A Highly Directional Loudspeaker for Surround Channel Soundbar Reproduction

It has been shown that a loudspeaker coupled to a long narrow pipe through which sound is radiated through a series of small spaced apertures can have narrow directivity. This paper describes a process by which this concept is practically applied for use in a soundbar for delivering sound to a listener indirectly by reflection from room surfaces. A model was developed and used to guide the process which revealed various sound quality issues for a basic design. With modifications a successful approach with narrow directional sound of an acceptable quality was found. Its architecture and performance are reported.