Compact surround-sound system

• US 20050089182A1
• Filed: 02/17/2003
• Published: 04/28/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 02/19/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: 1 Limited
• Original Assignee: 1 Limited
• Inventors: Shepherd, Mark Richard, Troughton, Paul Thomas, Bienek, Irving Alexander
• Application Number:
  US10/504,194
• Publication Number:
  US 20050089182A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 381/307
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/26 Spatial arrangements of separate transducers responsive to two or more frequency ranges
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/403 loud-speakers
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2203/12 Beamforming aspects for stereophonic sound reproduction with loudspeaker arrays
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2205/022 Plurality of transducers corresponding to a plurality of sound channels in each earpiece of headphones or in a single enclosure
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 3/14 Cross-over networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 5/02 Spatial or constructional arrangements of loudspeakers

Abstract

An audio system for producing a plurality of surround-sound channels in response to an audio input signal, comprising in a single enclosure an amplifier system adapted to receive surround sound input signals and a plurality of electro-acoustic transducers arranged in part as phased array and adapted to emit surround sound based on said surround sound input signals, wherein the enclosure includes at least one left and at least one right electro-acoustic transducer and filters to divert low-frequency content of said input signals for emission through said left and right transducers.

Claims

1. An audio system for producing a plurality of surround-sound channels in response to an audio input signal, comprising

in a single enclosure an amplifier system adapted to receive surround sound input signals and a plurality of electro-acoustic transducers arranged in part as phased array and adapted to emit surround sound based on said surround sound input signals, wherein the enclosure includes at least one left and at least one right electro-acoustic transducer and filters to divert low-frequency content of said input signals for emission through said left and right transducers.

2. The audio system of claim 1 having the phased array mounted on a front face of the enclosure and the left and right transducers at respective side faces.

3. The audio system of claim 2 comprising a configuration system to select between predefined surround-sound emission modes, said modes activating and deactivating transducers for the emission of specific channels of the surround-sound.

4. The audio system of claim 3 wherein the configuration system selects between emission modes of a left and right channel of the surround-sound.

5. The audio system of claim 4 wherein the configuration system is adapted to switch the emission of the left and right channel to the left and right transducers, left and right columns of transducers of the phased array, the full phased array or a combination thereof, depending on a setting of external control signals.