Design of a Hybrid Acoustic Device Based on Proof-Mass Actuators

The paper deals with the design of a device for sound reproduction to be fixed to a supporting surface. The device is made up of two different types of acoustic actuators based on different technologies that allow good sound reproduction in the range of frequencies from 20Hz to 20kHz. The generation of sound at high frequencies is demanded to a magnetostrictive actuator, while a more traditional magnetodynamics actuator is used to generate sound at low frequencies. The coupling between these two actuators leads to a device having small overall dimensions and high performance.