Resonado takes speakers to a brave new form factor – TechCrunch

There are plenty of places where traditional speakers don’t have enough room to do their thing. The traditional solution is to just put more, smaller speakers into the spaces, but Resonado Labs is taking a different approach, and showing off its Flat Core Speaker tech. The speakers are, in the first instance, going to find their way into Airstream RVs and cars from various car manufacturers.

“Traditional round speakers have been the industry standard for the past 100 years. As consumer electronics have become slimmer with a more minimalist aesthetic, the audio industry developed speaker types with an oval or racetrack form to better fit slim products,” explains Brian Youngil Cho, CEO at Resonado, summarizing the raison d’etre for his company. “The motors used to power these speakers never changed to accommodate the new speaker shape.”

The company has developed a driver with bar magnets and a flat voice coil attached to a flat racetrack diaphragm. It claims that the speakers offer a smoother force distribution, and posits that this gives a much better sound from a sleeker package.

At CES, the company is showing off a demo it built for Hyundai, alongside products for the living room of the future. One such innovation is a slim soundbar with a “cinematic sound experience,” which the company claims means it doesn’ require a separate subwoofer. It is also showing off an ultra-narrow side-firing speaker assembly aimed at premium televisions, a powerful smart speaker and an experiential armchair with immersive spatial audio.

Resonado showed off its Airstream-integrated speaker system, promising more sound with higher quality, in a smaller package. Image Crfedits: Resonado

This summer, the company launched its first commercial product in collaboration with RV maker Airstream.

“We have always seen ourselves as trailblazers in the recreational vehicle industry, pushing the boundaries of innovation in every detail of our vehicles to optimize what matters most to our customers,” said Airstream VP of Sales Justin Humphreys of the company’s collaboration. “Implementing Resonado Labs’ breakthrough audio technology into our touring coaches continues our legacy of placing a high value on product design while offering our customers the best performance aspects possible.”