[Tyson]

Most enclosures are simple rectangles.  Loudspeakers are often sized to fit the drivers on the front baffle and meet a simple volume formula.  Floor standers usually end up acting more like a pipe than than the intended sealed or ported design.  Sound bounces off the back wall and out through the thin walled driver cone. 

Open baffles are mindlessly simple.  Most musical instruments don't radiate sound front and back so the concept isn't valid. 

Most unamplified instruments are omnidirectional so OB is a closer approach than box speakers.

[Peter J]

Open baffles are mindlessly simple.  Most musical instruments don't radiate sound front and back so the concept isn't valid.

You know JLM, that sounds pretty closed minded. Seems to me concepts are just that...concepts. Aren't new ideas just what you're hinting at?  There are many implementations of open baffle. To suggest it's all invalid seems more like your personal prejudice.

And the radiation of instruments? How does that say anything about speaker design? It's all synthetic reproduction at best. Seems to me if you're going down that road you'd start with microphones used to record since we really can't record what we hear anyway. We so want to quantify and nail down something that's a complex interaction between ears and brain. I don't find that tack to enhance my enjoyment of music...but that's me.

C'mon folks, let's open our minds. Since my forte is woodworking that's what I'm willing to bring to this table. Let's redesign speaker thinking ala JLM's original post.



 

[Peter J]

Has anyone ventured into 3D printing for speaker cabinets? It would seem to have creative potential, allowing complete 3D design freedom while being less complex than CAD cutting and lamination processes.

It's been done. Google will lead you to many examples. There are limitations there though.  Stability of material, size and expense of printer itself and the actual print time. Seems that particular technology is in its fledgling stages so I look forward to the future. Even houses are being constructed using 3D printing tech and concrete as the medium.

It's a brave new world. Unfortunately, the speaker world is relatively small.

[FullRangeMan]

In all these years of audio since the 1970s the best project I have seen was this below by an AC member probably Paul Hines I not sure, it joint OB, Line Array and CrossOverless, the others are commercial products made to profit.
Superb, highly recommended, congratulations to Paul 

[S Clark]

In all these years of audio since the 1970s the best project I have seen was this below by an AC member probably Paul Hines I not sure, it joint OB, Line Array and CrossOverless, the others are commercial products made to profit.
Superb, highly recommended, congratulations to Paul 

That may sound good to your ears, but it's going to comb filter like crazy. It's more complicated than that.   

[FullRangeMan]

That may sound good to your ears, but it's going to comb filter like crazy. It's more complicated than that.   

Comb Filter is a very variable effect, it has many variables such as:
- varies with the frequency
- varies with the type of music
- varies according the room
- varies from person to person (brain)
Thank God I have never heard this anomaly in my small room and I dont know anyone who has heard Comb Filter.

[S Clark]

Comb Filter is a very variable effect, it has many variables such as:
- varies with the frequency  yes
- varies with the type of music  no
- varies according the room  no
- varies from person to person (brain)  no
Thank God I have never heard this anomaly in my small room and I dont know anyone who has heard Comb Filter.

[JLM]

The B&W Nautilus (the one with the curly bass section) is one of better practical designs I've seen (but not heard).

[AllanS]

  Revel M, F, and Performa book and floor standers all appear to use variations on the same theme of curved enclosures.  I spent a month auditioning the smallest of the bunch (M105) and was most impressed with how solid the enclosure was.  They sounded good and would still be sitting upstairs had it not been for quality control (cosmetic) and how cheaply the rest of it was executed.  Their budget compromises and therefore design priority obviously favored the enclosure.

  My limited experience and the intimate relationship between Revel, Harman, Floyd Toole, and NRC suggests to me that enclosures are a significant concern but manageable with good design/engineering.  Of course that comes with the question of what has to be compromised to hit price points even when acknowledging economies of scale.

  All this is especially important to someone like me who lacks critical listening skills/experience and isn’t blessed with golden ears.  It can somewhat generalized to other audio bits and pieces and comes down to a question of who to trust when considering gear.

[WGH]

Because dumb works almost everywhere:
In a boat, with a goat, in the rain, in the dark and on the train, in a car and in a tree, hey are so good so good you see.
So I listen to them in a box, with a fox...
and in a house. *


Not-Dumb speakers can have even bigger placement and listening problems than box speakers. Sit here, don't move your head, only one person at a time please.

I heard the Vivid Audio G2 Giya at an early RMAF, it could have been 2010. Amazing not-dumb design but the side mounted woofers really did strange things in that room, even though it was one of the big downstairs suites. The Vandersteen and Salk rooms which featured dumb speaker designs sounded much better.




* https://seuss.fandom.com/wiki/I_like_Green_Eggs_and_Ham

[JLM]

We become conditioned to various parameters, like particular room size/shapes, or style of loudspeakers.  Open baffle fans have concerns about rear wave reflections, which they should, yet 99% of box loudspeaker fans have no concerns about the rear cabinet wall just inches away reflecting sound directly back through the thin largely acoustically transparent driver cone. 

[Early B.]

We become conditioned to various parameters, like particular room size/shapes, or style of loudspeakers.  Open baffle fans have concerns about rear wave reflections, which they should, yet 99% of box loudspeaker fans have no concerns about the rear cabinet wall just inches away reflecting sound directly back through the thin largely acoustically transparent driver cone.

This occurs frequently on audiocircle -- someone makes a big deal out of a single parameter and ignores the other 300 design considerations. It's like proposing with a flawless, 5 ct. diamond ring and she complains about the box it came in.     

[Elizabeth]

Magnepan..   Magnepan,

[dpatters]

I love my dumb enclosures!

Don P.

[poseidonsvoice]

I love my dumb enclosures too 





Best,
Anand.

[Tyson]

I love my dumb enclosures!

Don P.

Vapor is one of the brands I really like because they look like a rectangular box on the outside but are not a rectangular box on the inside. 

[jtwrace]

I love my dumb enclosures too 
Best,
Anand.

Me too!

 

[dpatters]

Vapor is one of the brands I really like because they look like a rectangular box on the outside but are not a rectangular box on the inside. 

Thanks Tyson. Not many are familiar with the complexity of the Vapor cabinets. Stacked CNC birch plywood in a transmission line design. Upper modules are totally separate cabinets.

Don P

[JLM]

I should have clarified, "Why are the interior of most loudspeaker enclosure shapes so dumb? (just rectangular)".

[Tyson]

I should have clarified, "Why are the interior of most loudspeaker enclosure shapes so dumb? (just rectangular)".

Complex interiors are usually heavier.  And more complicated to build.  And more expensive from a materials standpoint.  So it’s possible but expensive.  You tend to see it used in ultra high end speakers where the extra cost can be recouped.