Illuminating speaker assembly

An illuminating speaker assembly for use in the passenger compartment of a vehicle, comprising:

• a flat panel speaker including a light-permeable, sound-producing panel, for converting electrical signals into sound waves;
• a variable color light source positioned within said flat panel speaker for generating light which passes through said light-permeable, sound-producing panel;
• and
• a controller coupled to said color variable light source for altering the color of light generated by said variable color light source.

A light-generating speaker assembly for use in the passenger compartment of a vehicle of the type which includes a source of potential, a source of audio electrical signals and a passenger compartment, comprising:

• a flat panel speaker assembly, comprising:
• a housing having a major opening therein mounted within the passenger compartment;
• a light-permeable, sound-producing panel coupled to said housing and across said major opening for producing sound waves;
• and
• a transducer mounted within said housing and having an input electrically coupled to the source of audio electrical signals and mechanically coupled to said light-permeable, sound-producing panel, for converting the audio electrical signals into acoustic energy and causing said light-permeable, sound-producing panel to vibrate;
• a controller positioned within said passenger compartment and coupled to said plurality of light-emitting diodes for selectively energizing said plurality of light-emitting diodes to alter the color of light passing through said light-permeable, sound-producing panel.