Since no one speaker design can reproduce the entire frequency
range, different speakers handle different portions of the sound. The
woofer, tweeter and sometimes the midrange speaker are used in a
speaker system, each handling a different range of frequencies. Click
the ‘Original Sound‘ play button below to start.
The tweeter uses a lighter and smaller design than a woofer; often a
convex dome (1 inch or less in diameter). This allows the speaker to
move quickly to create higher frequency sounds. In this case, only
sounds above 6000Hz are being played by the tweeter.
Midrange speaker have a diameter from 3 to 5 inches, to reproduce
higher-bass and lower-treble frequencies. In this case, between 1000
and 6000Hz, making up the difference between the woofer and
tweeter. Some speaker systems have woofers and tweeters with
wider frequency response and therefore don't have this speaker.
A woofer is designed to move the large volume of air necessary to
reproduce low frequencies. The cone is large (usually in a range from
8 to 12 inches) and/or able to make large movements. This bulk
prevents the speaker from adequately reproducing higher
frequencies. This speaker is only playing sounds below 1000Hz.
This is the original sound, with all frequencies intact. To see a demonstration of how multi-driver speaker systems work, click the
‘Speaker System Sound‘ play button to the right.
This demonstration mirrors how a multi-driver speaker system
works, with 3 speakers. Right now you are hearing all three speakers
play at the same time to reproduce the original sound exactly. Click
on the different speakers to toggle their sound on or off and hear
what each speaker contributes to the final sound.