A loudspeaker (commonly referred to as a speaker or speaker driver) is an electroacoustictransducer^[1] that converts an electrical audio signal into a corresponding sound.^[2] A speaker system, also often simply referred to as a “speaker” or “loudspeaker”, comprises one or more such speaker drivers, an enclosure, and electrical connections possibly including a crossover network.

The speaker driver can be viewed as a linear motor attached to a diaphragm which couples that motor’s movement to motion of air, that is, sound. An audio signal, typically from a microphone, recording, or radio broadcast, is amplified electronically to a power level capable of driving that motor in order to reproduce the sound corresponding to the original unamplified electronic signal. This is thus the opposite function to the microphone; indeed the dynamic speaker driver, by far the most common type, is a linear motor in the same basic configuration as the dynamic microphone which uses such a motor in reverse, as a generator.