A method and apparatus for providing simultaneous enhancement of transmission loss and absorption coefficient using activated cavities is presented. A layer of material is provided, and a backing plate having a plurality of cavities on the top surface of said backing plate, is disposed adjacent a top surface of said layer of material. A screen is disposed along the top surface of said cavities on said backing plate and at least one cavity includes an actuator disposed within the cavity and a control system receiving a signal from the microphone and receiving a signal from the accelerometer and providing a drive signal to the actuator to provide an acoustic output to provide simultaneous insertion loss and absorption which serves to minimize a linear combination of the signal from the microphone and the signal from the accelerometer.