|
other
meeting reports
|
12/4/07
Meeting Highlights
by Nick Kettman
At the Chicago Section�s December meeting, David Prince of Tymphany
Corporation discussed his work on the Linear Array Transducer (LAT). The
Tymphany LAT is a departure from traditional cone transducers which displace
air using a single diaphragm. In contrast, the LAT features a linear array of
smaller transducers which can be arranged in a stacked formation, resulting
in a more efficient geometry. Such a driver can be utilized where larger,
conventional drivers normally do not fit � for example in the sound bar of a
flat panel television (FPTV). Mr. Prince worked as an architectural acoustics
consultant for TALASKE in the early 1990s and later studied acoustics at Penn
State and The University of Florida. He has worked alongside engineer and
designer Bob True at International Jensen, True Technologies, and presently
at Tymphany Corporation.
The Tymphany LAT was designed for use in consumer products such as FPTVs,
iPod docks, and other devices which generally only allow for narrow and
shallow speaker enclosures. The first product to feature the LAT was an
automotive subwoofer produced by Alpine Electronics which was designed to be
placed in the space behind the seat in a truck. One particular advantage of
the LAT design is the use of opposing end motors which essentially cancels
all vibration along the displacement axis. Despite the benefits of the LAT
design, however, Tymphany has encountered challenges such as the increasing
price of neodymium magnets, the ever-decreasing thickness of FPTVs, and the
industry�s tendency to choose convenience and simplicity over sound quality.
Mr. Prince demonstrated the LAT technology by offering a comparison of two
similarly-sized FPTV sound bars: one using conventional speaker technology,
and one which incorporated a LAT. The LAT sound bar, although comprising only
3.7 liters of total enclosure volume, was the obvious winner in terms of
low-frequency extension. The Tymphany LAT is the engine behind several
high-end speaker brands, including Peerless and ScanSpeak.
|