An electromagnetic actuator is disclosed which is especially suitable for active vibration control applications. The actuator may be either of the moving coil (C2) or moving magnet (M1, M3) type so that a moving element (M1, M3, C2) undergoes reciprocal motion in response to an electrical input signal. The invention allows the force of the moving element to be linearly related to the amplitude and direction of the input current with a high degree of efficiency. In one embodiment, the moving element is decoupled from any mechanical load so as to produce reaction forces which may be used to cancel vibrational forces.