Hello.
Regarding audio and amplification; I have absolutely no handle at all on certain concepts that are further obfuscated by some of the marketing "tricks" employed by sales departments. So, with my sincere apologies to all audio buffs, but please help;
Similar threads, I wager, have probably been started before, but here goes anyway.
1. Speaker / amplifier wattage issues:
There's a lot of jargon (subs, tweeters, woofers, etc), which basically boils down to, far as I can see, the fact that each one of these speakers is actually a combination of two or more smaller speakers. I understand that the purpose of this is that one emits higher frequency sounds and the other lower frequency, and that there must be some filtering of the "composite speaker" input to ensure that each gets what it wants before emitting the sound. No problems understanding this so far, unless I have already strayed off track.
Each one of these sub-speakers will have its own specifications, and whether they are wired in series or parallel within the "speaker" as a whole;
a. How should I go about considering matching the speaker unit to an amplifier?
b. For example, if a channel of an amplifier is capable of "putting out" 20W, what constitutes a suitable speaker to go on that channel? With this question I am after, first, what single speaker with no frills would be within a suitable range, and second, what "combination speaker", considering the individual speakers of the unit, would be suitable? I do understand that this question may well be about impedance matching.
2. Pre-amplifier and circuits:
This is something that really gets me. Why do you need a pre-amplifier? Let me go really basic here, please (note, my example may be completely inappropriate).
a. Say I have a TEA2025 chip used bridged for mono, and I consider using an LM386 as a pre-amplifier for it. Say I am using this to amplify the sound from a crystal radio (I have already had success using just the TEA2025 for this purpose, but hesitate in using the LM386 for the aforementioned purpose as, honestly, I do not fully comprehend the concept). I feed the output of the 1W LM386 into the TEA2025, which can output 5W. What is the effect supposed to be, and why would I do this? Does it reduce distortion? Does it increase the peak volume, considering the same speaker?
b. Further on. Is there any specific method for matching a pre-amplifier to an amplifier? For the sake of the argument, I elect to use an LA4440 amplifier, and I consider using an LA3161 as the pre-amplifier. Apart from the fact that the source voltages are the same, is this a suitable combination? Why? How would I know what other amplifier I could use in connection with the LA3161, or any other pre-amplifier?
3. Tone control and equalization:
a. So, treble and bass controls, or even the older fashioned single "tone knob", are coarse versions of the equalizer, far as I can tell. They filter frequencies with various capacitors and resistors, then accentuate one over the other with a potentiometer (please correct me if I am wrong, even though I have already done an experiment that worked under this "assumption"). Also as far as I can tell, this should be done on the input side, before feeding the signal into an amplifier. Am I right, or is this open for debate?
b. There appear to be some dedicated ICs for equalization (LA3600, for example). So, it is the same question as 2b. How would I go about knowing what equalizer IC to use with a pre-amplifier / amplifier combination? When it comes to the equalizer chip, does this still go into circuit immediately after the raw input, ie; before the amplifier?
Perhaps too many questions for one thread, yes, and probably laughable, too, but I thought I would ask them all together to attack all the issues on one front. If the answer is to throw in my direction some PDF that goes into some detail on these subjects, then that would probably suffice.
Above all; Thank you!
Regarding audio and amplification; I have absolutely no handle at all on certain concepts that are further obfuscated by some of the marketing "tricks" employed by sales departments. So, with my sincere apologies to all audio buffs, but please help;
Similar threads, I wager, have probably been started before, but here goes anyway.
1. Speaker / amplifier wattage issues:
There's a lot of jargon (subs, tweeters, woofers, etc), which basically boils down to, far as I can see, the fact that each one of these speakers is actually a combination of two or more smaller speakers. I understand that the purpose of this is that one emits higher frequency sounds and the other lower frequency, and that there must be some filtering of the "composite speaker" input to ensure that each gets what it wants before emitting the sound. No problems understanding this so far, unless I have already strayed off track.
Each one of these sub-speakers will have its own specifications, and whether they are wired in series or parallel within the "speaker" as a whole;
a. How should I go about considering matching the speaker unit to an amplifier?
b. For example, if a channel of an amplifier is capable of "putting out" 20W, what constitutes a suitable speaker to go on that channel? With this question I am after, first, what single speaker with no frills would be within a suitable range, and second, what "combination speaker", considering the individual speakers of the unit, would be suitable? I do understand that this question may well be about impedance matching.
2. Pre-amplifier and circuits:
This is something that really gets me. Why do you need a pre-amplifier? Let me go really basic here, please (note, my example may be completely inappropriate).
a. Say I have a TEA2025 chip used bridged for mono, and I consider using an LM386 as a pre-amplifier for it. Say I am using this to amplify the sound from a crystal radio (I have already had success using just the TEA2025 for this purpose, but hesitate in using the LM386 for the aforementioned purpose as, honestly, I do not fully comprehend the concept). I feed the output of the 1W LM386 into the TEA2025, which can output 5W. What is the effect supposed to be, and why would I do this? Does it reduce distortion? Does it increase the peak volume, considering the same speaker?
b. Further on. Is there any specific method for matching a pre-amplifier to an amplifier? For the sake of the argument, I elect to use an LA4440 amplifier, and I consider using an LA3161 as the pre-amplifier. Apart from the fact that the source voltages are the same, is this a suitable combination? Why? How would I know what other amplifier I could use in connection with the LA3161, or any other pre-amplifier?
3. Tone control and equalization:
a. So, treble and bass controls, or even the older fashioned single "tone knob", are coarse versions of the equalizer, far as I can tell. They filter frequencies with various capacitors and resistors, then accentuate one over the other with a potentiometer (please correct me if I am wrong, even though I have already done an experiment that worked under this "assumption"). Also as far as I can tell, this should be done on the input side, before feeding the signal into an amplifier. Am I right, or is this open for debate?
b. There appear to be some dedicated ICs for equalization (LA3600, for example). So, it is the same question as 2b. How would I go about knowing what equalizer IC to use with a pre-amplifier / amplifier combination? When it comes to the equalizer chip, does this still go into circuit immediately after the raw input, ie; before the amplifier?
Perhaps too many questions for one thread, yes, and probably laughable, too, but I thought I would ask them all together to attack all the issues on one front. If the answer is to throw in my direction some PDF that goes into some detail on these subjects, then that would probably suffice.
Above all; Thank you!