Planar Magnetic Loudspeakers and Ribbon Tweeters

Planar magnetic drivers as well as ribbon tweeters and other dynamic speakers offer many advantages. Their large diaphragms need only the slightest amount of movement (excursion), allowing them to create the same sound quality as traditional speakers.

They also have a dipolar radiation pattern, meaning they radiate equally to the front and back of the speaker.

High-Resolution Sound

They are known for producing precise, detailed sound effects. They are known for their high-resolution sound that reveals subtle nuances in music that other drivers aren't able to reproduce or reveal.

The planar and ribbon drivers are not only accurate, they also have SIVGA SV021: Superior Closed Back Wooden Over-Ear Headphones soundstages, which allows them to reproduce a large soundstage with incredible clarity. This makes them an excellent choice for audiophiles as well as home theatre enthusiasts who want to listen to music to the fullest extent possible.

A key feature of ribbon and planar drivers is their dipole radiation pattern, that emits equal energy front and back, inverted phase to create an incredibly spacious and natural soundstage. This, combined with their large dispersion makes them ideal for large rooms, as they can fill the room with a wide and natural soundstage, Headphones Shop while avoiding unwanted reflections off walls and furniture.

Planar magnetic drivers also have a quick response time, which enables them reproduce transients with more precision and speed than conventional cone drivers. This results in a clear and clear sound even at very high frequencies.

Another benefit of planar magnetic drivers is their low distortion. This is due to the fact that they do not use the voice coil, but instead an electrostatic field. This allows the diaphragms to move without causing vibrations which could cause unwanted distortion.

In addition, the distance between the magnets in the planar driver is larger than that of a traditional cone speaker. This results in a better bass and a better frequency response at low levels of amplitude.

Despite their many benefits, planar magnetic drivers have some limitations to consider. They can be costly and require more power to other kinds of speakers. They can also be large and difficult to install in some spaces. They are also sensitive to the acoustics of the room and require extensive treatment of the room to ensure optimal performance. There are ways to minimize the effects. For instance, you can add an attenuation resistance (provided by speakers) and place it in the attenuation setting. You can also apply a variety of room treatment.

Wide Dispersion

Planar magnetic speakers also create sound by controlling electrical currents that travel through wires suspended in between magnets. They vibrate a flat surface directly, not using an electrostatic charge. This results in greater surface area and greater precision. This principle of operation also makes it possible to build them into smaller, less expensive Headphones Shop and speakers than electrostatic models.

In addition to providing wide dispersion, planar drivers offer superior imaging and clarity of soundstage, especially in the higher frequencies where they excel. This is a huge advantage for audiophiles who love listening to their favorite movies or music in a large living room or other open space.

Planar drivers can also produce an extremely deep bass because they can be enhanced with boxed subwoofers attached to or separated from the ribbon-like membrane. This is contrary to conventional cone-type speaker woofers, which are typically placed at the bottom of the cabinet, which is a place which is unable to reproduce bass frequencies due to the physical limitations of the enclosure that houses the woofer.

Another benefit of a closed-back planar magnetic headphones driver is its extremely low distortion, which is directly related to the size and length of the diaphragm, which is shaped like a ribbon. This means that the planar speaker can deliver a huge volume of sound with very little distortion, which is the reason it gives such a clear and detailed reproduction.

Dynamic drivers found in conventional speakers and headphone typically exhibit significant distortion when driven to their extreme limit of excursion. In the end, dynamic drivers typically produce a boomy or hollow sound.

Planar magnetic drivers are extremely efficient. They require less energy to drive, Headphones shop which results in lower power consumption and environmental impact. Their diaphragms that are generally lighter than conventional speakers, also decrease the amount of 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 available. For instance, new planar loudspeakers from manufacturers like Diptyque and Clarisys Audio are incorporating the most recent advancements in ribbon technology.

Low Distortion

Planar magnetic speakers exhibit extremely low distortion due to the fact that they don't utilize a traditional cone or dome-shaped diaphragm. This is the direct result of their unique design which eliminates the voice coil inductance commonly associated with conventional dynamic speaker drivers (see U.S. Patent 6,353,560). This guarantees that the diaphragm is not out of phase with the magnetic field surrounding it, resulting in an output that is constant. In general, distortion only occurs when waveforms with large amplitudes are reproduced. With a planar magnetic single-ended driver, distortion is nearly impossible at all frequencies that are above the bass.

In addition to their low distortion, planar magnetic loudspeakers offer very high efficiency. This allows the drive to be used with much less power than would otherwise be required for other speaker technologies. This results in lower cost of ownership and reduced energy consumption.

The distortion of planar magnetic drivers is also significantly less than that of traditional dynamic speakers, and more than electrostatic speakers. This is because the diaphragm, which is flat, of a planar magnetic driver has conductor trace which allows it to respond to the magnetic fields generated by the magnets that are on the opposite side of it.

The two magnets have to be placed with care to ensure that the voice element is properly positioned within the magnetic field at all times. This is what allows magnetic drivers that are planar to function at a very linear level across all frequencies higher than bass.

Planar magnetic drivers come with a myriad of other advantages they offer, but the main advantage is that they can be designed as dipoles (radiating in opposite directions and equally behind and in front of the speaker similar to an ESL), or Monopoles (radiating in the forward direction similar to traditional dynamic speakers). This permits a wide range of designs, particularly when combined using a ribbon-tweeter.

There are a variety of planar magnetic loudspeakers on the market in the present, from companies like Hifiman Dan Clark Audeze and Fostex. Each manufacturer has their own unique sound that is a result of their unique driver configurations as well as other innovations in engineering. The commonality of these speakers is their astonishing detail, dynamics and a controlled directionality.

High Power Handling

Planar magnetic speakers can handle more power than traditional dynamic moving coil drivers, without the audible strain and stress that they can cause. This is due to the fact that the "voice coil" is distributed over a large area instead of being squeezed into a small gap between the cone and basket like in traditional dynamic drivers. This gives the voice coil more surface area to absorb any heat.

Planar drivers can handle a lot of power because they are so lightweight compared to conventional drivers. Dynamic drivers have diaphragms with heavy, thick diaphragms that are a tenth of a pound heavier and thicker than the ultra-light diaphragms that are found in planar magnetic drives. Due to their high mass, conventional diaphragms require more force in order to move forwards and backwards (a measurement known as excursion) to create the required sound pressure.

Therefore, they can't be driven by the same force as the planar magnetic driver because the voice coil will begin to produce significant amounts of distortion. This is why it's crucial to purchase only loudspeakers that are designed for the amplifier you're planning to drive them with.

The high excursion of a planar magnetic driver also allows it to create a larger soundstage than conventional drivers. This is because the entire diaphragm vibrates to create a flat, even wavefront instead of the more focused spherical wavefront that is common in conventional drivers. The wider soundstage improves the precision and detail of the speakers and allows them to reproduce subtle nuances and complex sounds.

The downside of the superior power handling provided by planar magnetic drives is that they tend to be more expensive to produce and require stronger amplifiers to operate at their full capacity. They can also be large and heavy and can be difficult to install in certain environments. They also have a lower bass response, meaning that you may have to add a subwoofer your system to get a satisfying result at lower frequencies.