Patent ID: 7853025

Claim:
An audio system for use in a vehicle having a roof, the system comprising: a headliner adapted to be mounted adjacent the roof so as to underlie the roof and shield the roof from view, the headliner having an upper surface and a sound-radiating, lower surface; a source of audio signals; an array of electromagnetic transducer assemblies supported at the upper surface of the headliner, wherein each of the electromagnetic transducer assemblies includes a base supported by the upper surface of the headliner, a coil supported by the base, a spider supported by the base, and a permanent magnet supported by the spider; signal processing circuitry coupled to the electromagnetic transducer assemblies for processing the audio signals to obtain processed audio signals wherein the coils and the spider-supported permanent magnets of the electromagnetic transducer assemblies cooperate to convert the processed audio signals into mechanical motion of corresponding zones of the headliner and wherein the headliner is made of a material which is sufficiently stiff to support the array of electromagnetic transducers and sufficiently flexible and low in density so that the headliner radiates acoustic power into the interior of the vehicle with a frequency range defined by a lower limit of 100 hertz or less and an upper limit of 12 kilohertz or more and the processed audio signals at a low end of the frequency range are matched to the processed audio signals at mid and high ends of the frequency range, wherein the headliner material has a flexural modulus between 1E7PA and 4E9PA and a density of between 100 and 800 kg/m3.