[xero]

hello all,
i have been trying to understand the use of the ports on the front of the cs2.3 baffle.  the claim is that by using the ports they area able to increase the bass headroom by 4db!  what does this really mean? and are the ports a means of keeping the bass form the front from mixing / canceling with the bass from the back?  if this is the case it would seem that this is a very inefficient way of negating the cancellation affect, given that the port only allows 2/3 of the driver to be exposed.

or am i completely of base. 

look forward to hearing your comments.

xero

[Badwater]

See this thread on DIYAUDIO which is discussing these ports.  Very interesting.

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/multi-way/148303-emerald-physics.html

[zybar]

Interesting watching a vendor attack another vendor in a DIY forum...

George

[Duke]

My guess is that the "ports" help the bass by effectively increasing the path length from rear of woofer to front of woofer, and I think they will cause one narrow-band "glitch" and one broad-band "trend" in the frequency response curve.  Considering that the woofer cones are almost as wide as the front baffle, the increase in path length may well add 4 dB more bass headroom.  The system's DSP processing will take care of the glitch and the trend.

The ports will also modify the directivity below the crossover point, acting narrower virtual sources than the actual woofer cone.  This may factor into what Clayton is doing as well.

[zybar]

My guess is that the "ports" help the bass by effectively increasing the path length from rear of woofer to front of woofer, and I think they will cause one narrow-band "glitch" and one broad-band "trend" in the frequency response curve.  Considering that the woofer cones are almost as wide as the front baffle, the increase in path length may well add 4 dB more bass headroom.  The system's DSP processing will take care of the glitch and the trend.

The ports will also modify the directivity below the crossover point, acting narrower virtual sources than the actual woofer cone.  This may factor into what Clayton is doing as well.

Great post Duke.

Nice to see another vendor explain something and not attack it.   

George