# stereo speakers

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereo-speakers/101879>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 4, 2002, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereo-speakers/101879 "2002-04-04T23:08:18Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![MarshalDowns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e56c9b/32.png) [@MarshalDowns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarshalDowns)\
**Post date:** [April 4, 2002, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereo-speakers/101879/1 "2002-04-04T23:08:18Z")

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I’ve never been able to figure out what those little tear-drop shaped thingies you can somtimes see on stereo speakers are for. Are they just adhesive run-off, or do they actually have a purpose?

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**Author:** ![abel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@abel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abel)\
**Post date:** [April 4, 2002, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereo-speakers/101879/2 "2002-04-04T23:34:06Z")

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Umm, could you maybe be a little more specific? I’ve got speakers, but I have no idea what pear-shaped thingees you mean. Is it glue coming out of the case maybe? Or is it an internal component of the speaker itself?

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**Author:** ![MarshalDowns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e56c9b/32.png) [@MarshalDowns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarshalDowns)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2002, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereo-speakers/101879/3 "2002-04-05T00:48:44Z")

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Well, if you take the fabric (plastic, metal ect…) cover off the front of the speaker, you will usually see two tear shaped blobs on the part of the speaker that actually does the vibrating, you can find them better on larger speakers

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**Author:** ![billy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@billy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billy)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2002, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereo-speakers/101879/4 "2002-04-05T01:14:21Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by MarshalDowns \*  
> \*\*I’ve never been able to figure out what those little tear-drop shaped thingies you can somtimes see on stereo speakers are for. Are they just adhesive run-off, or do they actually have a purpose? \*\*

That is where the wires that go to the coil are glued to the cone. If you look around back, you can see the wires.

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**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2002, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stereo-speakers/101879/5 "2002-04-05T01:16:02Z")

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My guess is that they are the connections for the wires that go to the coil on the cone.