Audio Systems: Radio Purchases, home stereo speakers, powered speakers

Question
Just a couple of newbie questions.

1) That is the diffrence between sub magnets. i've seen a lot of sub with diffrent size magnets. Just wondering what tha magnet does exactly. i know all speakers have them, because if you place your home stereo speakers too close they distort the picture.

2) WTF is a "tweeter"? is it necesrary? Does it make sound better?

3)And amps are what makes more power for the speakers right?

Answer
Phil,
The magnets on speakers are there to interact with the voice coil that the wire terminals on the speaker frame are connected to! As the audio from a stereo direct or from an amplifier drives a speaker, the audio output will generate a magnetic field in the voice coil inside the speaker and the higher the audio voltage is ( it fluctuates with the music or someone talking)the stronger the field voltage will be. The speaker cone will move in and out as it follows the fluctuating voltage from the audio from the stereo to reproduce the sound that you hear by moving the air that hits your ears (basically) Normally, the larger the magnet is on a speaker, the more power handling capability the speaker will have. (2), A tweeter is a speaker that is designed to reproduce very high audio frequencies from the music playing. Three way car speakers will have three speakers on the same frame,A woofer for lows, a mid range for middle range frequencies and a tweeter for the highs. Tweeters will improve the overall performance of a speaker system. (3), Amplifiers are used to increase the output of a stereo to drive higher powered speakers. A 45 watt stereo in a vehicle will sound pretty good, so why do some car owners want amps that put out 1000-1200 watts of power?? reason, they want you to hear the thumping bass from their stereo coming down the road over a mile away!

TOM,
T&D ELECTRONICS
tdeser@zoominternet.net