Carmakers start to tap flat-panel speakers

After more than a decade of development, flat-panel audio speakers are moving into global mainstream automotive use.

An offshoot of technology developed to dampen vibrations in military helicopters, flat-panel speakers from British supplier NXT debuted in 2004. The speakers were launched in a sports car made by ill-fated UK niche carmaker TVR. Performance-oriented TVR chose flat panels because they were lighter and fit more easily into its cramped interiors.

Volume carmakers such as Citroen and Toyota also like the combination of saving space and high audio quality.

The first mainstream car to use flat-panel speakers in Europe is the Citroen C4 Picasso. A €590 Philips Sound Solution upgrade uses NXT tweeters in the fascia and rear doors.

In 2005, Toyota introduced standard headliners that were giant flat-panel speakers in two vehicles, the FJ Cruiser sold in the US and the Estima for Japan. NXT calls the technology direct-drive, where a simple motor vibrates the entire headliner to turn it into a speaker. NXT license-holder Fujitsu Ten supplies the parts.

“This system gives the benefits of a raised sound stage,” said James Bullen, Hong Kong-based head of global marketing for NXT. “Carmakers have struggled for years with the difficult acoustic conditions of car cabins. Tweeters in the door pillars are a partial solution, but our down-firing system provides the high frequencies at ear level that previously eluded audio providers.”

Toyota is adding the technology to two new Japanese-market vehicles, the Noah and Voxy.

In development

DaimlerChrysler, Fiat and General Motors are developing systems under NXT license. Several GM concept cars have featured prototype systems.

Auto suppliers including Johnson Controls, Visteon, Siemens and Philips are among 250 licensees worldwide. NXT licenses the technology worldwide through offices in Vienna, Los Angeles, Detroit, Yokohama, Seoul and Hong Kong.

Bullen said NXT is working to develop lower-profile systems suitable for smaller cars.

The technology has spread faster in small-speaker applications -- laptop computers and mobile phones -- and large-scale uses such as concert halls, theaters and public buildings than for automobiles, he said. Long product cycles and advances in competitive audio products are reasons, Bullen added.

For example, UK audio specialist Bowers & Wilkins used Kevlar -- a material best known for use in bulletproof vests and clothing -- to strengthen conventional speakers in a premium sound system for the new Jaguar XF.

But Bower & Wilkins also developed a more compact conventional speaker. Its Bass Beam is a small, light yet high-output subwoofer to replace the bulky component usually installed in car trunks, but also aimed at use in doors, sills, instrument panels and pillars.

“Vehicle manufacturers should not have to accept large, heavy [speaker] cabinets,” said senior business development manager Martin Lindsay.

A Bowers & Wilkins analysis of existing premium car audio systems “compromises mainly due to package space, materials and vibration,” Lindsay said. “The difference between good sound and great sound involves overcoming the limitations imposed by the environment, materials and construction.”