Various inventive features are disclosed for efficiently generating regulation-compliant audible alerts, including but not limited to 520 Hz square wave alert/alarm signals, using an audio speaker. One such feature involves the use of a non-linear amplifier in combination with a voltage boost regulator to efficiently drive the audio speaker. Another feature involves speaker enclosure designs that effectively boost the output of the audio speaker, particularly at relatively low frequencies. These and other features may be used individually or combination in a given alarm-generation device or system to enable regulation-compliant audible alerts to be generated using conventional batteries, such as AA alkaline batteries. Various examples of efficiently generated regulation-compliant audible alerts and further enhancing such audible alerts by utilizing speaker enclosure designs are provided.