Piezoelectric Speaker Tech Enables the World’s Thinnest Boombox

Dec. 21, 2022

TDK partnered with Joe Grand, the renowned inventor and white-hat hardware hacker, to create the world’s thinnest boombox using the ultra-thin TDK PiezoListen line of speakers.

Alix Paultre

Related To: Electronic Design

This video is part of our electronica 2022 coverage.

TDK partnered with Joe Grand, the renowned inventor and white-hat hardware hacker, to create the "world’s thinnest boombox" using the ultra-thin TDK PiezoListen line of speakers. These piezoelectric transducers start at a thickness of just 0.49 mm, making them among the thinnest of these types of devices. Thus, designers can overcome often-difficult installation space constraints.

The flexibility of these speakers makes it possible to produce sound from many kinds of objects and materials, with a high sound pressure even at low voltages of 24 V p-p or below. They produce sound over a broader frequency range and with a greater output in the low range than conventional piezoelectric speakers. The products resulted from the development of a low-profile, high-displacement piezoelectric element reflecting TDK's proprietary multilayering and material technologies.

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About the Author

Alix Paultre | Editor-at-Large, Electronic Design

An Army veteran, Alix Paultre was a signals intelligence soldier on the East/West German border in the early ‘80s, and eventually wound up helping launch and run a publication on consumer electronics for the US military stationed in Europe. Alix first began in this industry in 1998 at Electronic Products magazine, and since then has worked for a variety of publications in the embedded electronic engineering space. Alix currently lives in Wiesbaden, Germany.

Also check out his YouTube watch-collecting channel, Talking Timepieces.