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Superglossary - Home audio Category: Technical and IT > Home audio equipment Date & country: 09/12/2013, USA Words: 524

Ribbon Driver
The ribbon tweeter driver is a very thin corrugated aluminum 'voice coil' hanging freely like a stre

Ringing
The tendency for any vibrating surface to continue to produce the same frequency. This is limited by

Ripple (Amplifier)
A train of pulses that occurs when AC is changed to DC via a rectifier. These pulses are left on the

Ripple (Speaker)
The maximum deviation from flat response, measured in decibels-it indicates the port's effect on woo

Roll Off
A graduated reduction in the strength of audio output above and below certain specified frequencies.

Room Response
The effectiveness of any speaker system is a function of the room or environment in which it is play

Root Mean Squared (RMS)
A term used to indicate the average level of power that a receiver or amplifier can sustain over a g

Rotary Volume
An analog or linear volume control operated with a knob to raise and lower the volume, as opposed to

Run-Length Encoding
See Non-Lossy Compression.

Satellite Radio
Digital radio transmission system that utilizes satellites in space to broadcast directly to ground

Satellite Speaker
A small speaker with limited bass response that's often designed to be used with a matching subwoofe

Scan Tuning
In FM receivers, Preset Scan automatically plays a brief sample of what's on each of the preset stat

Screw Type (Terminal)
The most secure method of interconnecting the wire from the amplifier to a speaker. In its best real

Sealed (Enclosure)
Sometimes known as an Acoustic suspension type, the sealed enclosure is a simple design in which eac

Second-Order
The frequency attenuation that occurs at a rate of 12 db per octave.

Selectivity
Tuner specification which defines the tuner's ability to reject adjacent station interference.

Sensitivity (Efficiency)
The rating of a loudspeaker that indicates the level of a sound intensity that the speaker produces

Separates
A typical separates system includes a separate woofer, tweeter, and external Crossover, all of which

Short Circuit
The condition that occurs when a circuit path is created between the positive and negative poles of

Shuffle Play
A feature which employs random selection from available tracks.

Sibilance
High frequency complex sounds in speech, such as 'S', 'F' & 'T'.

Signal Processors
Electronic devices which alter sound either to achieve a particular effect or to solve a problem wit

Signal To Noise Ratio
A measurement of noise level in a device compared to the level of the signal. Higher numbers signify

Silk Dome (Tweeters)
Dome tweeters in which the dome is composed of a treated soft silk like material. This is a design t

Slew Rate
Slew rate measures the ability of a piece of audio equipment to accurately reproduce fast changes in

Slope
The rate of change that a frequency response curve displays, normally stated in db per Octave. Among

Sound
A type of physical kinetic energy called acoustical energy that falls within the portion of the spec

Sound Discriminator
A device designed to evaluate, and discriminate between the sounds that may be heard within the inte

Sound Field
The totality of the sound presented by the audio system. This includes the sound as it was recorded,

Sound Power
The total amount of acoustical energy produced by a sound source and measured in Joules per second.

Sound Pressure Level (SPL)
An acoustic measurement of sound energy. 1 db SPL is the smallest increment in sound level to which

Sound Shaping
A sophisticated cicuit that defines the parameters of the sonic experience with a blending of direct

Sound Waves
Fluctuating waves of barometric pressure that travel through a physical medium such as air. An acous

Soundstage
The position (front/back and high/low) that music or sound appears to be originating from, as well a

Soundstaging
A stereo or home theater system's ability to present music, dialogue, and other sounds as taking pla

Source Impedance
A parameter of an audio component referring to the output impedance. A low output impedence .5 to 4

Spade Connector
Spade connectors are compatible with most binding post terminals. A spade fits around the terminal's

Spider
The rear suspension element on the cone of a loudspeaker. All the moving parts of the speaker are su

Spring Clip Terminals
Are usually found on lower-priced speakers, and low- to medium-priced receivers. They work best with

Stamped (Basket)
The frame of a loudspeaker which has been stamp pressed to achieve its shape. It is used as a base t

Standing Wave
A phenomenon where a sound is reflected between two parallel surfaces, such that certain sounds are

Streaming
A technique for transferring data such that it can be processed as a steady and continuous stream. S

Stroke
The distance that the speaker cone or voice coil can travel in both directions.

Studio Monitors
Speakers used in recording studios for playback and mixing of source recordings. While these are com

Subwoofer
A speaker specially designed to reproduce a range of very low frequencies only (the bass). The typic

Subwoofer Preamp Outputs
Individual number of RCA outputs that are coupled with a built-in low-pass crossover for connection

Super Audio Compact Disc (SACD)
SACD is one of two main emerging new standards for high-resolution audio on compact discs. The other

Super Tweeter
A Driver constructed to reproduce the highest possible frequencies from roughly 13 khz to 25 khz. Wh

Supraaural
Term used in reference to headphones. Supraaural phones rest on the ear, rather than enclosing the e

Surface (Mounting)
A method of mounting speakers in which the external parts of the upper speaker protrude above the su

Surround
The surround is the flexible ring around the edge of the speaker cone. In conjunction with the inner

Surround Speakers
In a home theater system, the speakers located beside or behind the listening/viewing position. Thes

Sweet Spot
The so-called 'best' listening position in which the sound field is overlapped by the most direct ra

Tape Equalization
In tape decks, the best equalization response must be selected according to the type of tape

Terminal Cup
A plastic cabinet part that contains the terminal connectors that permits the wire from the amplifie

Terminals
You probably don't think about the connectors on the back of your speakers until you go to hook them

Theile-Small Parameters
The work of Neville Theile and Richard Small is considered to have the most impact on the loudspeake

Three-Way
Three-way or triaxial speakers take the separate woofer and tweeter from a two-way design and add a

THX
THX is a set of standards, components and systems are designed to meet in order to comply with the r

Timbre
Pronounced 'tam-burr.' The quality of a sound related to its harmonic structure. Timbre is what give

TOC (Table Of Contents)
The digital subcode information that identifies a disc, indicates the number of tracks, the starting

Toroidal Coil
An inductor or transformer whose core consists of a concentrically wound ribbon of magnetic material

Total Harmonic Distortion (THD)
Total harmonic distortion is a measure of the how much a given audio device may distort a signal thr

Trace
The path of conductive material, usually copper, that conveys voltage or current from one point to a

Transducer
Synonym for Driver, speaker, or any electrical device that converts one type of energy into another.

Transformer
An electrical inductive device that can be used to provide circuitry isolation, signal coupling, imp

Transient
A short-lived aspect of a signal, such as the attack and decay of musical tones. A speaker that can

Transients
A non-repeating sound (such as percussion in music) or an abrupt change of voltage. How a speaker ha

Transistor
An active (commonly three terminal) solid-state device in which a larger output current is obtained

Travel Presets Or Tuning Memory
With this feature the receiver automatically loads it's presets with the strongest available signals

Tremolo
1. A fluctuation of amplitude applied to a sound of constant frequency. Often incorrectly used, as i

Tube (Enclosure)
A type of woofer enclosure consisting of a long tube with a woofer at one end, and a port or Passive

Tunable (Port)
A port tube that can be adjusted in length to provide for optimizing, experimentally, the measured l

Tuned (Port)
A port opening, radiator, or tube whose size is precisely specified by the overall design of the enc

Tweeter
Highs are reproduced by the tweeter, a small speaker mounted inside the woofer cones of multidriver

Two Ohm Stable
An X-ohm stable amplifier is an amp which is able to continuously power a load of X ohms per channel

Two-Way
Music's high frequencies are reproduced accurately by two-way, or coaxial, designs. These speakers u

Ultrasonic
Having frequencies above the range of human hearing, commonly considered to be 20 khz. Not to be con

Unfused Wire
Any section of wire between the power supply and a load that does not include the protection of a fu

Unison
In music, unison is used to describe an identity of pitch. When two or more tones are sounding at th

Unity Gain
A device or setting which does not change signal level, neither amplifying nor attenuating the signa

Unloading
The tendency of an enclosure to produce no spring or pressure on the woofer. Unloading produces an u

Used Equipment
Purchasing used equipment must be done with great care, especially in the case of speakers. An inspe

Variable Lp-Hp Filter
Crossover components which provide adjustable cut-off frequencies, and levels.

Vas
Volume Acoustic Suspension. A volume of air in an enclosure that has the same resistance characteris

Vas-Compliance
A measurement in liters or cubic feet of the volume of air that is equal to the compliance of the sp

Vca (Voltage Controlled Amplifier)
An amplifier whose output is controlled by varying its voltage rather than by direct resistance (as

Vcf (Voltage Controlled Filter)
An audio filter whose effective frequency band is controlled by varying its voltage rather than with

Vco (Voltage Controlled Oscillator)
An oscillator whose frequency output is controlled by varying its voltage rather than with a potenti

Vented (Enclosure)
A type of speaker system also known as Tuned, Tuned Port, Ported, or Bass Reflex. They are basically

Vibrato
Expressive effect which producers a fluctuation of pitch. A rapid, slight variation in pitch in sing

Video Shielding
A way of containing a speaker's magnetic energy inside its enclosure. This is usually achieved by pl

Voice Coil
The cylindrical coil of wire that moves in the magnetic field of a dynamic driver. The voice coil is

Voice Coil
The voice coil is the coil of wire fixed to a cylinder at the apex of the loudspeaker cone that inte

Voice-Matching
When speakers possess a similar timbre or tonal quality. Voice-matched (or timbre-matched) speakers

Voltage
Voltage is an electrical charge, or potential difference, between two points, one being of higher re

Voltage Drop
The amount of energy consumed when a device offers resistance in its circuit. The voltage (E) set up

Volume
Volume is obviously the most common word used to specify the control of relative loudness of sounds.

Vom
Volt-Ohm-Meter, sometimes called a Volt-Ohm-Milliammeter. A multimeter that measures voltage, ohms,

Watt
A unit of power. Named after James Watt for his contributions to the development of the steam engine