Meeting Report — October 17, 2001

Date: October 17, 2001 @ 6:30 pm
Keynote Presentation: “The EIA-426-B Loudspeaker Power Rating Compact Disc. What’s on it? How do I use it?” – D. B. (Don) Keele, Jr., Principal Engineer, Advanced Development Engineering, Harman/Becker Automotive Systems.
Place: Auralex Acoustics, Inc., 8851 North Hague Road, Indianapolis

The EIA-426-B standard: “Loudspeakers, Optimum Amplifier Power” (April 1998) specifies a test CD that contains the calibration and test signals for all the tests defined in the standard. This CD is intended to improve the consistency and convenience of the standard and will be made available through the EIA and other sources. The talk described the CD’s test signals and their development, and outlined the procedures to make best use of the disk in setting the power ratings of loudspeakers and the amplifiers that drive them. The revised standard (of EIA -426-A) emphasizes not the ability of a loudspeaker to handle power, but establishes procedures to set the maximum (or optimum) power rating of the amplifier used to drive the loudspeaker. The standard describes procedures to measure loudspeaker power compression and harmonic distortion, and for accomplishing accelerated life testing. The signals recorded on the CD considerably simplify applying the standard because no special signal generation equipment is required. Brief demonstrations of the sound of the signals and their application were presented.