Loudspeakers

Isaac Newton had no inkling of what a loudspeaker is, of course, but his three laws of motion – particularly the second and third – nevertheless have direct application to loudspeaker design. The second law tells us that to accelerate a heavier mass (such as a heavier loudspeaker diaphragm) we have to push it proportionately harder than a lighter mass, and the third law – 'every action has an equal and opposite reaction' – says that whatever we push pushes back. As the motor of a moving coil drive unit forces its diaphragm forward, so the stator is forced equally hard backwards, an effect referred to as magnet reaction. It's this which explains why the Kaya 90, in common with the Giya models, has a symmetrical arrangement of side-mounted woofers and ports. The motion of the cones is in opposition on either side of the cabinet, and so is the alternating flow of air out from and back into the reflex ports. As a result, overall reaction force on the cabinet is cancelled. Adding a cross-brace between the driver magnets on either side seals the deal, cancelling the reaction forces at source and stifling vibration and resonance within the driver baskets and enclosure.