Updated February 28, Featured Video. Cite this Article Format. Bellis, Mary. History of the Loudspeaker. Important Innovations and Inventions, Past and Present. Thomas Edison's Greatest Inventions.
History's 15 Most Popular Inventors. Who Invented the Acoustic and Electric Guitars? October Calendar of Famous Inventions and Birthdays.
Elisha Gray and the Race to Patent the Telephone. Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for ThoughtCo. At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page. These choices will be signaled globally to our partners and will not affect browsing data. The Magnavox system was publicly unveiled at San Francisco City Hall on December 24, , with , people turning up to listen to the broadcasting of Christmas music and speeches.
In the years that followed, Jensen and Pridham continued developing PA systems, one of which was used by US President Woodrow Wilson to address a 75,strong crowd in San Diego — the first time a President used such a system to address the public.
Another key PA system pioneer was the British telecommunications company Marconi. The PA system underwent rapid redevelopment during World War Two, due to an increased expectation for more efficient methods of amplified communication. Amplifiers became so big that they used radio transmitter valves to feed output into loudspeakers. However, commercial PA systems were yet to catch on. Suddenly, musicians were performing live using W valve PA amplifiers, pushing PA systems into distortion to achieve the sound they wanted.
In preparation for this unique event, four Altec amplifiers, each giving W of sound, were distributed around the stadium. At the time, such levels of power output were virtually unheard of for a live concert.
A little over a year later, the Fab Four had ceased from touring, so in many ways this concert can be viewed as a live music disaster. However, if nothing else, it was a catalyst for change. If bands were going to play live shows, they needed a bigger sound to literally and figuratively stand out from the crowd and make their gigs a memorable experience. Alexander Graham Bell Alexander Graham Bell patented his first electric loudspeaker capable of reproducing intelligible speech as part of his telephone in , which was followed in by an improved version from Ernst Siemens.
A loudspeaker is an electroacoustic transducer;[1] a device which converts an electrical audio signal into a corresponding sound. The sound source e. The dynamic speaker was invented in by Edward W. Kellogg and Chester W.
The dynamic speaker operates on the same basic principle as a dynamic microphone, but in reverse, to produce sound from an electrical signal. When an alternating current electrical audio signal is applied to its voice coil, a coil of wire suspended in a circular gap between the poles of a permanent magnet, the coil is forced to move rapidly back and forth due to Faraday's law of induction, which causes a diaphragm usually conically shaped attached to the coil to move back and forth, pushing on the air to create sound waves.
Besides this most common method, there are several alternative technologies that can be used to convert an electrical signal into sound. Speakers are typically housed in a speaker enclosure or speaker cabinet which is often a rectangular square box made of several forms of wood, or sometimes plastic.
The enclosure's materials and design play an important role in the quality of the sound. The enclosure generally must be as stiff and non-resonant as practically possible. According to Anchor Radio , the first PA system was invented in And the first time the general public saw a PA system being used is when a California governor at that time had to deliver a speech to the people, but he was too sick to deliver this speech in person.
Fast forward, many years later, the PA system is not just used for speech delivery. Now, PA speakers are used in music concerts, conferences, churches, and any place where loud audio is required.
The main components that make up a PA system are PA speakers, a power amplifier, and a mixer. Also, there are two main types of PA speakers — passive speakers and active speakers. The main difference between the two is, you need a power amplifier to drive passive speakers.
On the other hand, there is an amplifier built into active speakers. So there will be no need for an external power amplifier if you are using active speakers. And then, there are portable PA speakers. These are modern active speakers that are easy to carry along.
Usually, portable speakers will have a built-in mixer. This means on some of these speakers, you can directly plug in a microphone or a USB stick for audio playback. You may also have a basic mixer function such as EQ or, simply, a bass boost knob.
I think by now you should understand what PA speakers and what they are for. But what exactly is High Fidelity? High Fidelity refers to the reproduction of audio with little to no noise and distortion and is as close as possible to the original audio. So essentially, HiFi speakers are speakers designed to reproduce audio with little to no noise or distortion and also made to reproduce the sound as close to the original as possible.
In , a violinist called Avery Fisher envisioned a radio that can playback an orchestra recording as if you were in the orchestra room. To achieve this, he began experimenting with different speaker casings to give him that realistic original sound. There have been major improvements since the first HiFi speaker was made, and now we have incredible sounding HiFi speakers available.
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