A loudspeaker, speaker, or speaker system is an electroacoustical transducer that converts an electrical signal to sound. The term loudspeaker can refer to individual transducers (known as drivers), or to complete systems consisting of a enclosure incorporating one or more drivers and electrical filter components. Loudspeakers, just as with other electroacoustic transducers, are the most variable elements in an audio system and are responsible for the greatest degree of audible differences between sound systems.

To adequately reproduce a wide range of frequencies, most loudspeaker systems require more than one driver, particularly for high sound pressure level or high accuracy. Individual drivers are used to reproduce different frequency ranges. The drivers are named subwoofers (very low frequencies), woofers (low frequencies), mid-range speakers (middle frequencies), tweeters (high frequencies) and sometimes supertweeters optimized for the highest audible frequencies.

The terms for different speaker drivers differ depending on the application. In 2-way loudspeakers, there is no "mid-range" driver, so the task of reproducing the midrange sounds falls upon the woofer and tweeter. Home stereos use the designation "tweeter" for high frequencies whereas professional audio systems for concerts may designate high frequency drivers as "HF" or "highs" or "horns".

When multiple drivers are used in a system, a "filter network", called a crossover, separates the incoming signal into different frequency ranges, and routes them to the appropriate driver. A loudspeaker system with n separate frequency bands is described as "n-way speakers": a 2-way system will have woofer and tweeter speakers; a 3-way system is either a combination of woofer, mid-range and tweeter or subwoofer, woofer and tweeter.

History

Alexander Graham Bell patented the first electrical loudspeaker as part of his telephone in 1876, which was followed in 1878 by an improved version from Ernst Siemens. Nikola Tesla reportedly created a similar device in 1881, but was not issued a patent. During this time, Thomas Edison was issued a British patent for a system using compressed air as an amplifying mechanism for his early cylinder phonographs, but he ultimately settled for the familiar metal horn driven by a membrane attached to the stylus. In 1898, Horace Short patented a design for a loudspeaker driven by compressed air, then sold the rights to Charles Parsons, who was issued several additional British patents before 1910. A few companies, including Victor Talking Machine Company and Pathe, produced record players using compressed-air loudspeakers. However, these designs were significantly limited by their poor sound quality and their inability to reproduce sound at low volume. Variants of the system were used for public address applications, and more recently other variations have been used to test space equipment resistance to the very loud sound and vibration levels that launching rockets produce.