Voice Coil Magazine

Concise, timely and accurate, Voice Coil is your one-stop source to stay competitive in the loudspeaker industry! Every month, Voice Coil delivers loudspeaker professionals with the latest in technology and components. Vance Dickason and other industry experts provide a comprehensive collection of reviews on the loudspeaker products you use every day. Voice Coil, the periodical for the loudspeaker industry is free for those who qualify!

In this reference article, published by audioXpress in 2008, Joe D’Appolito shares his experiments with loudspeaker evaluation. In the two parts of this article, D’Appolito tries to answer the question: “Of all the measurements available to the designer, which ones are the best predictors of listener preference?" In over 30 years of designing loudspeakers, I have found the following measurements taken as a group provide the strongest predictor of loudspeaker preference available to us today,” he states.

The controversy over subjective versus objective loudspeaker evaluation has raged on for decades. However, to my mind, there is no controversy. These criteria are simply two faces of the same coin. In over 30 years of designing loudspeakers, I have found the following measurements taken as a group provide the strongest predictor of loudspeaker preference available to us today. Want to know more? Read this reference article, originally published in audioXpress, September 2008.

This Spotlight reference article details a simple and fast procedure for testing the diaphragm used in microspeakers, headphones, tweeters, and microphones. Meaningful information comparable to Stiffness KMS and Mechanical Resistance RMS of the Thiele-Small (T-S) parameters is the basis for tuning the production process and for communication between transducer manufacturers and soft parts suppliers. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, January 2016.

Audio Precision announced its new APx1701 Transducer Test Interface. The system integrates instrument-grade amplifiers and microphone power supplies for designers and production test engineers seeking clear insight into the behavior of their electro-acoustic devices. The new APx1701 raises the performance bar for electro-acoustic tests, introduces low-noise, low-distortion and flat-response accessory for loudspeaker, headphone and microphone measurements.

Recently, there has been increased demand for loudspeaker 3-D directivity measurements both in the near- and far-fields for different applications. New holographic near-field scanning techniques provide new ways to determine the sound pressure at any point in the 3-D sound field. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, May 2015.

In this article, the author addresses possible scenarios when measuring loudspeaker input impedance at drive levels closer to those used in actual operation, including problematic examples with vented loudspeaker enclosures and constant voltage distributed system transformers. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, February 2011.

Listen, Inc., has released SoundCheck 14. This new version of the company’s audio measurement software includes many features to simplify user setup, such as a redesigned setup wizard that guides you through the process of copying your settings and sequences to the new version. SoundCheck 14 is also the first software version available as a native 64-bit application for use on Mac OS X.

The question of phase response often arises when measuring loudspeaker systems. In this article, the author reviews setting the receive delay within a measurement system so that the displayed phase response is the “correct” one. This article was originally published in Voice Coil July 2011.

The specification of a loudspeaker’s sensitivity is probably one of the most common, yet perhaps one of the most misunderstood. In the past, and still today, it is common to see the magnitude response of a loudspeaker system reduced to a single number as a sensitivity rating. Article originally published by Voice Coil, April 2010.