Planar Magnetic Loudspeakers and Ribbon Tweeters

Planar magnetic drivers as well as ribbon tweeters and other dynamic speakers offer many advantages. Their comparatively large diaphragms require very little movement (excursion) to reproduce the same volume as a conventional driver, resulting in very low distortion.

They also have dipolar radiation patterns meaning they radiate equally in front and behind the speaker.

High-Resolution Sound

Ribbon and planar magnetic speakers are known for their ability to create accurate, detailed sound. They are known for delivering high-quality sound, and revealing subtle nuances in music that other drivers fail to reproduce or even reveal.

In addition to their impressive accuracy In addition to their impressive accuracy, ribbon and planar drivers have superior soundstages, allowing them to reproduce an expansive soundstage with outstanding clarity. This makes them a great choice for audiophiles as well as home theatre enthusiasts who want to listen to music to the maximum extent possible.

Planar and ribbon drivers are distinguished by their dipole pattern. This pattern radiates equal amounts of energy in front and back with an inverted phase, creating an authentic soundstage. This, along with their wide dispersion, makes them ideal for large rooms, where they can fill the room with a wide and natural soundstage without producing unnatural reflections off the walls and furniture.

Planar magnetic drivers have a quick response time that allows them to reproduce transients with greater accuracy and quickly than cone drivers. This results in a crisp and clear sound, planar Magnetic Loudspeakers even at higher frequencies.

Planar magnetic drivers are well-known for their low distortion. It is because they don't use a voice-coil, but an electrostatic field. This allows the diaphragms to move without causing vibrations that can cause unwanted distortion.

A planar driver also has a much larger gap between the magnets than cone speakers. This allows for a higher frequency response and lower distortion at lower amplitudes, planar magnetic loudspeakers and still provides excellent bass performance.

Despite their many advantages, planar magnetic drivers do have some limitations to take into consideration. They can be expensive and require more power to other kinds of speakers. They can also be heavy and make difficult to fit into certain areas. Furthermore, they can be sensitive to the sound of the room and require extensive room treatments to ensure the best performance. However, there are solutions to minimize these problems by incorporating an attenuation resistor (provided with your speakers) in the attenuation position, or by performing some type of room treatment.

Wide Dispersion

Like electrostatic speakers, planar magnetic speakers produce sound by controlling the electrical current passing through wires suspended between magnetic. They vibrate a flat surface directly, rather than using an electrostatic charge. This gives them an increased surface area and more precise. This is why they can be incorporated into smaller and more affordable headsets and speakers as opposed to electrostatic models.

In addition to offering large dispersion, they also deliver superior imaging and clarity of soundstage, particularly in the higher frequencies where they excel. This is a huge benefit for audiophiles who enjoy listening to their movies or music in an expansive living room or any other open space.

Planar drivers also can produce a very deep bass, because they can be enhanced by boxed subwoofers that are that are attached to or separate from the membrane-like ribbon. This is in contrast to traditional cone speaker woofers which are typically placed in the bottom of the cabinet, a location which is unable to reproduce bass frequencies because of the physical constraints of the woofer enclosure.

Another benefit of the planar driver is its exceptionally low distortion which is directly linked to the size and excursion of the diaphragm, which is shaped like a ribbon. A planar speaker can produce a huge volume of sound with no distortion. This is the reason why the sound reproduction is so clear and detailed.

Dynamic drivers in standard headphones and speakers typically show significant distortion when they are driven to their maximum limit of excursion. In the end, dynamic drivers typically create a booming or hollow sound.

Planar magnetic drivers are extremely efficient. They require less power to drive, resulting in a lower power consumption and a less environmental impact. Furthermore, their diaphragms typically composed of lighter materials than conventional speakers, which further decreases the amount of energy required to propel them to produce a given sound pressure.

While many audiophiles are familiar with planar/ribbon loudspeakers - particularly those produced by Magnepan, Infinity, and Apogee Acoustics - a new generation of brands are coming onto the market. New planar loudspeakers from manufacturers like Clarisys Audio and Diptyque, for example, incorporate the latest advances in ribbon technology.

Low Distortion

Planar magnetic speakers have extremely low distortion because they don't use the conventional cone or dome-shaped diaphragm. This is due to their unique design, which eliminates the voice coil inductance which is associated with dynamic speaker drivers. (See U.S. patent 6,353,560). This assures that the diaphragm never out of phase with the magnetic field around it, and thus it has a constant output. Distortion is usually only present when large waveforms are reproduced. With a single-ended planar magnetic driver, distortion is virtually absent in all frequencies above the bass.

Planar magnetic loudspeakers are very efficient and have a very low distortion. This lets the drive use much less energy than other technologies for speakers. This results in lower operating costs and reduced energy consumption.

Planar magnetic drivers also have significantly lower distortion compared to conventional dynamic speakers and even less than electrostatic speakers. This is because the diaphragm, which is flat, of the planar magnetic driver is equipped with a conductor trace on it which allows it to respond to magnetic fields created by the magnets that are on the opposite side of it.

The two magnets have to be carefully positioned so that the voice element stays in the magnetic field at optimum levels throughout the time. This is what allows planar magnetic drivers to perform in a linear manner at all frequencies above bass.

Planar magnetic drivers have many other advantages they offer, but the main advantage is that they can be constructed as dipoles (radiating in opposite phases and equally in front and behind the speaker similar to an ESL) or Monopoles (radiating in the direction of travel similar to traditional dynamic speakers). This allows for a variety of designs, especially when paired with using a ribbon-tweeter.

A variety of planar magnetic loudspeakers can be found today from brands such as Hifiman, Dan Clark, Audeze, and Fostex. Each brand has their own unique sound that is a result of their patented driver configurations as well as other innovations in engineering. These speakers are distinguished by their stunning clarity, dynamic, and controlled directionality.

High Power Handling

Planar magnetic speakers can handle a lot more power than traditional dynamic moving coil drivers, without the tension and strain they may cause. This is because the "voice coil" is spread across an extensive area instead of being squeezed into a narrow gap between the cone and the basket as in traditional dynamic drivers. This gives the voice coil a larger surface to dissipate any heat.

Another reason that planar drivers are able to handle so much power is due to having such a low mass compared to conventional drivers. Dynamic drivers are made of diaphragms that are heavy and thick. They are several orders of magnitude heavier and thicker than the ultra-light diaphragms used in the planar magnetic drive. Due to their massive mass, these conventional diaphragms need a larger amount of force to move between them (a measure called excursion) to produce a given level of sound pressure.

They aren't able to be driven nearly as effectively as a planar magnet driver, since the voice coil will begin to produce significant distortion. This is the reason it's essential to only purchase loudspeakers that are designed for the type of amplifier you're planning to drive them with.

The high frequency of an acoustic driver also allows it to create a larger soundstage than traditional drivers. This is due to the diaphragm's vibration evenly and flat to create an asymmetrical wavefront, not the spherical wavefront typical with traditional drivers. This larger soundstage also increases the precision and clarity of the speakers, allowing them to reproduce more subtle variations and more complex sounds.

The disadvantage of the superior power handling offered by planar magnetic drives is that they tend to be more expensive to produce and require more powerful amplifiers to drive them at their full potential. They can be large and heavy which can make it difficult to install them in certain environments. You may also need to add a subwoofer to achieve satisfactory results at lower frequencies.