Optimally sensitive and efficient compact loudspeakers for low audio frequencies

Conventionally, the ultimate goal in loudspeaker design has been to obtain a flat frequency response over a specified frequency range. This can be achieved by carefully selecting the main loudspeaker parameters such as the enclosure volume, the cone diameter, the moving mass and the very crucial "force factor". For loudspeakers in small cabinets the results of this design procedure appear to be quite inefficient, especially at low frequencies. This paper describes a new solution to this problem. It consists of the combination of a highly non-linear preprocessing of the audio signal and the use of a so called low-force-factor loudspeaker. This combination yields a strongly increased efficiency, at least over a limited frequency range, at the cost of a somewhat altered sound quality. An analytically tractable optimality criterion has been defined and has been verified by the design of an experimental loudspeaker. This has a much higher efficiency and a higher sensitivity than current low frequency loudspeakers, while its cabinet can be much smaller.