ACE OF BASS:

More Bass, Less Space (Dan Orzech, Aug, 01, 2006, Wired)

Accurately recreating low frequencies has usually required making speaker enclosures larger or adding separate -- and typically bulky -- boxes for subwoofers. The excessive size of traditional subwoofer designs has kept top-notch audio out of many places where people would really like it, says Kantor. "There just isn't room to put bigger woofers in things like flat-panel televisions," he says.

Tymphany hopes to change that with a remarkably simple new speaker design called the Tymphany LAT. Rather than a single, large cone-shaped diaphragm pushing air out straight ahead, the company has lined up a series of smaller diaphragms in a tube with one driver at each end. Every other diaphragm moves in sync, in a push-pull manner like an accordion. The bass is pumped out through open ports along the sides of the cylindrical speaker box.

The smaller of Tymphany's new speaker cases is only 5 inches in diameter, yet, according to the company, each one can deliver the bass output of two 10-inch traditional speakers. Tymphany also makes a more powerful speaker enclosure that is 7 inches in diameter.