Piezoelectric ceramics with compositions (Pb0.34Sr0.04) (Zr0.52Ti0.48)O-3 (PZT) and (Ba0.95Pb0.05) (Ti0.99Co0.01)O-3 (BT) were synthesized by conventional solid state reaction technique. Three series of 1-3 composites; PZT/monothane-A70, BT/monothane-A70 and PZT/araldite-F were fabricated by a modified align-and-fill technique using the above mentioned piezoceramic compositions. Each series of the fabricated composite comprise five samples with variable ceramic contents (12-35 vol.%) and four samples with fixed ceramic volume fraction (28%) and varied ceramic aspect ratio (0.34-1.00). Dielectric, elastic and resonant characteristics of theses samples were measured. Effects of active piezoceramic composition and polymer influence on the electrical and mechanical properties of fabricated composites as a function of ceramic volume fraction were investigated. Results revealed that PZT based composites exhibit superior properties due to high piezoelectric charge coefficient (d(33) similar to 335 pC/N) and high electromechanical coupling coefficient (k(33) similar to 67%) compared to those of BT composites. It was also observed that electromechanical properties of composites are highly affected by the stiffness of the passive polymer matrix. Low stiffness (C-33(D) similar to 21-55 GPa) PZT/monothane-A70 composites have better acoustic impedance (Z similar to 6-14 Mrayl), high piezoelectric charge coefficient (d(33) similar to 202-271 pC/N), high hydrostatic charge coefficient (d(h) similar to 136-171 pC/N), high hydrostatic voltage coefficient (g(h) similar to 33-114 x 10(-3) Vm/N) and high figure of merit (FOM similar to 4488-19,364 fm(2)/N) compared to PZT/araldite-F composites encompassing high stiffness (C-33(D) similar to 23-60 GPa). The influences of ceramic aspect ratio on the electrical properties of fabricated 1-3 composites are also discussed. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.