MIT Develop Entirely New Paper Thin Loudspeaker

gene

gene

Audioholics Master Chief
Administrator
Engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have designed and built working prototypes of a paper-thin loudspeaker that can turn any surface into a “high-quality, active audio source,” according to a report in MIT News. Unlike other thin-membrane speaker designs that Audioholics readers may be familiar with, such as electrostatic (MartinLogan) and planar magnetic (Magnepan) speakers, this new design out of MIT does not require external stators or magnets — the thin film is itself a self-contained loudspeaker that produces sound with “minimal distortion,” while requiring far less energy than a traditional speaker. The team of researchers working on the project presented a working prototype roughly the size of a human hand, weighing just over 2 grams. The speaker can reportedly be bonded to any type of surface, effectively turning that surface into a speaker. The team pioneered a three-step fabrication technique that is both simple and scalable, theoretically allowing the production of paper-thin loudspeakers large enough to wallpaper a room or line the cabin of a car or other vehicle.

What does this mean for the future of loudspeakers and applications?

MIT-speaker.jpg


Read: MIT Develops Entirely New Paper Thin Loudspeaker
 
Benni777

Benni777

Audioholic
Engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have designed and built working prototypes of a paper-thin loudspeaker that can turn any surface into a “high-quality, active audio source,” according to a report in MIT News. Unlike other thin-membrane speaker designs that Audioholics readers may be familiar with, such as electrostatic (MartinLogan) and planar magnetic (Magnepan) speakers, this new design out of MIT does not require external stators or magnets — the thin film is itself a self-contained loudspeaker that produces sound with “minimal distortion,” while requiring far less energy than a traditional speaker. The team of researchers working on the project presented a working prototype roughly the size of a human hand, weighing just over 2 grams. The speaker can reportedly be bonded to any type of surface, effectively turning that surface into a speaker. The team pioneered a three-step fabrication technique that is both simple and scalable, theoretically allowing the production of paper-thin loudspeakers large enough to wallpaper a room or line the cabin of a car or other vehicle.

What does this mean for the future of loudspeakers and applications?

View attachment 56423

Read: MIT Develops Entirely New Paper Thin Loudspeaker
This is just the beginning and very cool. Could you imagine wall to wall to ceiling paneling. New level of Atmos 2000.4.500 setup hahahahah. crazy....
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
But how do they sound? Producing sound is one thing; producing good sound is not quite so simple.
 
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
Can they spray that thin paper with Beryllium or Gold or Diamond? :D
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
But are they "pairing" them with the MIT cables for the true audiophile effect?
 
3db

3db

Audioholic Slumlord
That is really cool and as the article mentioned, has a wide application base while NOT ready yet for hifi applications in this point in time. This technology is what I call a simbiant technology in that it requires a suitable host coupled to it to bring out hifi. No mention of suitable hosts has been discussed in the article so we are seeing only the first half of this new technology which is exciting in its own right.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
I've heard of this tech before, but more in theory, so nice to see some application, but will be very room/building/contruction method specific.....depending how tunable the response from the membrane might be ?
 
F

felipe

Audioholic
Woow this new tech sounds promising (no pun intended) :)
 
BoredSysAdmin

BoredSysAdmin

Audioholic Slumlord
the original paper: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9714188
Unfortunately, this one is behind a paywall, and sci-hub doesn't have a copy.
If someone is ultra curious they could email one of the authors and as for a copy. They are usually happy to oblige.
 

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