AES Europe 2026

The Panel-shaped Bending Wave Loudspeaker was proposed
recently by Kawahara. The authors conducted an objective
evaluation of the diffusion characteristics of Bending Wave
Loudspeakers (BWL) using the degree of interaural
cross-correlation (DICC) in this paper.
Conventional speakers exhibit strong directionality;
rely on room reflections to create a spatial impression. In
contrast, BWLs are considered less susceptible to room
reflections due to complex mode vibrations across the
entire diaphragm.
To quantify this characteristic, the authors recorded sound
in a real-world environment using a head-and-torso
simulator (HATS); compared the BWL's DICC with that of a
conventional speaker.
The results showed that the BWL exhibited significantly
lower DICC values than conventional loudspeaker at the
front position (Center) under both broadband noise;
music conditions, confirming its high diffusivity.
Furthermore, this difference exceeded the Just Noticeable
Difference (JND) for spatial perception, suggesting it is
also significant to the human ear. In addition, analysis
separating early reflections; late reflections suggested
differences in diffusion characteristics between
conventional speakers; BWL.