>> I was thinking more that being heavy allows the speakers to generate 
>> low frequencies more easily. (Otherwise the driver might end up just 
>> wiggling the cone one way and the casing the other way, and not 
>> producing much sound.)
> 
> Yes, the cabinet should be as stiff as possible (unless you have 
> designed some uber leet flexible cabinet that does very clever stuff).  
> But the weight you are feeling is probably just the magnet and coil 
> inside the speaker driver.  Do the speakers also contain a PSU and amp?  
> That would also add significantly to the weight of PC speakers.

No. The speakers are USB-powered, so no transformer.

(In fact, the device you plug into the USB port is actually an external 
sound card with built-in amplifier, and the [detechable] speakers 
themselves are passive.)

The speaker housings appear to be metal, which is unusual. (Mind you, 
they claim to be magnetically shielded...)

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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On Tue, 01 Apr 2008 13:43:22 +0100, Invisible <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:

>>> The sound seems to drop off very rapidly with 
>>> distance - an effect my 8-inch Warfdales don't seem to have.
>> 
>> You have to take into account the power output of the amplifier (PC or
>> stereo) and the sensitivity of the speakers. Google it. 
>
>I think you'll find that "sensitivity" is a measure of how much sonic 
>power a speaker generates for a given amount of electrical power. It has 
>nothing to do with distance dissapation...
>

Like most things yes and no :) True "sensitivity" is a measure of how
much sonic power a speaker generates for a given amount of electrical
power but loudness is directly related to acoustic power. Therefore
the higher the sensitivity the more and thus louder the volume from
the speaker. Also below about 10 KHz the lower the frequency the less
loud it will sound to our ears. It then reverses for about 500Hz drops
off to about 12 KHz then increases again. So for the same power bass
notes will not seem to travel as far as higher ones. So why do
foghorns use low frequency? I hear you ask. Well that is because low
frequency are audible to human ears farther than higher pitched sounds
they just require more power to produce them. Confused yet? It gets
worse when you consider feedback from the inside part of the speaker.
We would ideally like an infinite baffle but that is very unlikely in
real life never mind a laptop.

>>> I notice that these speaker units are *very* heavy for such tiny 
>>> objects. Is this significant?
>> 
>> Yes the density of the speaker enclosures enhances the baffling in
>> modern designs.
>
>I was thinking more that being heavy allows the speakers to generate low 
>frequencies more easily. (Otherwise the driver might end up just 
>wiggling the cone one way and the casing the other way, and not 
>producing much sound.)

In a good speaker design the cone is quite well isolated from the
case. It is the internal pressure that is the problem. And Yes the
heaver the box the better it sounds.
The same goes for speaker stands.
-- 

Regards
     Stephen

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> That would be the iPhone's job http://tinyurl.com/2r7phs

What the...

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> The speaker housings appear to be metal, which is unusual. (Mind you, 
> they claim to be magnetically shielded...)

So if you put a floppy disk in front of the speaker, it won't get 
affected? Cool :)

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And lo on Tue, 01 Apr 2008 16:57:14 +0100, Nicolas Alvarez  
<nic### [at] gmailisthebestcom> did spake, saying:


>> That would be the iPhone's job http://tinyurl.com/2r7phs
>
> What the...

Hey that's Andrew's line :-P

Compared to some of the tabloids the Daily Mash is the only one to make  
any sense

http://tinyurl.com/2t2bpa is topical for here :-P
and
http://tinyurl.com/34pcor just sums up our financial regulators.

-- 
Phil Cook

--
I once tried to be apathetic, but I just couldn't be bothered
http://flipc.blogspot.com

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Nicolas Alvarez wrote:

>> The speaker housings appear to be metal, which is unusual. (Mind you,
>> they claim to be magnetically shielded...)
> 
> So if you put a floppy disk in front of the speaker, it won't get
> affected? Cool :)
What's a floppy disc? :-)

John

-- 
I will be brief but not nearly so brief as Salvador Dali, who gave the
world's shortest speech. He said, "I will be so brief I am already
finished," then he sat down.

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Invisible wrote:
> 
> (In fact, the device you plug into the USB port is actually an external 
> sound card with built-in amplifier, and the [detechable] speakers 
> themselves are passive.)
> 

I'm just curious: do they tell any power figures? x watts?

-- 
Eero "Aero" Ahonen
    http://www.zbxt.net
       aer### [at] removethiszbxtnetinvalid

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On Tue, 01 Apr 2008 22:17:58 +0300, Eero Ahonen
<aer### [at] removethiszbxtnetinvalid> wrote:

>Invisible wrote:
>> 
>> (In fact, the device you plug into the USB port is actually an external 
>> sound card with built-in amplifier, and the [detechable] speakers 
>> themselves are passive.)
>> 
>
>I'm just curious: do they tell any power figures? x watts?

You forgot to mention RMS or peak to peak watts.
-- 

Regards
     Stephen

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Phil Cook wrote:

> Compared to some of the tabloids the Daily Mash is the only one to make 
> any sense
> 
> http://tinyurl.com/2t2bpa is topical for here :-P

...what the...? o_O

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Eero Ahonen wrote:
> Invisible wrote:
>>
>> (In fact, the device you plug into the USB port is actually an 
>> external sound card with built-in amplifier, and the [detechable] 
>> speakers themselves are passive.)
>>
> 
> I'm just curious: do they tell any power figures? x watts?

1.0 W (RMS) per speaker.

According to the spec sheet.

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