Hi,

I notice some of the splits come with phase plug and some doesn't. What's the use of the phase plug?

Thanks

http://www.preference-audio.com/phaseplug.htm

That article gives a pretty clear explanation on how they work, without getting too technical.

Just because a set of splits has a woofer/mid that uses phase plug doesnt necessarily mean they'll sound better than another set that uses a conventional dustcap though. I dont believe that they're just marketing hype, but if the phase plug was poorly designed by the manufacturer, it would probably sound worse than if they used a standard dustcap.

i believe the phase plug stops the rear wave of the speaker from interfering with the front wave.
Normally used on speakers that can either be used as a coax, or as a set of components/splits. When the tweeter is removed to mount seperately, u put the phase plug on the woofer to stop the rear waves coming through.

Thanks for the website atmo. If it's really useful, why Boston Acoustic, or Diamond Audio don't have them? And how do they eliminate that "distortion" shown in the pics of the link?

some manufacturers don't use them cos they probably aren't cost effective. the benefit is unlikely to be audible so why bother? or at least that may be the rationale. the car environment is so harsh and horrible for accoustics that tiny things like that don't have any benefit. may be different in the home where everything can be set up perfectly with no ambient noise.

Not being rude but are you saying if a car speaker has a phase plug, it will do good but no harm?

A dustcap stops the rear wave from interfering with the front wave. (and also to stop dust from getting in the gap) In the cases where the phase plug is attached to the cone (it isn't always attached onto the cone, like those jaycar splits for example), then it would of course be a dust cap.

Now due to the short wave lengths of upper midrange frequencies, the shape of the cone and dustcap is very important in determining the upper midrange frequency response. In the case of car audio, phase plugs are usually used to give extended OFF AXIS response. Phase plugs are not really any more expensive than decent dustcaps, so when a manufacturer is designing a mid for serious off axis use (60-90 degrees), a phase plug may be a good design compromise.

The downside is, some mids with phase plugs can be quite peaky on axis.

I prefer to visualize it as on and off axis frequency response curves, rather than simply calling it distortion as per the article that atmo posted.

Bassaholic, are you a speaker designer?? :shock: :thumb: but it's too too too technical... :|

ok here are some stupid questions that bother me alot.

1. What is the difference between a midrange speaker and a woofer?

2. Is Midbass a kind of speaker or a kind of sound?

3. In a 2 way system, it come with tweeter and Midrange or Woofer?

4. What's is the difference between 3 way splits and component speakers?

Its this kind of basic knowledge I am lacking.. so please help me!!!

Thanks!

There is some overlap between the definitions, but,

A midrange is of course a driver that covers the midrange (300hz-4khz, perhaps a little more/less). A woofer is a driver that covers the bass - it is of course possible for a driver to cover the bass and the midrange. (sometimes called a mid-woofer etc) But it may be refered to just as a woofer or midrange depending on the context of the statement.

Midbass (in car audio) is typically refered to as around 80-300hz. (perhaps a little more/less) Sometimes people refer to the midbass driver simply as a "midbass".

In a 2 way system, it would come with a midrange and a tweeter - but commonly the midrange will be able to cover at least some of the bass range (so technically may be able to be called a woofer).

Component speakers usually just means a set of speakers made up from separate components - but often a "component set" may be the same thing as a "pair of splits".

Thanks for clearing things up!

So in a good audio setup, should it cover every area from 20Hz to 20KHz?