[tortugaranger]

I'd be interested in any thoughts or expressions of interest were we to produce a DIY or finished speaker cabinet with a curved enclosure (box) plus flat front baffle.

Curved enclosures are generally considered superior to rectangular enclosures since the pressure waves coming off the back of the drivers are far less likely to reflect off the back of the cabinet and interact with the driver.  However, fabricating curved cabinets is quite challenging without specialized equipment.

We have a large format CNC machine that could be put to use cutting out curved (180 degree) enclosure segments that could then be stacked/glued forming the body/back of the enclosure. Materials could vary from very cheap strand board, to MDF to high grade plywoods. Enclosure volume would depend on the height of the stack. For very large volume speaker enclosures we might use a larger (wider and/or deeper) segment size.

Options might include providing a box full of assemble-yourself segments including top/bottom and baffle, a fully assembled and unfinished cabinet, or a totally finished cabinet with veneer etc. Baffle driver/port openings would be cut to spec.

Thanks for your time and consideration.

Regards,
Morten 

[glynnw]

You'll be stepping into a VERY competitive field.  For the past few years I have found open baffle designs more to my liking.  Perhaps custom curved front baffles - could you make something about 18" x 40" and a couple inches thick with a slightly curved face?  More to the point, could you do it cheaply?

[tortugaranger]

You'll be stepping into a VERY competitive field.  For the past few years I have found open baffle designs more to my liking.  Perhaps custom curved front baffles - could you make something about 18" x 40" and a couple inches thick with a slightly curved face?  More to the point, could you do it cheaply?

To be clear, I've no interest in making conventional speaker enclosures which is WAY too competitive a market. Nor do I plan to get into the speaker biz generally. I would only venture into this with something uniquely custom or otherwise not easily available.

To your question, yes, could fabricate a slightly curved 2" thick baffle 18" wide by 40" long. As to cost that starts with materials which goes all the way from crap strand board to solid exotic wood. I would have to price it out. As to whether it would be viewed as cheap or not is always an interesting question. 

Curious, what's the advantage of a "curved" open baffle?

[glynnw]

Just 'cause it would look cool?  Is that a good answer?  I have seen some writing to the effect that a curved face will disperse sound better - similar to why we may round off corners on cabinets.  My speakers are a simplified version of the Tiny Alnico Open Baffle made from plans on the Lowther site.  Their plans call for a baffle about 2" thick in the middle that tapers down to about an inch or so on each side - I just used flat MDF for mine.  Please don't put any effort into research on this on my account - I just did my finances and there will be no purchases for a while.