Voice Coil Focus: A Fresh Take on Green Audio 2023

Good intentions for sustainability, circularity, or simply reducing your carbon foot-print in the development or manufacturing stages not always produces the intended results. Mike Klasco reminds us how things are not always as simple as we would like, and that having good intentions and throwing empty claims might work on paper, but not actually work in the real world.

In this issue of Voice Coil, Mike Klasco shares his experience dealing with sustainability and other noble goals, an article that was greatly inspired by the effort to compile another updated Speaker Enclosure Vendor Directory for 2023. In Acoustic Patents, James Croft explains how Yamaha recently invented a clever way to use a Class-D amplifier to bend the infamous "Hofmann’s Iron Law." And Vance Dickason takes the new 10HX230 10" coaxial professional driver from Faital Pro to his Test Bench.

Following successful R&D and product development phases, Warwick Acoustics has entered 2023 with an accelerating program to commercialize its electroacoustic panel technology, focusing on the automotive industry. Warwick Acoustics is hiring and investing in facilities to support the substantial commercial pipeline under development. Warwick's electroAcoustic panels, already proven in high-end headphones, are now ready for car audio applications.

House of Marley, the eco-conscious lifestyle audio maker, launched the Rebel true wireless earbuds, in special collaboration with singer-songwriter and grandson to Bob Marley, Skip Marley. An expansion of House of Marley’s TWS collection, the Rebel earbuds provide extended battery life, wireless charging a stable comfortable fit, leading Bluetooth 5 connectivity and microphone performance, and a lightweight design using greener, recycled materials.

How many times we have seen displays full of the cheapest headphones, all wrapped in rigid plastic blisters that go straight into the trash? House of Marley once again leads by example with the launch of their Smile Jamaica Wireless 2 earbuds and the move to 100% recyclable paper fiber packaging. The entire package contents can now be put into the single mixed-paper recycle bin without the need to separate different materials, a common issue when it comes to the recycling process.

Vicoustic turned 250 tons of plastic waste into acoustic solutions - the equivalent to over 22 Million 500ml PET bottles - since it started using VicPET Wool as raw material. With VicPET Wool as the new primary raw material, Vicoustic is changing the acoustic panels market. Consisting of mainly recycled plastic waste (65%), VicPET Wool is specifically designed to optimize acoustic performance while not adding glue, fabric or chemical fire retardant. Focal-Naim America is the distributor for Vicoustic products in the USA and Canada.