Visaton Speakers – Sound Quality that makes a Difference

Article by Transfer Multisort Elektronik Sp. z o.o.

Visaton is a world-renowned manufacturer of high-quality speakers and speaker components. The company does not only produce a wide range of speakers, but also regularly develops solutions for individual clients. Its appearance in the TME portfolio is not an accident and is definitely a reason take a closer look at the brand.

Visaton – tested quality that you can hear

From the very beginning, the company has made the decision to focus on the best quality possible, which brought considerable interest in and appreciation of its products by a variety of clients from a whole spectrum of industries. The brand’s presence on all continents and in a multitude of countries proves the success of that decision. The quality of products and the production processes at Visaton is further reinforced by the ISO 9001 certificate and the fact that Visaton engineers have access to the top-class equipment, such as the environmental chamber, IP testing station, 3D printer, constant load chamber for long-term tests and, most importantly, a modern measurement laboratory with one of the biggest 3D anechoic chambers in the industry. Samples are designed and produced with the strictest requirements in mind, and then tested using properly calibrated equipment to make sure that the final product will work as needed in its target environment, using the specially implemented Kippel measuring system. All of this is further supported with a systematic process monitoring, from product conception to delivery.

The Visaton speakers applications include a wide range of industrial and transport environments, like railway cars, utility vehicles such as trucks and buses, construction vehicles and agricultural machinery, but they also have marine (from private yachts to cruise ships) and aircraft applications. Moreover, Visaton offers systems for hotels, shopping malls, schools, hospitals etc., as well as a wide range of Hi-Fi / High-End converters, sets and accessories. Its range of Car Audio products, multimedia systems and home cinemas is equally impressive. It is important to note that Visaton is a leader in the exciter technology and offers a range of products based on it that can be used in varied areas. One of the most readily presented Visaton achievements are passive speakers, intended for train/bus stations in city centres, which achieve the required speech intelligibility in strictly defined directions.

The current catalogue of Visaton products is divided into seven categories, each of which deserves our attention. The description below presents the most important groups of products from each category.

Visaton for industry

This category comprises e.g. broadband speakers (8”, 6.5”, 5”, 4”, 3.3”, 2.8”, 2.5”, 2.3”, 2”, 1.8”, 1.6”, 1.5”, 1.3” as well as oval and rectangular speakers in various sizes), classic woofers (6.5”, 5”, 4”), concentric speakers (6.5”, 5”, 4”, as well as oval ones in various sizes), miniature speakers (2.2”, 1.8”, 1.6”, 1.4”, 1.3”, 1.1”, 0.9”, 0.8”, 0.63”, 0.59”), magnetic and piezoelectric buzzers, midrange and tweeter cones, dome tweeters, structural sound drivers, horn speakers (megaphones), flush-mounted speakers, speakers in casings and column speakers.

Exciter technology – membraneless speakers;

This category of products can be called membraneless speakers. It consists of three elements: oscillating mass, contacts for connection to the amplifier, and the mounting plate used for attaching the excited surface. When a voice or music signal is applied to the contacts, the oscillating mass begins to vibrate at the signal frequency. This oscillation is transferred to the mounting plate against which the exciter rests. The excited surface then begins to emit an audible signal. Visaton offers many structural sound drivers with diameters ranging from 30 to 130 mm.

Visaton – speakers for public spaces

This category comprises ceiling speakers (10”, 6.5”, 5”, 4”, 3.3”, 2”, including broadband, HiFi and two-way speakers), encased speakers and column speakers (including wall-mounted and ceiling speakers), suspended, spheric speakers, horn speakers (megaphones) and concentric speakers (6.5”).

VS-DK115S-8, VS-DL-13/2-T


Speakers for ships (marine industry)

VS-DK8P-15W


In this group of products made for specific conditions, the manufacturer included horn speakers (megaphones), encased speakers, concentric speakers (6.5”), broadband speakers (6.5”, 5”, 4”) and ceiling speakers (6.5”, 5”, 4”, 3.3”).

Visaton speakers for train and bus stations

This category is an achievement that the company is proud to announce, due to the fact that with this innovative solution, it achieved something that seemed to be unachievable. Visaton engineers understood that every announcement on the station should be intelligible for every traveller in their target position at the station, according to the DIN EN 60268-16 strict standard of intelligibility of speech in such a difficult sound environment. Train arrivals and departures generate a lot of noise, so the high volume of announcements is a necessity, but at the same time neighbouring platforms have their own announcements, which may make other speakers incomprehensible.

VS-DK97-8, VS-EX45S-8

What is even worse, the sound reflected by the ceilings and walls in enclosed spaces generates even more background noise, making announcements virtually incomprehensible, which is why Visaton created passive train station speakers. These make the announcements intelligible despite the difficult environment. This outstanding achievement of the Visaton engineers is called flat panel dipole speakers, which provide the necessary level of sound pressure with an appropriate concentration. How they work is quite simple: the dipole speaker works by creating soundwaves that escape from the back and front surface and go in one direction, and the amount of sound generated from the sides, top and bottom is reduced significantly. Placing these speakers in a line or on one plane gives an even more focused sound. By combining both of these effects, Visaton has achieved targeted speaker systems, thanks to which the sound in front of and behind the speaker only propagates within the addressed platform, and not on the neighbouring ones. The sound does not reach the floor and ceiling either, which reduces reverberation. The basic products in this category are flat panel dipole speakers of various sizes and power parameters, and encased speakers made of steel.

Hi-Fi, High-End speakers and speaker sets

VS-TIW-300, VS-W170S-8

This category of products starts with ready-made speaker sets that encompass all the components necessary for the creation of a complete speaker system. It includes speakers, completely assembled audio crossovers, cables, connectors and clamps, as well as damping material. Instructions included in those sets make the self-assembly process easy. Other products in this category include woofers (12”, 10”, 8”, 6.5”, 5”, 4”), broadband speakers (8”, 6.5”, 5”, 4”, 3.3”, 2.5”, 2.3”), concentric speakers (6.5”, 4”), midrange speakers (12”, 10”), dome speakers (2”, 1”, 0.8”, 0.6”, 0.5”, including midrange speakers and tweeter speakers), ribbon tweeters, midrange horn speakers, horn tweeters and ceiling speakers.

Speakers and assembled kits for professional use (studio and bandstands)

 This category encompasses ready-made sets of speakers, as well as individual speaker devices. Assembled sets include series PA 110 H, PA 115 H and Sub PA 240. Individual speakers are woofers (18”, 15”), midrange speakers (12”, 10”), broadband speakers (8”, 6.5”, 5”) and midrange as well as tweeter horn speakers.

VS-WB-10-BK-100V, VS-W200S-8

Visaton speakers available from TME

The TME catalogue includes over 150 Visaton speakers, which includes column speakers or individual speakers. You can browse through them according to various criteria, which means that you can base your search on:

  • the type of speaker (membraneless, shielded, miniature, mylar, woofer, midrange, tweeter, full-range, ceiling, horn, universal, waterproof)
  • sound level (ranging from 71dB to 110dB max)
  • impedance (4 / 8 / 16 / 20 / 50Ω – important: 99% of these products is within the impedance of 4 to 8 Ω)
  • rated and maximum power, where the rated power includes values such as 0.2 / 0.3 / 0.5 / 1 / 1.5 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 8 / 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 / 40 / 50 / 60 / 70 / 75 / 80 / 90 and 300W, and the maximum power encompasses equivalents of the former, ranging from 0.5 to 300W.

Visaton’s passive elements;

Besides Visaton speakers themselves, TME offers a variety of passive elements produced by this world-renowned company. Below, you will find the most important of these:

  • Audio resistors These are electrical resistors whose task is to limit the current flowing through the speakers. There are many types, depending on the material used and the method of assembly. The Visaton resistors available from TME include Metal Oxide variants – all with a power of 10W and resistance of 1, 1.5, 2.2, 3.3, 4.7, 6.8, 8.2, 10 and 15 Ω.
  • Polypropylene capacitors Visaton capacitors are characterised by very fast charging and discharging time and virtually no loss of capacitance over time. TME’s offer includes three 250V DC models for THT mounting, with capacitances of 2.2, 6.8 and 10.0 µF, respectively.
  • Audio coils This group of passive audio components consists of two subgroups: 19 coils with a magnetic core and the same number without a magnetic core (air coils).
  • Audio crossovers These filters, which are necessary for every audio system, are represented at TME by several one- and two-way Visaton products. With impedances of 4-8Ω, their power reaches the range of 100-120W.

The original source of text: https://www.tme.eu/en/news/library-articles/page/44991/visaton-speakers-sound-quality-that-makes-a-difference/