Ben Zenker

ZEN Audio Engineering

Benjamin Zenker, from the Technical University of Dresden, and founder of ZEN Audio Engineering, has been developing loudspeakers for more than 15 years. During the last three years, he has developed simple and robust methods to improve the acoustic quality of flat panel loudspeakers by increasing the low-frequency output, extending the upper frequ...

Flat panel loudspeakers are a promising alternative to conventional loudspeakers. In particular, quasi-omnidirectional radiation at higher frequencies is stressed as an advantage of these systems compared to conventional speaker systems. However, this advantage can also be considered a disadvantage. Compared to that from conventional speakers with...

The low-frequency performance of exciter-driven flat-panel loudspeakers is technically challenging. The lower modal density results in high deviations in the frequency response, and dips of more than 20 dB are possible. This paper presents an alternative approach for optimizing the modal behavior through the additional air spring effect of an irreg...

The low-frequency performance of loudspeakers is essential to the listener preference rating. To achieve the same low-frequency performance as conventional speakers, an optimized construction of a woofer-driven flat-panel loudspeaker was designed. The woofer radiates in a small air gap between the panel and the distance plate and excites the panel...

The paneled woofer design is a new concept to improve the low-frequency behavior of flat-panel loudspeakers. This paper focuses on the numerical optimization of the transducer resources, the panel properties, and the system construction. The low-frequency optimization is based on an electro-mechanical network model, by which the modal depending air...

During the monitoring of the behavior of different types of exciters attached to the same loudspeaker panel, significant deviations of the upper-frequency limit were discovered. These deviations depend on the resonance of the voice coil former and cannot be explained with the linear T/S parameters. This paper shows the indirect and direct measureme...

In the present study, it could be shown that by integration of a piezoceramic transducer in a fiber-reinforced door side panel, a flat loudspeaker can be realized. Taking into account the given restrictions, the integration position has been identified, where the geometry decouples the vibrating membrane from the supporting surface. With the help o...

Nowadays flat panel loudspeakers are a promising alternative to conventional loudspeakers. Especially the invisible integration, e.g. as a cabinet front or as a module inside the wall, offers new design options. This gives opportunities to integrate very large radiating surfaces and volumes into rooms without disturbing the architectural room desig...

The home entertainment market is growing, but connected devices like multi-room and streaming loudspeakers are increasingly replacing traditional audio systems. Compromises in the acoustic quality are made to satisfy additional requirements such as smaller, lighter and cheaper products. The number of smart speakers sold suggests that the customers...

Loudspeaker panels representing a class of loudspeakers, whose electrical, mechanical and acoustical properties differ completely from conventional loudspeakers. However, the acoustic properties are mostly associated with lower performance. The position of the excitation is one of the crucial parameters to optimize multiple parameters such as the f...

Loudspeaker panels, such as distributed mode loudspeakers (DML), are a promising alternative approach in loudspeaker design. DML have many advantages compared to pistonic loudspeakers. However, the frequency response is mostly associated with higher deviations. The position of the excitation is one parameter to optimize the frequency response. An e...

The frequency response of a Distributed Mode Loudspeaker (DML) is predominantly conditional to the selection of membrane materials, dimensions and exciter positioning. Optimization of the frequency response results in the emphasis on the equal distribution of modes. Simulation techniques provide the possibility to investigate the effect of material...