What is it about OB's that you prefer?
Hi Jim
To be clear, I don't universally prefer OBs. There are good and bad examples of all kinds of speakers, and they all have design or acoustic "issues" that need to be addressed to get best results, albeit in different ways. And speakers are also used in many different rooms and with many different goals. My next project is a box speaker, for example... although not really conventional...
However, since you ask, one thing I do really like about OBs is that are easy to build, fun to play with, and very educational as well - you learn a great deal about how speakers interact acoustically with a room by building and measuring an OB (well, I did anyway). All other things being equal, I've found that OBs interact better with the acoustics of the room,
if they have enough space. That's a big if. It seems a lot easier to keep the bloat down in the bass, which is something I really hate although some people seem to like it. Measurably, I find it easier to get good results with OB subs than with sealed subs. And as a classical listener, I find that it's easier to get closer to what I consider to be realistic reproduction - but it has taken some time and there's a way to go still. If I had put as much effort into a box speaker would it have worked as well? Who knows - I suspect not, for theoretical reasons, but a) you never know until you try and b) there's only so many hours in a day
Keep well
JohnR
