What is the difference between drivers and speakers?

[yasar11732]

Hi,

I recently grew some interest into audio systems just after I got curious in electronics. Not being a native English speaker, I initially thought drivers and speakers refer to same thing and that those terms are interchangeable. After I saw that an online shop have different categories for speakers and drivers, I have started to think that those are actually different things.

Can someone clarify what is the difference between drivers and speakers?

 

[Mooly]

A driver is usually a specific speaker such as a woofer for bass, tweeter for treble or perhaps a "full range driver".

The term speaker can be used for all the above but more usually refers to a complete box containing all the "drivers" that make it up or just a general term for a generic "speaker" as in radio or car.

Examples... you might ask for a 3 inch speaker (speaker on its own). You could ask for some small floorstanding speakers (the complete boxes). You could ask for a midrange "driver" to replace a damaged "driver" in a complete speaker.

Hope that helps 🙂

 

[Pano]

Yes, what Mooly said. The term Speaker can be all inclusive, covering drivers and full speakers with all the parts. Most people familiar with speaker building will refer to the individual parts such as woofer, midrage and tweeter, as "drivers".

You will even come across terms like "fullrange driver" or "low end driver" (woofer) or "compression driver" (for horns). That is a way to talk about the parts of a speaker.

 

[mjf]

is "speaker" a short form of "loudspeaker"? (in german: lautsprecher)

 

[Mooly]

is "speaker" a short form of "loudspeaker"? (in german: lautsprecher)

In English it is. If someone asked "what is speaker short for" I would instantly say louspeaker as first answer. The other type of "speaker" is the person addressing an audience.