February 25, 2004

By: Jordan Strauss
Website: http://www.1st-in-cars.com

Blaupunkt Unveils the Secret Behind Its New Thin Car Stereo Speakers

At the Consumer Electronics Show this past January, Blaupunkt, the mobile electronics division of Germany’s Robert Bosch Corporation, showed prototypes of a new line of thin car stereo speakers, claiming mounting depths as much as 1-inch shallower than comparably performing conventional speakers. Today, Blaupunkt announced immediate deliveries of these new speakers, and unveiled the radical new Fringe Field magnetic driver technology that uses the repulsive energy between two like magnetic poles to make this possible. This places the bulk of the magnet inside the speaker coil instead of behind it, thus reducing the depth of the speaker.

These new speakers, which are added to Blaupunkt’s premium OverDrive® line, include nine ODx Series coaxial loudspeakers ranging from a 3-1/2-inch two-way to a 6x9 three-way model, and three ODc Series component speaker sets, each including woofers, tweeters and crossover networks for two channels.

With the ever-shrinking volume of space available for loudspeakers in modern automobiles, carmakers are being forced to use smaller or less powerful speakers. Compact pickup trucks, sport coupes, and mini SUVs often have almost no space for quality bass speakers, and their sound quality suffers accordingly. Thanks to Fringe Field technology, Blaupunkt can now a wide range of full performance car speakers to fit these vehicles.

As any fourth grader knows, the opposite-poles of magnets attract while same-poles repel, and it requires a great deal of strength to make two north poles touch each other. Fringe Field technology exploits that powerful magnetic field generated at the junction of two like poles.

Most conventional loudspeakers concentrate a very strong magnetic field across a narrow, circular gap in which the speaker coil is suspended. The coil is connected to the speaker cone causing it to move when an audio signal is passed through the coil.

With Fringe Field technology, a round, magnetically conductive plate is sandwiched between the north poles of two ring magnets. This structure creates a very powerful magnetic field radiating outward from the rim of the center plate. The speaker coil is suspended around the rim of the center plate in the most powerful part of the magnetic field. A center bolt keeps the system from flying apart.

A major advantage of this design is that the coil does not need to be limited to one or two layers of windings in order to fit into a narrow gap. These OD series speakers use a four-layer voice coil that extracts more power from the magnets and delivers greater efficiency. Another benefit of the Fringe Field structure is that the magnetic field is perfectly symmetrical above and below the center ring. This makes the speakers more linear than conventional designs, which tend to have slightly different magnetic field shapes above and below the center of the gap.

Blaupunkt’s OverDrive series speakers represent the company’s top of the line in terms of quality and performance. Their sound quality and performance capabilities are comparable, and in some areas superior, to the company’s earlier conventionally-designed OD series speakers.

About The Author:

Jordan Strauss is a successful author and regular contributor to http://www.1st-in-cars.com.  Great car accessories and parts plus financing, insurance and leasing tips.