Speaker compression
The reduction in dynamic range produced by a speaker that is being driven near or past its limit, so loud transients are squeezed and quiet ones lifted.
Speaker compression comes from the cone and voice coil reaching the limits of their travel, and from the rise in temperature that changes the coil's resistance as it works harder. The audible effect is a smooth, forgiving response where hard picking does not produce a proportionally louder sound, which is why players describe a well-used speaker as feeling soft or buttery. It is one of the reasons a loud amplifier played quietly sounds different from a small one played loudly.
Example: A chord played hard through a pushed speaker is barely louder than the same chord played gently, which is speaker compression at work.
See also
Related
- PageSpeaker
- PageCompressor
- PageDynamics
- PageAmp in a box
- PageAmp stand
- PageAttenuator
- PageAaron Dessner
- PageAce Frehley