- How It Works
How does an amplifier control speaker motion? When the loudspeaker cone vibrates, it acts like a microphone, generating a signal from its voice coil. This signal generated by the speaker is called back EMF (back Electro Motive Force). It creates a current, which travels through the speaker cable back into the amplifier output, then returns to the speaker. Since back EMF is in opposite polarity with the speaker’s motion, back EMF impedes or damps the speaker’s ringing. The smaller the amplifier output impedance, the greater is the effect of back EMF on the speaker’s motion. An amplifier with low output impedance short-circuits the back EMF, so the back EMF drives the loudspeaker with a relatively strong current that works against the speaker’s motion. When the speaker cone moves out, the back EMF pulls the speaker in, and vice versa.

In short, the loudspeaker damps itself through the amplifier output circuitry. The lower the impedance of that output circuitry, the more the back EMF can control the speaker’s ringing.