Why do bass notes require a greater movement of speaker cone than mid to high notes?

Answer 1

The wavelength of a note is determined by the distance between peaks or the distance between nodes. The lower the frequency, the greater the wavelength, because the two are inversely proportional. Bass notes have low frequencies and, hence, have long wavelengths, over a meter long, whereas treble notes have wavelengths of about a centimeter. A great deal of air must be moved to recreate a bass note. Large speakers are necessarily more massive than small ones and so have greater inertia, which means they cannot move fast enough to produce high frequencies. Small speakers are better suited, therefore, for producing higher frequencies (and smaller wavelengths). Although small speakers are capable of vibrating slowly, slow enough to match bass notes, they won't push enough air at low speeds to be audible, so a large surface area is required to produce the lower-range sounds.