People who complain about the price and volume of a subwoofer for their car may have nothing to whine about thanks to new technologies that uses the rear glass window in place of an actual bass machine, reports MotorTrend.
Magna, an automotive supplier, spent four years developing a program to drown out exterior and engine noises. In their research, the company found that if they placed two exciters at the rear window's base and an amplifier to boost the signal, a diaphragm-type effect was made like that of a subwoofer.
The window needs to have some wiggle room however, to get this effect. A special sealant created by the supplier allows the window the move back and forth without any trouble.
"It is a whole new way to generate sound in a car," said Gregg Rizzo, Magna's product director, in The Detroit News. "It's like sitting inside a subwoofer box."
In addition, the bass won't waft over to other vehicles thanks to the nose-cancellation technology the woofer is based off of.
The supplier hopes to have the systems in cars by 2015 after automakers choose to feature it in some of their models.