The passive speaker issue seems to be a mess, with very differing opinions of what is required but here's my two cents worth:
The Low Voltage Directive specifies products designed for use with voltages greater than 50Vac... ie the voltages that appear at the input or output of the product. As a passive speaker could be supplied with greater than 50Vac (unless the specified power rating precludes this) I guess that the LVD does apply to passive speakers. For the LVD you should use EN60065:1993 (date of withdrawal 1 May 2001) or EN60065:1998 (latest date of implementation 1 August 1999). The only relevant clauses would be 9.1.1 - the contacts of the terminals should be inaccessible if the voltage across the terminals is greater than 70Vrms and 15.1.2 - the terminals should not accept banana plugs. At the company I worked at previously, at the request of the German market, we used to CE mark our passive loudspeakers and declare conformity to the EMC Directive. The Technical file just contained a statement to the effect that the speakers were passive devices and no testing was required. Open any hi-fi magazine and you will see CE marked speakers with uninsulated terminals that can accept banana plugs and unmarked speakers with insulated terminals. Maybe the enforcement authorities with their limited resources don't consider passive speakers an issue.... Chris Colgan EMC & Safety TAG McLaren Audio Ltd mailto:[email protected] > -----Original Message----- > From: kohscp [SMTP:[email protected]] > Sent: 29 March 1999 13:35 > To: [email protected] > Subject: Passive equipment for CE > > Hi, > I think it didn't get thru so I'm sending this mail again. > > For products importing into EU requires CE mark. We can say CE mark is > just > like a passport to Europe. To affix CE mark, a DoC need to be declared > that > the product meet to the applicable directive/standards. > > For passive speakers, does it requires CE marking? The passive > speakers is > intended to be connected to ITE system. > To my understanding it does not fall under Low Voltage Directive as no > external supply (AC or DC) is required. > As for EMC directive, it should be falling under passive-EM equipment. > Does not falls under machinery, toy and medical directive too. > > Is there any other directive or standards that is applicable ot this > type > of product? > I've heard about the Packaging directive, but is it applicable? > If it does not falls under any applicable directive/standards, are we > allow > to affix the CE mark? > > I like to hear your view / advice of this. > > Regards > Koh > > > --------- > This message is coming from the emc-pstc discussion list. > To cancel your subscription, send mail to [email protected] > with the single line: "unsubscribe emc-pstc" (without the > quotes). For help, send mail to [email protected], > [email protected], [email protected], or > [email protected] (the list administrators). ===================================================== Authorised on 03/30/99 at 11:47:58; code 36ff8fe61FB2C5A5. --------- This message is coming from the emc-pstc discussion list. To cancel your subscription, send mail to [email protected] with the single line: "unsubscribe emc-pstc" (without the quotes). For help, send mail to [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], or [email protected] (the list administrators).
