Slashdot Mirror
"Invisible" Speakers
Maurice Boughton sent us a link
to an interesting bit about speakers that you can mount to
your wall to let it resonate as a speaker. You
read more. They're
only like $60 so it might be worth it, although I'm curious
how they sound. Oh, and as for the 6 billion of you who
emailed me to wish me birthday greetings, thanks, now stop!
Having dabbled in speaker cabinet design, and designed a few PA systems, been a sound guy for bands, etc., I have a few serious reservations about how well these things would work.
...infinitely more construction based variables of course.
The biggest ones:
1) Aren't the characteristics of the sound going to have huge dependencies on the construction of the walls, the size, stud spacing, wallboard thickness etc. If the wallboard is a little loose wouldn't it "buzz" against the studs? Would pictures vibrate? Wouldn't things like stud spacing, wallboard thickness, wood hardness (of the studs) and other factors affect the flatness of the frequency response. What about metal studs? What about lath and plaster walls vs. paneling vs. sheetrock etc.
2) There are several evidences in the advertising copy of junk science and BS double-talk. For example, the site claims that this technology eliminates standing waves.
Standing waves are (almost) 100% a function of room geometry (primarily dimensions of the room vs. multiples of wavelengths, absorbancies of various surfaces in the room also come into play) and (almost) 0% a function of speaker design. This claim (and some others on the site) dump its credibility into the toilet IMHO.
Bottom line, IMHO this system is likely to not sound very good at all in the majority of installations.