Loudspeaker Testing

Loudspeakers and entertainment systems can be found just about everywhere: phones, cars, TVs, headphones, computers, toys, public announcement systems, and cinemas.

The end user has strong and clear ideas of the performance expected from a product, so it is crucial to transform these expectations into products that satisfy customers. Sound quality measurements help to ensure that customer preferences are met and provide a way to differentiate the product. However, sound quality is not the only parameter a manufacturer may want or need to evaluate:

• Target setting – Are response, distortion, impedance, sensitivity, directivity, and other values where they need to be?
• Acoustic material – How do lighter, more durable and less expensive materials affect the sound?
• Structure – How does a change in cabinet or component design affect the vibrational and acoustic properties of a speaker?
• Production – Can a manufacturer rely on pass/fail results and receive a quality product?

The number of tests involved in the verification of performance specifications and requirements can be overwhelming for an R&D engineer with a deadline and budget to meet. That is why in the industry, standardization, automation, data correlation and ease of use are such hot topics in R&D testing. Providing these features without compromising reliability and precision, means engineers can meet their targets quickly and efficiently.

For loudspeaker testing we recommend PULSE Loudspeaker Test Application BZ-5603. This software supports measurements on loudspeakers, using an instrumentation set-up that includes a turntable to automatically record the directional characteristics of the test object. This application automates measurements of frequency response, harmonic distortion, directional response and calculation of Thiele-Small parameters using the simple impedance, added volume, added mass or laser methods.