An acoustic device comprising a diaphragm (10) having an area and having an
operating frequency range and the diaphragm (10) being such that it has resonant
modes in the
operating frequency range, an electro-mechanical
transducer having a drive part coupled to the diaphragm (10) and adapted to exchange energy with the diaphragm, and at least one
mechanical impedance means (20,22,24) coupled to or integral with the diaphragm, the positioning and
mass of the drive part (26) of the
transducer and of the at least one
mechanical impedance means (20,22,24) being such that the net transverse
modal velocity over the area of the diaphragm (10) tends to zero.A method of making an acoustic device having a diaphragm having an area and having an
operating frequency range which includes the
piston-to-
modal transition, comprising choosing the diaphragm parameters such that it has resonant
modes in the operating frequency range,
coupling a drive part of an electro-mechanical
transducer to the diaphragm to exchange energy with the diaphragm, adding at least one
mechanical impedance means to the diaphragm, and selecting the positioning and
mass of the drive part of the transducer and the positioning and parameters of the at least one mechanical impedance means so that the net transverse
modal velocity over the area tends to zero.