Glossary Of Audio Terms - MartinLogan EM-ESL User Manual

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AC. Abbreviation for alternating current.
Active crossover. Uses active devices
(transistors, IC's, tubes) and some form of power
supply to operate.
Amplitude. The extreme range of a signal.
Usually measured from the average to the extreme.
Arc. The visible sparks generated by an electrical
discharge.
Bass. The lowest frequencies of sound.
Bi-Amplification. Uses an electronic crossover,
or line-level passive crossover, and separate
power amplifiers for the high and low frequency
loudspeaker drivers.
Capacitance. That property of a capacitor
which determines how much charge can be stored
in it for a given potential difference between its
terminals, measured in farads, by the ratio of the
charge stored to the potential difference.
Capacitor. A device consisting of two or more
conducting plates separated from one another
by an insulating material and used for storing an
electrical charge. Sometimes called a condenser.
Clipping. Distortion of a signal by its being
chopped off. An overload problem caused by
pushing an amplifier beyond its capabilities. The flat-
topped signal has high levels of harmonic distortion
which creates heat in a loudspeaker and is the major
cause of loudspeaker component failure.
CLS. The abbreviation for curvilinear line ESL.
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Crossover. An electrical circuit that divides a full
bandwidth signal into the desired frequency bands
for the loudspeaker components.
dB (decibel). A numerical expression of the
relative loudness of a sound. The difference in
decibels between two sounds is ten times the Base
10 logarithm of the ratio of their power levels.
DC. Abbreviation for direct current.
Diffraction. The breaking up of a sound wave
caused by some type of mechanical interference
such as a cabinet edge, grill frame or other similar
object.
Diaphragm. A thin flexible membrane or cone
that vibrates in response to electrical signals to
produce sound waves.
Distortion. Usually referred to in terms of total
harmonic distortion (THD) which is the percentage
of unwanted harmonics of the drive signal present
with the wanted signal. Generally used to mean
any unwanted change introduced by the device
under question.
Driver. See transducer.
Dynamic Range. The range between the
quietest and the loudest sounds a device can
handle (often quoted in dB).
efficiency. The acoustic power delivered for
a given electrical input. Often expressed as
decibels/watt/meter (dB/w/m).
eSL. The abbreviation for electrostatic loudspeaker.
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