How many 'listen outside of the box' design?


Whether I owned electrostats or open baffle designs the majority of my audio life I've owned boxless speakers. My choices were made in part due to a logic of removing a 'box' from the equation of having to interact with a room. The more I thought about it it seemed a very logical choice. Why enter a speaker into a box and then have to deal with the resonation of the speaker interacting with the box and the room? I'm not saying successful box designs haven't been built, what I'm suggesting is box designs seem a more complicated way to achieve true room integration. I've discovered, dollar for dollar, I've exceeded most box designs. How many think as I do, or have experienced similar results based upon experimentation?
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Showing 1 response by apollo66

For years I listened to box speakers, but then tried a pair of Quad 63's for awhile.

I loved the Quads on small-scale works, chiefly classical and jazz. Their coherence was breathtaking. But they fell flat on large-scale stuff, orchestral and operatic. And they were a disaster on rock. I tried a pair of good powered subs with them, but never got the combination to integrate well.

I eventually went back to boxes and never regretted it. I think it is easier to get good full-range response and achieve good room integration with a well-designed box speaker than with a planar design. Maybe that's why the majority of high-end speaker designers go for boxes.

I am very happy with my current speakers and have no plans to change them. But I would love to hear some modern Magnepans, just to see what the fuss is all about. But that's not likely, as I would have to travel several hundred miles to do so.

Anyway, whatever speaker turns you on, go for it!