Full-range speaker

A full-range loudspeaker drive unit is defined as a driver which reproduces as much of the audible frequency range as possible, within the limitations imposed by the physical constraints of a specific design.

Typically, a full-range drive unit consists of a single driver element, or voice coil, used to move and control a diaphragm.

For example, a small low-mass horn or whizzer cone can be mounted where the voice coil and diaphragm meet, thereby increasing the output at high frequencies.

Advanced technologies such as neodymium magnets, voice coil cooling systems, and wave guides further enhance the speakers’ capabilities, ensuring accurate sound reproduction and minimizing distortion.

[citation needed] In some designs, the main diaphragm may be coupled to the voice coil using a compliant bond such that high frequency vibrations are not transmitted into it, but instead move the whizzer cone.

Slits in the paper area of the cone, covered with silicone damping, together with internal foam pads provided mechanisms for tailoring the frequency response to be as flat as possible.

Full-range drive units may be found in applications ranging from inexpensive multimedia loudspeakers to more costly esoteric systems, the latter often using large transmission line or horn loaded enclosures to increase low frequency output.

Several manufacturers build small (typically 115 mm (4.5")) diameter full-range drivers into miniature enclosures, and many of these include 25 or 70-volt line transformers, for use on commercial sound systems employing long speaker cables.

Partisans of full-range loudspeakers claim superior phase coherence, while some critics describe them as midrange speakers working at or beyond their limits.

Also, as most adults cannot hear above 15 kHz the lack of high end frequency is generally not an issue with modern well designed full range drivers.