University of Houston College of Technology Computer Engineering Technology and Electrical Power Technology Freshman Laboratory

ELET 1401 Electrical Circuits II

Experiment 4
3-Way Speaker System

2011 University of Houston, College of Technology ELET Labs

Table of contents
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Purpose ...................................................................................................................... 3 Objectives ................................................................................................................ 3 Equipment ................................................................................................................. 3 Three-Way Crossover Speaker Systems .......................................................... 3 Pre-Lab ...................................................................................................................... 5 Procedure................................................................................................................. 11 Knowledge Evaluation ............................................................................................ 11 References ............................................................................................................. 12

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1 Purpose
This experiment is an introduction to the construction of a 3-way loudspeaker system.

2 Objectives 3 Equipment
For this experiment, you will need the following: Multi-meter Function Generator/Oscilloscope Soldering Gun/Solder Proto-board Resistors: 2, 3, 15, 22 (All 10W) Capacitors: 2.2uF, 33uF, 47uF (All Non-polarized Electrolytic and 50V or above) Inductors: 0.42mH, 0.68mH, (2) 3mH (Air core)

4 Three-Way Crossover Speaker Systems

People can hear sound frequencies from 20-20000Hz. Speakers are available from 20Hz to 40KHz but no speaker is capable of producing all frequencies in this range. Therefore, multiple speakers must be used. For low

frequencies, usually extending from 20 Hz to 300Hz, a speaker referred to as woofer is used; it is normally the largest in size. The mid-range speaker is typically smaller in size and covers ranges of 100 Hz to 5 KHz. The tweeter
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is the smallest in size among the three speakers and covers the high frequency range of 2 KHz to 25 KHz. There is an overlap of frequencies to ensure that frequencies are not lost in those regions where the response of one drops off and the other takes over. One popular method to connect the three speakers is the crossover configuration. A crossover circuit provides only a certain set of frequencies for each speaker: as the name implies, by crossing (blocking) out the nonrelevant frequencies. No crossover can completely block out all frequencies beyond the crossover point. Instead, it filters the frequencies in greater amounts as the frequency moves away from the crossover point. The basic components of crossovers are capacitors, inductors and resistors. Inductors become more reactive (increasing AC resistance) as the frequency increases, and thus decreasing the sound pressure on the driver as the frequency increases. Capacitors work in the opposite direction. When working with 3 or more speakers, at least one speaker must be bandpass. In our system, the mid-range will be band-pass. When wiring multiple speakers, you usually start with the largest speaker. A possible 3-way system block diagram is shown in Figure 1.
High Upper Crossover Filter Mid

Middle Crossover Filter

Low Lower Crossover Filter

Figure 1 Crossover system

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The 3-way crossover network is quite simple in design. It is easy to implement: low-pass R-L filter for the woofer, an R-L-C band-pass filter for the mid-range, and a high-pass R-C filter for the tweeter. Figure 2 shows a system that can be used commercially and is to be constructed as a part of this lab. Resistors R5, R6 and R7 are the loads representing respectively. the Tweeter, the Midrange and Woofer resistances

Figure 2 Crossover system to be constructed

5 Pre-Lab
Construct the circuit of figure 2 in Multisim. Use VAC for source V1 with AC Mag = 3.5355339059 (i.e 10Vp-p).

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Analyze the circuit by calculating the load voltages and currents at the 100 Hz, 1 KHz, 10 KHz and 30 KHz. Follow the steps shown below for each frequency 1. At 1 KHz: Tweeter: a) Find the equivalent resistance of the parallel combination of R2 and R5. Call this Z . Combine Z and R1 to get Z.
Z ' Z ' Z '' Z '' Z ''

b) Calculate the equivalent impedance of the combination of L1 and Z, Z.

Z ''' Z ''' Z ''' Z ''' Z ''' Z '''

c) Calculate the voltage across Z by using voltage divider method for Z and C1.

VZ ' ' ' VZ ' ' ' VZ ' ' ' VZ ' ' ' VZ ' ' ' VZ ' ' '
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d) Calculate the voltage across Z by using voltage divider method for Z and Z. This is the load voltage.

VZ ' VZ ' VZ ' VZ '

e) Calculate the load current by ohms law.
IL IL IL

2. At 1 KHz: Midrange: a) Find the equivalent impedance of the combination of L3 and R6. Call this Z. Combine Z and R3 to get Z.

Z ' Z ' Z ' Z ' Z '' Z '' Z '' Z '' Z '' Z ''

b) Calculate the equivalent impedance of the combination of R4 and Z. Combine this resulting impedance with L2 to get Z.

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R4 Z ' ' R4 Z ' ' R4 Z ' ' Z ''' Z ''' Z ''' Z ''' Z ''' Z ''' Z '''

c) Calculate the voltage across Z by using voltage divider method for Z and C2.

VZ ' ' ' Z ''' Z ''' VZ ' ' ' VZ ' ' ' VZ ' ' ' VZ ' ' ' VZ ' ' '
d) Calculate the voltage across Z by using voltage divider method for Z and R4.
VZ ' ' VZ ' ' VZ ' '

e) Calculate the load voltage by using voltage divider method for R6 and L3.

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VL VL VL VL

f) Calculate the load current using ohms law.

IL IL IL

3. At 1 KHz: Woofer: a) Find the equivalent impedance of the parallel combination of R7 and C3. Call this Z.
Z ' Z ' Z ' Z ' Z ' Z ' Z '

b) Calculate the load voltage using voltage divider method for Z and L4.

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VZ ' VZ ' VZ ' VZ ' VZ ' VZ ' VL

c) Calculate the load current by ohms law.
IL IL IL

5. Repeat steps 1 3 for all frequencies and complete the following table.
Frequency (Hz) 100 1000 10000 30000 Tweeter VL (p-p) IL (p-p) Midrange VL (p-p) IL (p-p) Woofer VL (p-p) IL (p-p)

Table 1 6. Perform a linear AC sweep from 20 Hz to 30 KHz and observe the load voltage and current for different frequencies for all the three sections and print the output. 7. This is the frequency response of the system. Note down your observations.

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6 Procedure
1. Construct the circuit of figure 2 using the high wattage components. 2. Connect the Woofer, the Midrange and the Tweeter. 3. Verify your circuit from the lab assistant. 4. Connect the radio output to the speaker as an input to your circuit and radio Ground to the circuit ground. 5. Turn on the radio and tune in to some station playing music. 6. You can now listen to some high quality music. 7. Use the oscilloscope to see the waveforms at the tweeter, midrange and the woofer inputs. 8. Increase/decrease the volume and observe the output. Right down your observations.

7 Knowledge Evaluation
1. What is the purpose of having different processing sections for different frequency bands? 2. Why do we need a 3-way speaker system?

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8 References
If you want to learn more about the topics related to this lab, see the following references: 1. R. L. Boylestad, Introductory Circuit Analysis. Prentice Hall, 2003. 2. N. P. Cook, Introductory DC/AC Circuits. Prentice Hall, 1999. 3. T. L. Floyd, Principles of Electric Circuits. Prentice Hall, 2003. 4. R. L. Boylestad, Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, Prentice Hall, 2002. 5. W. Tomasi, Electronic Communications Systems, Fourth Edition,

Prentice-Hall, 2001 6. http://www.csgnetwork.com/antennaevcalc.html

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