Open Baffle loudspeakers
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My favourite loudspeakers are built using full-range untis. The best (in my ears) are those mounted in an open baffle.Many friends who listened to my open baffles where astonished to hear such an open and rich sound. However, this is not guaranteed! This can end up sounding worse. That is, if you may place an open baffle (women...), you won't be finished soon. Things have to be tuned at it. Not that it is sounding different than "normal" speakers, the thing is they'll let you hear anything... That means: everything that is wrong in you installation may come out wrong also! So if you decide in building these huge baffles, be aware of a "tuning period"!
What are "good" fullrange units? Hard to say, that is, they come in lots of varieties. Both new and old. In my opinion the "old stock" Philips are at least worth a try. If you can lay your hands on a Philips AD12202, get these! I use them currently and haven't (yet) heard better ones to use in an open baffle.Anyway, you'll need units with a very rigid surround. My AD12202 where especially designed by Philips to be used in an open baffle, they have a 101dB sensitivity, Fs of 45hz, go up to 18kHz and that with 12" diameter..... I don't have experience with all the full-range unit available (happy to..), but if it sounds "nosy" or as "in a tunnel", you'll obviously have a wrong unit for use in an open baffle...
My loudspeakers.The open baffle I built, is originally a PHY-HP design.The French founder, mr. Jalabert, has this openbaffle on his homepage for quite a long time.When I for the first time heard an opne system (no baffle then), I was immediately struck by its speed and open'ess. Though never herad the open baffle, I decided to giv it a try and built the monsters. They are made of 3 parts, connect to each other with pianohinges. The have a sandwich construction, using multilayer wood (triplex?) at the outside and MDF at the inside. Each panel is filled with bird-cage sand (=dry and very compact.), responsible for the 120kg weight of one system...By varying the angle of the 3 panels you can easily adjust the sound to the room. This is a very time taking process! A 2cm difference between right and left is audible.If you look at the pictures, it is easily understood why most of the people won't even think of asking if it may be placed in the living-room...If you may, DO IT! It will let you hear music as you've never heard it before (except for "live")
By extending the vertical parts of the frame you can integrate the stands. Best distance from ground to open baffle is 4cm. The wider side of the open baffle is at the outside of the installation. No extra damping is needed at the rear side. I use a thick velvet curtain to keep the neighbors from listening to my music and also to prevent sound reflecting as the open baffles are situated a bit too close to the wall.
Have fun in building these!
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