This is a very basic tutorial in sound system components for the layperson. It is here just to insure an understanding of the terms and concepts discussed in other parts of the website. It is not a complete explanation of sound system design and is intentionally brief and simple.
| To make things louder using electricity, we must first change the sound energy into electrical impulses. This is the job of the microphone. The mixing board takes these little impulses from several sources and adjusts their relative strength and tonal qualities to produce the "mix." Every sound system and listening space has unique tonal character. In order to make the listening experience pleasant, some tonal ranges, or frequencies, need to be reduced, while others might need to be raised. An equalizer does this. |  |
| The signal from the eq (or whatever the source) needs
to be split into different frequency ranges. This is
because the various sized drivers can only produce a
limited range of frequencies. Small drivers are good at
the highs, big drivers at the lows. This example only
deals with splitting the signal two ways, but larger
systems increase their fidelity and efficiency by
splitting the signal into as many as five frequency
"bands." The split signal then continues to the amplifiers, where the signal gains power (a little electrical impulse becomes a very big one,) so that the drivers can move quickly back and forth and push a lot of air around, making sound. Your basic home stereo speaker splits the highs and lows after the amplifier, an inexpensive short-cut which is wasteful of amplifier power. In this way, small sounds in front of microphones become very big sounds coming out of speakers. |
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