Passive Speaker Authentication

A system comprising:

• a playback device comprising:
• one or more output terminals couplable to one or more input terminals of a passive speaker, an audio stage comprising one or more audio amplifiers configured to drive passive speakers connected to the one or more output terminals, and a reader circuit;
• a network microphone device comprising a microphone;
• at least one processor;
• and
• at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to:
• query a passive speaker identification circuit of the passive speaker, wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device is configured to query the passive speaker identification circuit of the passive speaker comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device is configured to:
• output, via the reader circuit and the one or more output terminals, a query signal to the one or more input terminals of the passive speaker;
• and
• receive, via the reader circuit and the output terminals, a response signal triggered by the query signal;
• determine a particular type of the passive speaker based on the response signal;
• during an acoustic calibration of the playback device in a particular environment, output calibration audio via the audio stage according to a particular configuration that adjusts at least one of voltage or current settings of the one or more audio amplifiers according to the particular type of the passive speaker;
• capture, via the microphone, microphone data representing output of the calibration audio in the particular environment;
• and
• apply calibration settings from the acoustic calibration that at least partially offset acoustic characteristics of the particular environment.

A method comprising:

• querying a passive speaker identification circuit of a passive speaker, wherein querying the passive speaker identification circuit of the passive speaker comprises:
• outputting, via a reader circuit of a playback device and one or more output terminals, a query signal to one or more input terminals of the passive speaker, wherein the one or more output terminals couplable to one or more input terminals of the passive speaker;
• and
• receiving, via the reader circuit and the output terminals, a response signal triggered by the query signal;
• determining a particular type of the passive speaker based on the response signal;
• during an acoustic calibration of the playback device in a particular environment, outputting calibration audio via an audio stage of the playback device according to a particular configuration that adjusts at least one of voltage or current settings of one or more audio amplifiers according to the particular type of the passive speaker, wherein the audio stage comprises the one or more audio amplifiers, and wherein the one or more audio amplifiers are configured to drive passive speakers connected to the one or more output terminals;
• and
• applying calibration settings from the acoustic calibration that at least partially offset acoustic characteristics of the particular environment.