Planar Magnetic Loudspeakers and Ribbon Tweeters

Planar magnetic drivers and ribbon tweeters provide many advantages over traditional dynamic speakers. Their comparatively large diaphragms require very little movement (excursion) to reproduce the same volume as a traditional 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

They are known for their precise, clear sound effects. They are renowned for their ability to produce high-resolution and reveal subtle nuances in the music that other drivers cannot reproduce or reveal.

In addition to their incredible precision, ribbon and planar drivers have superior soundstages which allows them to recreate an expansive soundstage with exceptional clarity. This makes them a fantastic choice for audiophiles and home theater enthusiasts who want to enjoy their music to the fullest extent possible.

Planar and ribbon drivers can be distinguished by their dipole pattern. This pattern emits equal amounts of energy in the front and back, with an inverted phase that creates an organic soundstage. This, combined with their wide dispersion, makes them suitable for large rooms, where they can fill the room with a broad and natural soundstage, without causing unnatural reflections off walls and furniture.

Planar magnetic planar speakers drivers also have a fast response time, which enables them to reproduce transients with greater precision and speed than conventional cone drivers. This results in a clear and detailed sound even at higher frequencies.

Another benefit of planar magnetic drivers is their low distortion. This is because they don't use a voice-coil, but an electrostatic field. This allows the diaphragms move without causing vibrations that can cause unwanted distortion.

In addition, the distance between the magnets in the planar driver is bigger than the gap in a conventional cone speaker. This results in a better bass performance and a greater frequency response even at low levels of amplitude.

While the benefits of planar magnetic drivers are appealing, they do have some limitations that should be taken into consideration. They can be expensive and require more power compared to other kinds of speakers. They can also be large and difficult to fit into some rooms. Furthermore, they can be sensitive to room acoustics and require extensive room treatment to ensure the best performance. There are ways to minimize the problems. For instance you can add an attenuation resistance (provided with speakers) and put it in the attenuation settings. Or, you can use a variety of room treatment.

Wide Dispersion

Planar magnetic speakers also generate sound by regulating electrical currents that pass through wires that are suspended between magnets. However they directly vibrate a flat diaphragm, rather than an electrostatic charge which allows for planar Magnetic loudspeakers a much larger surface area and greater accuracy. This principle of operation also allows them to be built them into smaller, less expensive headphones and speakers compared to electrostatic models.

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

Planar drivers can also provide a very deep bass, as they can be augmented by boxed subwoofers that are that are attached to or separate from the membrane that resembles a ribbon. This is contrary to conventional cone-type speaker woofers that are usually placed at the bottom of the cabinet, a position that cannot reproduce bass frequencies due to the physical limitations of the enclosure for the woofer.

Another advantage of the planar driver is that it has extremely low distortion that is directly related to the size and length of the diaphragm that resembles a ribbon. A planar speaker can create a large volume of sound with no distortion. This is the reason why the sound reproduction is so clear and detailed.

In comparison the dynamic drivers utilized in standard headphones and speakers typically exhibit significant amounts of distortion when they are driven to extreme excursion limits. Dynamic drivers can create an enveloping sound or a boomy sound.

Finally, planar magnetic drivers are also extremely efficient. They require less power to drive, which results in a lower power consumption and less environmental impact. Their diaphragms that are generally lighter than conventional speakers, also decrease the energy required to propel them to produce a certain sound pressure.

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

Low Distortion

Planar magnetic speakers exhibit extremely low distortion due to the fact that they don't utilize the traditional cone or dome-shaped diaphragm. This is due to their unique design that eliminates the voice coil inductance which is common to dynamic driver drivers for speakers. (See U.S. patent 6,353,560). This assures that the diaphragm never out of phase with the magnetic field around it, which results in it has a constant output. In general, distortion only occurs when large amplitude waveforms are reproduced. With a planar magnetic single-ended driver, distortion is virtually nonexistent at all frequencies above bass.

In addition to their extremely low distortion and low distortion, planar magnetic loudspeakers provide extremely high efficiency. This enables the drive to operate with a lesser amount of power than is normally required by other types of speakers. This results in lower costs of ownership and reduced energy consumption.

The distortion of planar magnetic drivers is significantly lower than traditional dynamic speakers, and even more than electrostatic speakers. This is due to the fact that the flat diaphragm is equipped with a conductor trace that allows it react to magnetic fields created on either side.

These two magnets must be carefully positioned to ensure that the voice element is optimally located within the magnetic field at all times. This is the reason for the extremely linear performance of planar magnetic drivers in all frequencies above the bass.

Planar magnetic drivers have many other advantages however the most significant is that they can be built 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 forward direction, more like traditional dynamic speakers). This permits a wide range of designs, especially when used with using a ribbon-tweeter.

There are a myriad of planar magnetic loudspeakers (learn more about www.cheaperseeker.com) that are available in the present, from companies such as Hifiman Dan Clark Audeze and Fostex. Each company has their own signature sound, which is a result of their proprietary design of drivers as well as other engineering breakthroughs. These speakers are characterized by their incredible detail 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 baskets and cones like in traditional dynamic drivers. Instead it is spread out over a larger area. This gives the voice coil more surface area to absorb any heat.

Planar drivers can handle such a large amount of power because they are so light compared to conventional drivers. Dynamic drivers employ diaphragms made of heavy, thick material that are a tenth of a pound larger and thicker than diaphragms made of ultra-light and thin materials employed in planar magnetic drivers. Because of their mass, conventional diaphragms require a greater amount of force to move forward and backwards (a measurement referred to as excursion) to produce a certain level of sound pressure.

As a result, they can't be driven as hard as a planar magnetic driver can because the voice coil could begin to generate substantial amounts of distortion. It is therefore essential to purchase loudspeakers rated for the amplifier you plan to use.

The high excursion allows it to produce a wider soundstage than conventional drivers. This is due to the diaphragm's vibration uniformly and flat to form a wavefront, rather than the spherical wavefront typical of conventional drivers. This larger soundstage also increases the precision and clarity of the speakers which allows them to better reproduce subtle nuances and complex sounds.

The downside to the superior power handling capabilities of planar magnetic drivers is that they are often more expensive to produce and require stronger amplifiers to be driven at full capacity. They can be huge and heavy, making it difficult to install in certain areas. They also tend to have a lower bass response, meaning that you may need to add a subwoofer to your system in order to achieve satisfying results at lower frequencies.