Infinite bafflement?

You know, I've always wondered if Acoustic Suspension and Infinite Baffle were exactly the same principle or if there was some difference.. I suspect that a woofer in Acoustic Suspension design has a looser spider and higher compliance since the air restores the excusion, whereas infinite baffle may be a large sealed enclosure where a perfect seal is not as crucial?? anyone else?

"Infinite baffle" is where the front wave emanating from a driver is completely separated from the back wave... as in, installing your woofer on the front wall of your house...

In real life, it usually means that the low freq driver is installed in a very large sealed cabinet -- large enough so that the pressure produced by the cone's movement produces an insignificant amount of noise compared to the actual music content.

An infinite baffle is a very large enclosure (even a closet) compared to an acoustic suspension system. The old Bozaks were an example of an infinite baffle design. The drivers did not have a loose suspension.

is an elctrostatic speaker which is enclosureless an example of an infinite baffle speaker ?

Gregm, So a sealed cabinet performs in fact as an infinite baffle? But with a sealed cabinet one has to do with resonances and standing waves within the cabinet, which are non existent if there is an "open" baffle design, like the Jamo Reference speakers.

Chris