Whats the difference between Alnico speakers and Ceramic speakers?
Alnico (AlNiCo) is a type of alloy (mixture of several metals) magnet which was used extensively in loudspeakers between 1930 and 1960. The price of cobalt (the ‘Co’ in AlNiCo) began to skyrocket, so the industry was forced to develop other types of magnets. Powdered ferrite magnets were developed using the ceramic process and subsequently became the standard magnet for loudspeakers. The whole ‘AlNiCo mojo’ is about smooth compression at high average levels, such as what you would have running the amp flat out. AlNiCo (Aluminum-Nickel-Cobalt) is an alloy magnet and all alloy magnets are easier to demagnetize than comparable Ceramic (Strontium Ferrite) magnets. What this means is that as the voice coil starts moving in response to the input signal, it generates a magnetic field of its own that tries to demagnetize the magnet. As its effect lowers the available magnetic field of the AlNiCo magnet, the speaker becomes less efficient, the voice coil moves less, etc. The physics of it is th
