use a window as a speaker...???? something to think about

[Ansil]

http://www.thinkgeek.com/electronics/audio/5a15/

hmmmm something to think about

[aaronkessman]

see http://www.nxtsound.com/general/home.php

it's basically a driver affixed to any thin flat surface. frequency response is affected by material flexibility and dimensions. a small hard window would only produce highs. you'd need a big window to get good response. not sure how big. BUT it's CRAZY cool. you don't have a point source like you di with speaker cones. the entire surface produces the sound, so there's less of a sweet spot effect. more diffuse. really nice.

would be interesting to try this for recordings.

[niftydog]

Here's something to think about along those lines...

I've heard of a bugging technology that you stick to an external window that is sensitive enough to pick up all the sound in the room.

A non-visible laser is projected across the room and bounces off a far wall.  Sound pressure in the room causes the windows to vibrate ever so slightly.  This miniscule vibration is picked up by the laser reflection and amplified and radio linked to a receiver.

The unit itself is tiny, and placed carefully near the top of a window would be very hard to spot.  Extra bonus... you never have to have access to the house to bug it!.

spooky.  :shock:

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

Those 'window buggers' are fairly high tech, works without any attachment to the window.
http://gbppr.dyndns.org/PROJ/mil/laserl/

I'd like a window speaker that worked in REVERSE, like those noise cancelling earphones, then you don't need double glazing!

[ryanscissorhands]

Plexiglass would probably work better for lows and mids than glass would, right? I got a ton in my basement, so I'm tempted to pick up one of those lil devils. Not that expensive either. . .

[aaronkessman]

yeah, plexiglass would probably be better for lower freq. but like, you can use cardboard or anything really. Some NXT people gave a talk at my workplace and the sample I held was about a 3-ft square of thin foam.

you could try to make one yourself, but at that price, might as well buy it...

[bwanasonic]

Many, MANY years ago (early 1970's) I attended a gallery *installation* at the Carpenter Center (Harvard) that featured speaker drivers attached to many different objects/surfaces, such as panes of glass, washer/dryers, leaf springs, etc.  It certainly made an impression on my young mind, prepping me for things like the Brian Eno installation at the Boston ICA some years later. Probably contributed to things like my predilection for Conlon Nancarrow and Harry Partch. Now there are a couple of DIY giants!

Kerry M

[gez]

I posted a link for the soundbug (last year?) when we had that thread on feedback.  It doesn't have to be a window, any flat surface will do such as a guitar body.  Stick one close to the bridge, tap your output signal and feed it back via a swell pedal.

I've heard the soundbug demonstrated on TV.  They're not that hi-fi, the makers were explaining that they're more of a promotional thing to demonstrate what the company can do.

[BILLYL]

Like Kerry said - many years ago lafayette radio sold a very similiar device.  You could make anything a speaker.  In fact some people would mount them in their car and use the car body as a speaker.  From what i remember they were pretty inefficent and required quite a bit of power to drive them.  But they were pretty cool.

BILLYL

[Mark Hammer]

Yep, I used to see these things advertised in Popular Electronics, and sold at Etco Electronics where I used to shop in the "early days".

Although the idea is kind of neat, please note that very few surfaces in the world make for ideal movers of air across a reasonable bandwidth.  Would you expect to get reasonable sound reproduction from speakers that had a glass cone?  Likely not, unless you intended them to be used for sub-sub-subwoofers.

The old polyplanar speakers that had sheets of styrofoam as the air-pushing side of the "piston" could work because stryofoam is light, permitting rapid membrane movement.  Would you would get from a wall or window would likely have the sort of bandwidth you'd expect from a 15" subwoofer painted over with 2 coats of driveway sealer.  In other words, you'd know it was on, and that *something* was louder and softer, but you'd be hard-pressed to identify the sounds coming out of it.

On the other hand,i if you have a suitable frequency-divider, a separate power amp, and a hankering for bi-amping adventure, go for it.