It's an interesting question, and while I'm not an EE, here's my understandiing of how it works (for a dynamic/cone woofer):
The woofer is a system composed of 4 main parts; a cone, an electric motor attached to that cone, a box housing that cone, and a suspension connecting that cone to that box. The motor applies force that causes the cone to move and create sound. (I'll avoid the "push air" vs "pressurize" question because I don't think it's relevant to answering the question from the OP). The other 3 components in the system all constrain the movement of the cone to one degree or another.
Assume for a second that the motor system is large enough to move the cone an infinite distance if the motor has enough "fuel" (LF signal) from the amplifier. In this case, your question goes to the behavior of the cone. If the cone is sufficiently large and/or capable of moving infinitely far, it will (theoretically) have infinite low frequency capability. But it doesn't - the combination of cone/suspension/box always limits the max movement of the cone.
So, the size of the cone and it's maximum travel limit the entire bass system's low frequency capability. Once the cone reaches its maximum travel, further "push" from the motor will fail to move it further. As more LF signal is converted to force by the motor and the cone approaches its maximum excursion, the cone starts to resist and dynamics are compressed. Once maximum excursion is reached, excess signal is largely dissipated as heat.
Conceptually - at the extreme - one of 2 things eventually happens:
Overdriving the motor by sending it too much LF "fuel" will melt the voice coil element in the motor. If the motor is sufficiently robust that the voice coil survives the heat build-up, the cone would eventually deform/crush itself.
It's also possible that the LF capability will be limited by an undersized amp (not enough LF fuel).
That's my understanding, anyway (hope it's accurate, but I'm interested in hearing if some of the tech types here have a better answer.)
Marty
The woofer is a system composed of 4 main parts; a cone, an electric motor attached to that cone, a box housing that cone, and a suspension connecting that cone to that box. The motor applies force that causes the cone to move and create sound. (I'll avoid the "push air" vs "pressurize" question because I don't think it's relevant to answering the question from the OP). The other 3 components in the system all constrain the movement of the cone to one degree or another.
Assume for a second that the motor system is large enough to move the cone an infinite distance if the motor has enough "fuel" (LF signal) from the amplifier. In this case, your question goes to the behavior of the cone. If the cone is sufficiently large and/or capable of moving infinitely far, it will (theoretically) have infinite low frequency capability. But it doesn't - the combination of cone/suspension/box always limits the max movement of the cone.
So, the size of the cone and it's maximum travel limit the entire bass system's low frequency capability. Once the cone reaches its maximum travel, further "push" from the motor will fail to move it further. As more LF signal is converted to force by the motor and the cone approaches its maximum excursion, the cone starts to resist and dynamics are compressed. Once maximum excursion is reached, excess signal is largely dissipated as heat.
Conceptually - at the extreme - one of 2 things eventually happens:
Overdriving the motor by sending it too much LF "fuel" will melt the voice coil element in the motor. If the motor is sufficiently robust that the voice coil survives the heat build-up, the cone would eventually deform/crush itself.
It's also possible that the LF capability will be limited by an undersized amp (not enough LF fuel).
That's my understanding, anyway (hope it's accurate, but I'm interested in hearing if some of the tech types here have a better answer.)
Marty