| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Passive Crossover | Uses inductors (coils) and capacitors to direct proper frequencies to appropriate drivers. These crossover systems can be simple (First Order = 1 component @ -6 dB/octave slope) to complex (Fourth Order = 4 components @ -24 dB/octave slope). |
| Passive Radiator | A device that looks just like an ordinary driver, except it has no magnet or voice coil. A passive radiator is usually a highly compliant device, with a similar cone material and surround found on regular active drivers. The radiator must usually be at least as large... Read More |
| PCM | Pulse Code Modulation. A means of digital encoding. |
| Pe | Driver's rated RMS power handling capability. |
| Peak | The maximum amplitude of a voltage or current. |
| Phase Coherence | The relationship and timing of sounds that come from different drivers (subs, mids, tweets) mounted in different locations. |
| Phase Distortion | A type of audible distortion caused by time delay between various parts of the signal. |
| Planar Source | Most electrostatics and magnetic planars have a large surface area. Think of a wide board dropped flat onto the water surface. The sound can be extremely coherent, but the listening window is effectively limited to being directly on-axis of both the left and right... Read More |
| Point-Source | Most multi-unit loudspeakers try to approximate a point-source. Think of a pebble dropped into the water and the expanding wave pattern away from impact. Obviously, it is difficult to integrate multiple point-sources into a truly coherent expanding wave. The best designs... Read More |
| Polarity | A speaker, for example, has a positive and a negative input terminal. Connecting a battery directly to the speaker will result in the diaphragm moving outward. If you reverse the battery leads, the diaphragm will move inward. Caution: Too high of a voltage battery will also... Read More |
| Pre-amplifier | Or Pre-amp is a device that takes a source signal, such as from a turntable, tape deck or CD player, and passes this signal on to a power-amplifier(s). The pre-amp may have a number of controls such as source selector switches, balance, volume and possibly tone controls. |
| Push-Pull | Most common type of amplification that amplifies the negative and positive sides of the waveform separately. Allows for much higher power output than single-ended. |
| Push-Pull Configuration | One driver is mounted normally, the second is mounted so that it faces into the enclosure, both sharing the same internal volume and wired out of phase with one another. Although electrically out of phase with one another, the drivers are acoustically in phase since they... Read More |
