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Boston Acoustics' new SST technology represents a significant breakthrough in thin panel speaker design. Their innovative design achieves the efficiency, power handling and sonic performance on par with conventional speakers, yet it does so in a speaker that is barely one-inch (28mm) thick.

The first product to incorporate the new SST technology is Boston Acoustics' newest addition to its DeskTopAudio suite, the BA7500. Specially designed for all desktop audio applications, including DVDs and PC games, the BA7500 can reproduce stereo, MP3, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and 4-channel gaming Surround Sound.

Technology Highlights

Flat, thin speaker designs are not new. Everything required to design and manufacture functional systems has been known for decades. However, they are not in wide use today because they fall into roughly two categories. The first are large, floor standing flat panel designs that use electrostatic or ribbon technology to provide excellent to superb sound quality, but they are expensive and despite their thin profile, they can not be placed flat against a wall because of the way they radiate sound. The second group are conventional moving coil designs that have used unconventional diaphragm materials in an attempt to deal with the inevitable flexure or ``breakup'' resonance modes of flat diaphragms. (It's no accident that most speakers use cones; the cone is an inherently stiff shape that resists flexure throughout most of its operating range.) None have succeeded well enough to be widely used in high performance audio applications.

Conventional flat-panel designs exhibit hundreds, even thousands, of unpredictable resonant vibration modes throughout their operating range, making their response very irregular and difficult to control. In contrast, Boston Acoustics' patent-pending Slimline Speaker Technology utilizes two separate concentric circular panels of different thickness and mass characteristics. Each panel exhibits only a few resonant modes in their respective frequency bands of interest. By analyzing and predicting where these resonant modes will occur, Boston engineers are able to place the frequency of modes of one panel closely to the frequency of the modes of the other panel. The net effect is beneficial mechanical crossover between the outer and inner panels, resulting in a very smooth, accurate frequency response, for clean, natural sound.

There are two other major advantages of Boston SST technology compared to existing flat-panel speakers: Boston SST drivers, being only 2`` in diameter, have much wider dispersion for more even sound coverage throughout the listening area than wider flat panel designs. Also, since Boston SST diaphragms are smaller and lighter than previous designs, they are more efficient, so they can play louder with less amplifier power.

Product Availability

The BA7500 will be sold through Gateway's direct retail channel and is immediately available. Early next year it will be available through Boston Acoustics' retail channels.

About Boston Acoustics

Boston Acoustics, Inc. (NASDAQ:BOSA) is a leading manufacturer and marketer of innovative, high-performance consumer audio entertainment products for the home, automotive and computer environments. Corporate headquarters are at 300 Jubilee Drive, Peabody, MA 01960, USA. The company can be reached at 978-538-5000. Please visit www.bostonacoustics.com for more information.

Contact:

     Press Contact:                    Product Contacts:
     Marianne Sabella                  Martin Harding
     Sabella Communications            Steve Feinstein
     508-435-2020                      Boston Acoustics
     marianne@sabellacomm.com          978-538-5000