Tuner bands
Radio bands received by the tuner of the music center. Today, the most common support for such ranges is:
- FM. Part of the ultra-short wave (VHF) range ranging from 87.5 MHz to 108 MHz. Uses frequency modulation, which allows you to broadcast music in stereo format with fairly high sound quality, as well as transmit RDS signals (see RDS). At the moment, most music radio stations in the CIS broadcast in this range, as a result of which FM is supported in the vast majority of audio systems. The disadvantage of this option is the limited reception area - a maximum of several tens of kilometers from the transmitter - so FM broadcasts can usually be listened to within the same city and nearby environs.
- AM (from the English amplitude modulation - amplitude modulation) - radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation. Typically this term refers to medium wave broadcasting in the range 520–1610 kHz; Most consumer AM receivers are designed for these same frequencies. The reception range of AM stations can be hundreds of kilometers, but the sound quality is lower than on FM, so this format is mainly broadcast by talk and news radio stations.
- DAB+. DAB is an abbreviation for Digital Audio Broadcasting, i.e. “digital radio broadcasting”; and “+” means an improved version of this standard. Formally, DAB+ is not only a band, but also a signal transmission format: unlike all the options described above, it is, as the name suggests, digital. This provi...des a number of advantages over traditional transmitters - in particular, longer range with less power and high quality of broadcast audio. In addition, this sound is practically not subject to distortion: weak interference does not affect its quality, and when the transmitter power is critically reduced, the signal is not distorted, but disappears entirely. The latter, however, can be written down as a disadvantage; but the really significant drawback of this option is its low prevalence (so far) in the CIS countries. Technically, such broadcasting can be carried out in any range above 30 MHz, but in practice several options are used (depending on the country) related to the VHF range. Note that DAB+ tuners are capable of receiving radio broadcasts of the original DAB standard, but not vice versa.
Radio Data System (RDS)
Tuner support for Radio Data System technology. This technology is used mainly in the FM band; it allows, in addition to the sound signal, to transmit additional textual information by radio — for example, the names of broadcast compositions, announcements, advertising messages, etc. For RDS-enabled audio systems, this information is shown on the display.
Number of bands
The number of distinct frequency ranges (bands) into which sound is divided when played through the acoustics of an audio system. For each such band, a separate speaker is provided, and sometimes several.
The simplest option provides 1 lane; it is very popular in modern audio systems, because. requires a minimum number of speakers, and the sound quality can be quite good. More advanced options provide 2-3 bands (low and high frequencies, or bass, treble and medium), and in high-end models, the number of bands can be up to five. Note that, in addition to integers, models are also produced with a fractional number of stripes — for example, 2.5 or 3.5. This marking indicates the presence in the design of a speaker responsible for two bands at once: for example, model 2.5 has separate speakers for bass and treble plus a combined bass + midrange (similar in design to bass, but also loaded with mid frequencies).
Anyway, the abundance of bands, usually, indicates a high class of acoustics: the more separate frequency ranges, the narrower the specialization of each speaker, the more accurately it is able to reproduce its part of the signal, and the more complex the system is.
Sensitivity
Sensitivity determines the intensity of the acoustics response to a signal of a certain level; Simply put, the higher this figure, the higher the volume of the speaker system will be at the same signal level. Note that in the case of audio systems, this parameter plays a secondary role: it is important for selecting acoustics for an amplifier, and here both of these components are in most cases optimally matched by the manufacturer to each other.
Frequency range
The total frequency range reproduced by the acoustics of an audio system. Measured from the lower threshold of the lowest frequency speaker to the upper threshold of the highest frequency: for example, in a 2.1 system with main speakers at 100 – 22000 Hz and a subwoofer at 20 – 150 Hz, the total value will be 20 – 22000 Hz.
In general, the wider the frequency range, the fuller the reproduced sound will be, the less low and high frequencies will be lost due to insufficient acoustic capabilities. On the other hand, do not forget that the actual sound quality also depends on a number of other parameters — primarily the frequency response. In addition, human audible frequencies range from 16 Hz to 22 kHz; deviations from these values are very small, and the upper limit also decreases with age. Therefore, from a practical point of view, it does not make sense to provide too large a frequency range; and impressive performances like 10 – 50000 Hz, found in top-class models, are usually more of a kind of "side effect" of high-quality speakers (and at the same time — a marketing ploy) than a really significant moment.
