Loudspeaker Sizes in RC Installations
At Model Sounds Inc., we do not believe in skimping on loudspeaker sizes - here's why!
What's New:
April 25, 2022
New Serial Bus Feature supports Spektrum SMART ESCs, Graupner SUMD, Futaba S.Bus and many more.
Greatly simplifies wiring with a compatible Serial Bus Receiver.
February 15, 2022
New Learjet 35-70 executive jet sound set added bringing our total airplane sound sets
to 123.
November 06, 2021
New Shelley Foss Tugboat sound set added bringing our total boat sound sets to 75.
September 27, 2021
New RNL Tamar Class lifeboat sound set added bringing our total boat sound sets to 74.
September 05, 2021
Many Battleship/Warship sound sets added bringing our total boat sound sets to 73.
Loudspeaker Sizes in RC Models
At Model Sounds Inc., we believe in offering the
best sounding RC Sound Systems. We do not believe in skimping on
loudspeaker sizes as tiny loudspeakers result in, well - "tinny"
sound.
The basic laws of physics demand that you can’t get a quart out of a pint pot.
With small speakers you get small sound – and what I mean by “small” is
tinny sound, not necessarily quiet sound. I.E. you get tinny sound from a
tiny speaker, there is no way around that. And it doesn’t matter how many
tiny speakers you have in series/parallel combination - you just share the total available
power between them - multiple tiny speakers may be able to take more total
power input, but this does not improve the frequency response at all.
The human ear peaks its sensitivity at around 2KHz. That frequency is well
within the range of tiny speakers so some tiny speakers can sound very loud
because that is where they peak at, or close to it. You can actually get
tiny piezo transducers for alarms etc. that can produce 100db from a tiny
package, but they can do so only in a very narrow band of frequencies.
If you look at the frequency response of almost all 2inch loudspeakers you
will see they have a response from around 400Hz to 8KHz or so. In order to
reproduce low frequency sounds you have to move a lot of air and a small
diameter speaker simply does not have a large enough cone to make an
adequate piston effect to move that air.
The manufacturers quoted frequency response of the 4inch speakers we sell
is quoted as 100 - 14000Hz. That is a good deal better than 400Hz. While even
that is not a terrific bass response, you will get significantly better
quality sound from a 4inch speaker than from a 2inch one.
If your model is large enough, you can go even
larger and install a 5inch or 6inch speaker. For model airplanes, of course
space and weight considerations take first priority, but in general, the
larger the speaker, the better it will sound.
You must also consider sensitivity - measured in dB/1W/1m. A measurement of 90dB/1W/1m means that for 1 Watt of electrical input power, the loudspeaker will produce a Sound Pressure Level (SPL) of 90dB when measured at 1m (about 39inches) on the axis of the speaker. Many small loudspeakers have sensitivities far less than that figure. e.g. some 2inch speakers have only 79dB/1W/1m. Therefore whatever the size of loudspeaker chosen, you should always strive for the highest sensitivity figure possible.

