Public Address (PA) and Instrument Applications
Woofers designed for public address system (PA) and instrument amplifier applications are similar in makeup to home audio woofers, except that they are usually designed more ruggedly. Typically, design variances include: cabinets built for repeated shipping and handling, larger woofer cones to allow for higher sound pressure levels, more robust voice coils to withstand higher power, and higher suspension stiffness. Generally, a home woofer used in a PA/instrument application can be expected to fail more quickly than a PA/instrument woofer. On the other hand, a PA/instrument woofer in a home audio application it will not have the same quality of performance, particularly at low volumes. A PA woofer will not produce the same audible high fidelity which is the goal of high quality home audio due those differences.
PA system woofers typically have high efficiency and high power handling capacity. The trade-off for high efficiency at reasonable cost is usually relatively low excursion capability (i.e., inability to move "in and out" as far as many home woofers can), as they are intended for horn or large reflex enclosures. They are also usually ill-suited to extended low bass response since the last octave of low frequency response increases size and expense considerably, and is increasingly uneconomic to attempt at high levels as in a PA application. A home stereo woofer, because it is used at relatively low volumes, may be able to handle very low frequencies. Because of this, most PA woofers are not well suited to use in high quality high fidelity home applications, and vice-versa.
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“The actor should not play a part. Like the Aeolian harps that used to be hung in the trees to be played only by the breeze, the actor should be an instrument played upon by the character he depicts.”
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