The real reason Sony’s new mini speakers are so powerful
By Mike Kobrin Posted 06.05.2008 at 2:50 pm 2 Comments

SRS-ZX1 Brian Klutch

Sony’s petite SRS-ZX1 computer speakers produce outsize bass for their dimensions (7.5 by 3.1 by 7 inches). But the company’s press release had us stumped. It said that the speakers amplify low tones by directing sound along a Möbius strip, a flat strip twisted 180 degrees and joined at the ends. One problem: A Möbius strip is a two-dimensional closed loop. How would sound get in or out?

U-Turn : The speakers boost bass by passing sound through a curved tube [above], not over a Möbius strip [right].  Paul Wootton
So we tore the speakers open to investigate. Instead of a Möbius strip, each speaker has a long C-shaped duct in the back that provides a larger space for low tones to resonate. The end of the duct is flared like a trumpet bell and seamlessly joins the speaker’s front face (behind the black grille) to minimize bass-distorting turbulence.

That smooth surface reminded someone at Sony of an obscure mathematical construct that’s related to a Möbius strip and, in a corporate game of Telephone, the information got twisted into describing the ducts themselves as having a “unique mobius-band shape.” Although the underlying concepts got muddled in the marketing, the impressive bass proves that Sony’s engineers were thinking clearly all along.

2 Comments

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Taio
06/06/08 at 6:28 am

I was oh so curious about the mobius-band previously being as i knew nothing about it but in this case i guess it dosent apply :). Sony has come out with some outstanding products but i will say first hand these speakers are worth the money. They have outstanding sound and suprising bass but to top it all off there compact, which any coputer maniac will know trying to conserve a large pc and all your other toys takes alot of space. For between $99.00 and $145.00 you cant go wrong bying speakers that are ten times there size.

~Taio~

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CobbEd
06/09/08 at 1:09 pm

Perhaps they were thinking of a Klein bottle -- a 3D version of the Möbius strip.



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