These speakers are the size of your passport.
LG recently unveiled its new "invisible" speakers for cars.
The world of in-car audio is a constant game of one-upmanship. BMW puts diamonds in 7 Series speakers, the Polestar 3 has more speakers in a car than you have fingers and toes, and Mercedes says you do not need them at all.
LG says the "innovative solution will be commercialized in the first half of 2023, ushering in a new era of vehicle infotainment." It touts both lighter weight, simple construction, and a skinny profile as the main benefits.
LG says conventional units weigh a lot because of heavy components, which adds up quickly when you've got a 25-speaker system like the one in the new Polestar 3 SUV. Voice coils, cones, and magnets all add weight. The more complex the system, the more weight it adds.
LG calls the units the Thin Actuator Sound Solution (TASS). The units are roughly the size of a passport, measuring 5.9 inches by 3.5 inches. Miraculously, the units are only .09-inch thick. All told, they weigh just 40 grams. The brand states its new TASS speakers are 30% of the weight and 10% of the thickness of a conventional speaker.
These measurements make the speakers extremely versatile. Speakers can be placed in a car's dash, headliner, headrests, or door pillars. Moreover, the smaller speakers shouldn't result in a loss in audio quality - at least according to LG.
The units should be relatively eco-friendly, as they don't use rare earth elements like the neodymium used in conventional speakers. LG will showcase the new speakers at CES 2023, which it says were developed "jointly with a global audio company."
"We have transformed the conventionally heavy and bulky speaker into a high-quality 'invisible' sound solution by using our cutting-edge technology to elevate space, design, and eco-friendly factors and provide a next-level sound experience like none before," said Yeo Chun-ho, Vice President and Head of the Business Development Division at LG Display.
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