesser amount of power than is normally required for other speakers. This in turn translates to lower operating costs and lower energy consumption.
Planar magnetic drivers also have a significantly lower distortion compared to conventional dynamic speakers and even less than electrostatic speakers. This is due to the fact that the planar magnet driver's flat diaphragm has a conductor trace that lets it react to magnetic fields created on either side.
The two magnets need to be placed with care to ensure that the voice element is properly located within the magnetic field at all times. This is what enables the extremely linear performance of planar magnetic drivers at all frequencies that go beyond the bass.
Planar magnetic drivers come with a myriad of other advantages, but the most important is that they can be constructed as either dipoles (radiating in opposite directions and equally behind and in front of the speaker similar to an ESL), or monopoles (radiating in the direction of forward, more like traditional dynamic speakers). This allows for a wide variety of potential designs, especially when combined with the ribbon tweeter.
There are many planar magnetic loudspeakers on the market today, from brands such as Hifiman Dan Clark Audeze and Fostex. Each company has a signature sound that results from their patented driver designs and other engineering innovations. These speakers are distinguished by their amazing clarity and their dynamic, as well as controlled directionality.
High Power Handling
Planar magnetic speakers can handle a lot more power than traditional dynamic moving coil drivers without the audible strain and stress that they may cause. The "voice coil" is not squeezed into the narrow gap between the cones and baskets as in traditional dynamic drivers. Instead, it is spread across an area larger. This gives the voice coil an increased surface area to dissipate heat efficiently.
Another reason that planar drivers are able to handle so much power is because they have such a low mass as compared to conventional drivers. Dynamic drivers are made of diaphragms that are heavy and thick. They are a tenth of a pound heavier and thicker than the ultra-light diaphragms used in planar magnetic drive. Due to their massive mass, these conventional diaphragms require a much larger amount of force to move back and forth (a measure referred to as excursion) to create a given level of sound pressure.
They can't be driven nearly as effectively as a planar magnet driver, because the voice coil can begin to produce significant distortion. This is why it's crucial to buy only speakers that are rated for the type of amplifier you're planning to drive them with.
A planar magnetic driver's high excursion enables it to create more soundstages than conventional drivers. This is because the entire diaphragm vibrates to create an even, flat wavefront rather than the more focused spherical wavefront that is common in conventional drivers. The wider soundstage also improves the clarity and accuracy of the speakers, allowing them to better reproduce nuances and more complex sounds.
The disadvantage of the superior power handling provided by planar magnetic drives is that they tend to be more costly to produce and require stronger amplifiers to run them to their maximum capacity. They can be large and heavy, which makes it difficult to install in certain areas. They also have a lower bass response, so you may need to add a subwoofer your system to achieve satisfying results at lower frequencies.