View Full Version : Open Baffle Speakers
istari_knight
03-09-2012, 15:13
Do open baffle speakers have to be placed away from walls ? I really want to build some open baffles probably using Saba greencones (winter project!) but my room is quite small so speakers have to be placed inches from the rear wall :(
Will this be a major issue with open baffles ?
A quite detailed article here:
http://www.hi-fiworld.co.uk/loudspeakers/68-technology/139-designing-loudspeakers-part-20-open-baffle-room-responses.html
istari_knight
03-09-2012, 15:41
A quite detailed article here:
http://www.hi-fiworld.co.uk/loudspeakers/68-technology/139-designing-loudspeakers-part-20-open-baffle-room-responses.html
Ta, I'll have a read :)
Will this be a major issue with open baffles ?
In short - yes, rather. You could cover the back wall with damping material - but hardly a good looking solution and starting to become a box speaker without sides.
istari_knight
03-09-2012, 17:11
Hmm maybe scrap that idea then ! .... What about resonant cabinets ?
Summint like this : http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/greencones.htm
Certainly look nice if nothing else :eyebrows:
Hmm...well, in concept, they are pretty much the diametric opposite of an open baffle speaker. To be honest, I would be surprised if they worked well close to a room boundary either.
istari_knight
03-09-2012, 17:22
Ahh okay, Its just I've got a pair of greencone tweeters & was considering buying the matching 8" and doing something with them but it looks like they really arent suitable for what I want.
Cheers :)
I have a set of Transcription Audio open baffle speakers that sound great with my 211 amp. There is an open baffle forum here:
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?board=90.0
jandl100
03-09-2012, 21:36
In short - yes, rather. You could cover the back wall with damping material - but hardly a good looking solution and starting to become a box speaker without sides.
Yup, that's spot-on.
My MBL's omni mid and high freq drivers are kind of open baffles, and sound absorbing panels on the rear wall behind them totally buggered up the benefits! I ended up removing all absorption from the rear walls to get the best sound.
And like (other) OB speakers, they like a bit of space behind and around them.
A Wammer friend of mine has OB speakers - and he has them well out into the room.
Sorry James, but I don't think OBs are best suited close to a wall in a small room. :(
Ahh okay, Its just I've got a pair of greencone tweeters & was considering buying the matching 8" and doing something with them but it looks like they really arent suitable for what I want.
Cheers :)
You could try building them into a more rigid and damped cabinet - they don't have to be in a thin walled constructin.
you may find that they work quite well close to the wall, especially if they are at an angle and not parallel to the wall, but only if the rear of the baffle is well damped... you may be quite suprised with the result, in my experence undamped baffles neet a bit of space around them,
carpeting the back of the panel/baffle works wonders.. but use good carpet.
my present baffles have one of the 18's with the magnet an inch from the wall,
those green cones can sound really sweet in open baffle, give it a go at least
istari_knight
04-09-2012, 13:15
Thanks for all the advice chaps, I will do something with them but will just have to think long & hard about what.
I'll have to get in touch with people that have built/use them and find out how they work best for them.
To be honest, I've heard a lot of dipole speakers and have been quite profoundly disappointed by the cone driver versions I have heard - even the supposed spatial advantage of dipole design was absent!
Steve suggestion is good option
My room is not big 4.3m by 3.3 and work well in mine but does help having angled ceiling in the loft.
Usually with most designs they need a meter away from the wall
They nice drivers really fast and open fabolus with acoustic but not great with some of the music I enjoy
I have a friend in southern Finland who's really into open baffle speakers. You can see some of his speakers at following link even unfortunately it's mostly in finnish.
http://www.inner-magazines.com/news/16/68/PHY-Feastrex-Supravox/
I heard the open baffles with Feastrex and Supravox drivers with some tweaks done to the upper baffle shape (suggested by Tim De Paravinci btw) and they were really good. Especially the bass was impressively fast, accurate and solid going also fairly low. I'm pretty sure that the field-coil Supravox drivers were to blame for this! Perhaps someday I have to try some field-coil frivers to replace my Altec 416's at my Onken cabinets.. :)
What about building them into the wall and using the wall as the baffle?
It may not be ideal but it would let the drivers move freely - adjoining room door open or not.
I did something similar on my boat with dual concentrics mounted in a well braced 1" ply bulkhead backing onto a cavity which led to the engine room and bilges which are of course also vented to the outside. Pretty good sound with a great sense of freedom that comes with open baffles.
Something like this perhaps?
http://www.6moons.com/industryfeatures/phy/phy.html
I know that there is one system in Finland using similatr method of installation but haven't spoke to anyone who has heard that. At least for what I know..
The Sabas do have a very endearing sound. Whether you build them into a wall or as OBs you'll get rid of the sound of the box speaker. Once you get used to the sound of a speaker without a boxy sound you'll always hear it in traditional speakers for evermore so be prepared for this!
Ali Tait
11-09-2012, 17:55
Aye, you're not wrong there!
falcoron
11-09-2012, 18:05
The Sabas do have a very endearing sound. Whether you build them into a wall or as OBs you'll get rid of the sound of the box speaker. Once you get used to the sound of a speaker without a boxy sound you'll always hear it in traditional speakers for evermore so be prepared for this!
Yep its the Audiophile Crack cocaine, dont try if you dont want hooked...sniff!
realysm42
11-09-2012, 18:22
I don't get it; if they're so good, how come you hardly ever see them made by the big boys?
Btw, I can see why it would sound better than no box, I just don't understand the lack of uptake?
Ali Tait
11-09-2012, 18:45
Size basically. Also the drivers are pricey compared to those used in most commercial designs, so they would cost a lot!
realysm42
11-09-2012, 18:51
Oh right, they're specifically designed for open baffles? I thought you could use what you like...
Ali Tait
11-09-2012, 19:00
No, they need to have the correct parameters, but that's not what I meant. Take my OB's for instance. They use a Visaton B200 and a pair of Eminence Alpha 15 inch woofers per side. Total cost of drivers alone around £400. To use drivers costing that much in a commercial design, I reckon you'd be looking at several k at least.
And then if you replace the Visaton B200s with some Feastrex drivers and and Eminence woofers with Supravox field-coil ones etc, the drivers alone might be beyond the 10k mark and we have not even started with the baffle itself or the XOs and stuff.
For the big boys something like that might do the trick I'm guessing..:)
The Grand Wazoo
11-09-2012, 19:25
Let's not forget that this is not by any means a new thing!
Let's not forget that this is not by any means a new thing!
Indeed, it's probably the oldest way to mount speakers/drivers!
Unless you have a big listening room open baffles tend not to be appreciated by she who must be obeyed.Troels Gravesen has some good open baffle stuff on his website,I have a Wharfedale SFB3 from the days before stereo became the in thing amazing what they were able to make 55 years ago.
Do open baffle speakers have to be placed away from walls ? I really want to build some open baffles probably using Saba greencones (winter project!) but my room is quite small so speakers have to be placed inches from the rear wall :(
Will this be a major issue with open baffles ?
Hello,
I've built an open baffle speaker from the Saba green cones and I achieved the best sound when I placed them around 1m from the rear wall. I used a Saba greencone tweeter as well. The mid and highs were wonderful but you have to support it with good badd driver.
I didn't have the possibility to place them is reso box but I have a pair of Philips 9710 speakers in their original Philips reso box and that also needs to be slightly moved away from the rear wall. If I have to compare their sound the Saba in OB sounded much-much better than the 9710 in reso box.
I also tried the 9710 on open baffle. The mids were nice, it had more bass but not enough and I was missing the high frequencies.
Now I am planning to build an OB with Isophon Orchester loudspeakers and I would also like to try them in reflex cabinet.
I hope I could help.
Unless you have a big listening room open baffles tend not to be appreciated by she who must be obeyed.Troels Gravesen has some good open baffle stuff on his website,I have a Wharfedale SFB3 from the days before stereo became the in thing amazing what they were able to make 55 years ago.
Could you post some photos of your SFB3? My dream was to once get a nice pair but they are hardly available in Hungary :-(
Also check this page. This Polish guy experimented a lot with OB and actually his main speakers are OB: http://lampizator.eu/SPEAKERS/PROJECTS/P19/P19%20alnico%20open%20baffle.html
http://lampizator.eu/SPEAKERS/PROJECTS/P24/P24_monster_speakers_raal_altec_lansing.html
http://lampizator.eu/SPEAKERS/PROJECTS/Speaker%20projects.html
istari_knight
13-09-2012, 15:43
Wow only just noticed this thread had a load more replies !
Some food for thought but it would appear open baffles / reso cabinets do need air to breath. My room is a real pain as the speakers have to be hard against the back wall. I've only managed to get AR/rega/70's mordaunt shorts to work so far & they are all sealed boxes.
Need to look at some infinite baffle projects methinks (if there are any!?)
IMG]http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h258/cityopticians/photo-21.jpghttp://[/IMG] Hopefully here is a SFB3 ,tis a sad and loneley mono example.
IMG]http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h258/cityopticians/photo-21.jpghttp://[/IMG] Hopefully here is a SFB3 ,tis a sad and loneley mono example.
Thanks a lot for the photo. Even though it is only 1 speaker (mono) it looks wonderful. Are the speakers intact?
All the drivers needed new surrounds and the 10 inch needed a new cone (Wembley Loudspeakers)so it is operational, how it sounds compared to when it was made is another matter.The guy i bought it from was the original purchaser who had replaced it with Quad ELS57s when stereo became the in thing.
All the drivers needed new surrounds and the 10 inch needed a new cone (Wembley Loudspeakers)so it is operational, how it sounds compared to when it was made is another matter.The guy i bought it from was the original purchaser who had replaced it with Quad ELS57s when stereo became the in thing.
I've only heard them from a video and they sounded nice, but it is hard to judge it from a video :-)
What is your opinion about your speaker?
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.3 Copyright © 2026 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.