[theranman]

Are you talking about a regular or folded horn design? My backside consists of a folded horn design and its sound diffraction characteristcs are aided greatly by the smooth curvature of its baffle. Unfortunately, there are inherent port noise problems associated with such designs.

[massappeal85]

Errr, sorry. What I mean is something like eminence's h290 specifically:

http://editweb.iglou.com/eminence/eminence/pages/products02/hf/horn.htm

Flush mounted on a baffle, what would a rounded edge do?

[JohnR]

The following thread may be of interest. Summary: 3/4" roundoffs do have a significant effect (for the better). Followups by PaulV also worth reading.

http://www.madisound.com/cgi-bin/discuss.cgi?read=253868

[Hank]

I suspected so.  And my new MLCS monster 1 1/4" roundover bit is wanting to be used.  (Jon's is begger, though - 1 1/2")

[KevinW]

I have also empirically found that larger roundovers make a difference.  I built a pair of speakers with 90 degree corners (no round or bevel), and then I made some add-on roundovers that can be installed or removed in a few seconds.  The larger the radius of the roundover, the better the sound.  It is more natural, lifelike, and the imaging is better.  Without the bevels, the sound made me cringe slightly.  Especially when removing a large radius, as the change is immediately apparent.

Note, the effect is subtle, and people not used to evaluating speakers probably won't even notice it.  It is a higher order effect that can be used to extract maximum performance from a speaker.  

It has been very interesting to experiment with different radii on my speakers, and I would encourage some DIY'ers to try using different setups just to see if you can hear the change.

[nathanm]

Would a square-finish baffle covered with an absorbent material such as foam or felt exhibit similar diffraction characteristics as a rounded baffle with just the wood?