Notes

What Freud Can Teach Us About Planar Magnetic Loudspeakers
Planar Magnetic Loudspeakers and Ribbon Tweeters

Planar magnetic drivers and ribbon tweeters provide a number of advantages over traditional dynamic speakers. Their large diaphragms require only just a tiny amount of movement (excursion) and allow them to create the same sound quality as traditional speakers.

They also have a dipolar radiation pattern which means they radiate equally to the front and back of the speaker.

High-Resolution Sound

Ribbon and planar magnetic speakers are known for their ability to create precise, clear sound. They are known for delivering high-resolution, revealing subtle variations in music that other drivers aren't able to reproduce or even reveal.

Ribbon and planar drivers are not only accurate, but also offer superior soundstages that allow them to reproduce a large soundstage with exceptional clarity. Audiophiles as well as home theater enthusiasts and audiophiles will find them to be a great option.


One of the most important characteristics of planar and ribbon drivers is their dipole radiation pattern which emits equal energy both front and rear with inverted phase to create an authentic and spacious soundstage. Their wide dispersion and dipole radiation pattern makes them ideal for large spaces, where they can create an open and natural soundstage.

Planar magnetic drivers also have a quick response time, which helps to reproduce transients with more precision and speed than traditional cone drivers. This results in a clear and precise sound, even at extremely high frequencies.

Planar magnetic drivers are also recognized for their low distortion. This is because they do not employ the voice coil, but rather an electrostatic field. This allows the diaphragm to move, without creating vibrations that could cause unwanted distortion.

Additionally, the distance between the magnets in the planar driver is larger than in a traditional cone speaker. This allows for a better bass performance and a greater frequency response at low amplitudes.

Although many of the advantages of planar magnetic drivers are appealing, they do have some limitations that need to be considered. They can be expensive and require more power to other types of speakers. Also, they can be heavy and difficult to install in some spaces. Additionally, they are sensitive to the acoustics of the room and require a lot of room treatment to ensure optimal performance. There are methods to reduce the issues. For example you can add an attenuation resistance (provided by speakers) and place it in the attenuation mode. You can also use a variety of room treatment.

Wide Dispersion

Planar magnetic speakers also generate sound by controlling electrical currents that pass through wires that are suspended between magnets. They vibrate a flat surface directly, rather than using an electrostatic charge. This results in a larger surface area and better precision. This operation principle allows them to be built them into smaller, more affordable speakers and headphones than electrostatic models.

In addition to providing a large dispersion, they also offer superior imaging and clarity of soundstage, especially in the higher frequencies where they excel. This is a huge benefit for audiophiles who love listening to their favourite music or films in the living room of a large size or any other open space.

Furthermore the planar drivers are capable of producing very deep bass as they can be augmented with boxed woofers that are connected to or separate from the ribbon-like diaphragm. This is contrary to conventional cone-type speaker woofers, which are typically placed at the bottom of the cabinet, a location that is not able to reproduce bass frequencies because of the physical constraints of the enclosure that houses the woofer.

Another benefit of the planar driver is its exceptionally low distortion which is directly linked to the size and the excursion of the diaphragm, which is shaped like a ribbon. In the end, a planar speaker can produce an extremely high volume of sound with very little distortion, which is the reason it produces such crisp and precise reproduction.

Dynamic drivers in conventional speakers and headphone typically exhibit significant distortion when driven to their highest limit of excursion. This is why dynamic drivers often create a booming or hollow sound.

Planar magnetic drivers are extremely efficient. They consume less energy to drive, which results in lower energy consumption and a less negative impact on the environment. Their diaphragms that are generally smaller than traditional speakers, also decrease the energy required to propel them to produce a certain sound pressure.

Many audiophiles are familiar with planar/ribbon loudspeakers - especially those produced by Magnepan, Infinity, and Apogee Acoustics - a new generation of brands are making their debut. New planar loudspeakers by manufacturers like Clarisys Audio and Diptyque, for example, incorporate the latest advancements in ribbon technology.

Low Distortion

Planar magnetic speakers have extremely low distortion due to the fact that they don't employ the traditional cone or dome-shaped diaphragm. This is the direct result of their unique design, which eliminates the voice coil inductance that is associated with conventional dynamic speaker drivers (see U.S. Patent 6,353,560). This ensures that the diaphragm is always in phase with the magnetic field surrounding it, which results in an output that is constant. In general, distortion only occurs when high-amplitude waveforms are reproduced. With a single-ended planar magnetic driver, distortion is virtually absent in all frequencies that go beyond the bass.

In addition to their low distortion and low distortion, planar magnetic loudspeakers provide very high efficiency. This enables the drive to be used with a lesser amount of power than is typically required by other types of speakers. This in turn translates to lower costs of ownership and lower energy consumption.

Planar magnetic drivers also have significantly lower distortion compared to conventional dynamic speakers and even less than electrostatic speakers. This is because a planar magnet driver's flat diaphragm has an electrical conductor trace that lets it react to magnetic fields created on either side.

These two magnets must be placed with care to ensure that the voice element is properly located within the magnetic field at all times. This is what allows magnetic drivers with planar design to operate at a very linear level at all frequencies above bass.

Planar magnetic drivers have many other advantages they offer, but the main advantage is that they can be built as either dipoles (radiating in opposite directions and equally in front and behind the speaker like an ESL), or Monopoles (radiating in the forward direction similar to traditional dynamic speakers). This opens the door for many different possible designs, especially when coupled with a ribbon tweeter.

There are many planar magnetic loudspeakers that are available today, from manufacturers such as Hifiman Dan Clark Audeze and Fostex. Each company has a signature sound, which is a result of their proprietary driver designs as well as other engineering breakthroughs. The commonality among these speakers is their amazing clarity, dynamics, and their controlled directivity.

High Power Handling

Planar magnetic speakers can handle a lot more power than traditional dynamic moving coil drivers without the tension and strain they may cause. The "voice coil" is not squeezed into the tiny space between the baskets and cones as in traditional dynamic drivers. Instead, it is spread across an area larger. This gives the voice coil more surface area to absorb any heat.

Planar drivers can handle such a large amount of power because they are light in comparison to conventional drivers. Dynamic drivers have diaphragms that are heavy and thick. They are several orders of magnitude thicker and heavier than the ultra-light diaphragms found in planar magnetic drives. Because of planar earphones , these diaphragms require a greater amount of force to move between them (a measure called excursion) to produce an equal amount of sound pressure.

As a result they aren't able to be driven as effectively as the planar magnetic driver because the voice coil could begin to produce large amounts of distortion. This is why it's important to only purchase loudspeakers that are designed for the type of amplifier that you intend to drive them with.

The high frequency of an acoustic driver enables it to create a larger soundstage than traditional drivers. This is because the entire diaphragm vibrates to create an even, flat wavefront rather than the more centered spherical wavefront found in traditional drivers. The wider soundstage improves the accuracy and details of the speakers and allows them to reproduce subtle nuances as well as more complex sounds.

The disadvantage of the superior power handling that is offered by planar magnetic drives is that they can be more expensive to produce and require more powerful amplifiers to run them at their full potential. They can be massive and heavy which can make it difficult to install them in certain environments. It is also possible to install a separate subwoofer in order to get satisfactory results at lower frequencies.

Homepage: https://www.headphonesshop.uk/categories/planar-magnetic-headphones