Driver TS Parameters: BL (Motor Strength)

BL: The product of magnet field strength in the voice coil gap and the length of wire in the magnetic field, in tesla-metres (T·m)

Unless you’re getting into more advanced levels of speaker cabinet design, the motor strength isn’t normally something you need to worry about too much. To some extent, it’s safe to assume that the manufacturer will have set the motor strength appropriately for the design of the driver, but it will still be useful to have a basic understanding of this parameter, and it’s significance.

Put simply, the motor strength (BL) is a measure of how strong the magnetic field within the voice coil gap (B) multiplied by the length of voice coil that is active in the magnetic field (L). For a more detailed explanation, with diagrams, please see the article on Xmax: https://speakerwizard.co.uk/driver-ts-parameters-xmax/ which includes diagrams of the magnet structure, and magnetic fields.

With standard ferrite magnets, a stronger magnetic field is generally achieved with a bigger magnet. The bigger the magnet, the heavier the magnet. The heavier the magnet is, the stronger the chassis needs to be, and you’ll also need to ensure strong glue to bond the magnet to the top plate, and the back plate.   Increasing the magnet size and chassis strength will make the driver more expensive, but don’t let a big magnet fool you, this  isn’t necessarily a sign of a high quality premium speaker though, I’ve seen a number of drivers with big magnets that are not much use for anything other than picking up nails off the floor.

In order to keep weight down, neodymium magnets have become more common, these have the ability to generate very strong magnetic fields from surprisingly small, light magnets. Using a neodymium magnet on a driver can have a massive impact on the overall driver weight, which is becoming quite desirable for small portable systems. You will have to pay for the privilege though, as neodymium magnets are often significantly more expensive that ferrite.

Don’t forget that BL is also dependent on the length of wire in the magnetic field, so the height of the magnetic gap will also affect the BL product. If you’ve read the article about Xmax you’ll hopefully start to realise that there are a number of loudspeaker parameters that are dependent on each other. The voice coil design will have an impact on the Xmax, and since BL takes into consideration the length of wire, it will also impact on BL.  The diameter of the voice coil and  the gauge of wire used (how thick the wire is) will have a very direct impact on the length of wire in the magnetic field. Beyond that, it’s also possible to have multiple layers of wire on the voice coil, and many modern drivers utilise inside-outside wound voice coils, where wire is wound and glued to the inside of the voice coil as well as the outside.

So what does the BL number actually mean? The figure is given in Tesla Meters, and you will find the following ‘definition’ in various places online:

BL: Think of this as how good a weightlifter the transducer is. A measured mass is applied to the cone forcing it back while the current required for the motor to force the mass back is measured. The formula is mass in grams divided by the current in amperes. A high BL figure indicates a very strong transducer that moves the cone with authority!

Personally I think that is a little too simplistic, but it’s sufficient for someone with casual interest to get a handle on some of the key TS Parameter.

To help put things into context, a high BL figure would be considered 30 or higher. A driver with a BL in this range will exhibit very price cone control. A low BL figure would be 20 or less, a driver with a low BL will be significantly less able to control the cone accurately.

Depending on your application, you may still be wondering why you should care about BL? If you are planning on building a horn loaded bass bin, or scoop bin, a high BL is pretty much essential, you wont get away with just chucking any old driver into the cabinet and get the right results. If you consider that in most horn loaded applications you are having to compress air, you want a driver that exhibits a high force to achieve this compression, a strong motor makes this possible.

In other applications, if you were to make a listening comparison between a high BL driver with a low BL driver, you would find the high BL driver will sound much tighter and more accurate. Generally for live music applications this type of sound is preferred as it will more accurately reproduce the instrument sounds. Low BL driver can sound ‘woolly’ or ‘muddy’ because the cone does not respond to transients as quickly, and has the potential to introduce some distortion. Some people prefer this sound as it can give a warmer bass sound.

High BL drivers are generally needed for high power bass applications, where a large heavy cone is used. High BL drivers are usually more efficient, as the higher motor strength equates to more pushing power. For mid-range drivers, it is normal to use a much lighter cone, and a high BL is not necessarily needed, but can contribute to a more accurate response.

High BL drivers make it possible to use smaller sealed boxes in some designs, because the motor strength is so high, the restoring force of the air in the box, and the suspension of the driver, are small in comparison, making them relatively insignificant.

High BL causes high electromagnetic damping, and in some cases this is undesirable, in fact with reflex boxes it can cause problems with the reflex ports being under-damped and requiring modification, often with bass reflex designs a slightly lower BL is more appropriate to get a more balanced result.

We’ll discuss BL and voice coil geometry more in another article.