ABSTRACT
This study shows that the voltage/current phase shifts in reactive loudspeaker loads increases the peak power dissipation in a cycle, using sine wave test signals of varying frequency. Otala shows that the use of multi-way loudspeakers, and more complex electrical models, allows many more degrees of freedom in maximising the peak current. The vital features of the provocative waveform are the fast transitions and their asymmetrical timing, the latter varying with speaker parameters. The waveform illustrates ramped transitions lasting 10 µs; as the transitions are made slower the peak currents are reduced. Measurements on the load will never show an impedance below 6.8 Ω at any frequency. This makes it easy to assume that the current demands can never exceed those of a 6.8 Ω resistance. To get unexpectedly high currents moving, make use of the energy storage in the circuit reactances, by applying an asymmetrical waveform with transitions carefully matched to the speaker resonance.
