Open baffle speakers

@bache 

You are just being obtuse now. You are on some weird mission to denigrate OB speakers for some unknown (not really) reason.

I understand how to take measurements with a Radio Shack SPL meter and test tones. And I know all about the correction factors for that meter.

I was born at night, but it wasn't last night.

Spatial has some quite different views on OB.  They have a model which is open baffle/dipole for the woofers, and claims this is superior to conventional woofers because it reduces room interactions and modes, while it encloses the midrange and tweeter drivers so that the sound going backwards does not then reflect and add confusing information on sound location that would adversely affect imaging and muddle the sound.  The woofer claim is interesting because it is in keeping with what I have noticed with dipole panel speakers.  There is substantial cancellation at the sides that do reduce room interactions one does tend to get less boomy and uneven bass response.  I am less convince about not going OB with the midrange and tweeter because I tend to not mind the mid frequencies and highs from the back wave bouncing around the room adding to the reverberant field of sound, provided that the path length is 10 feet or more so the sound is perceived as an echo and will not be confused with the direct sound.

I own two sets of Open Baffle speakers - Legacy Empires and Jamo R909s. The R909s dont need it because of their design, but open baffles are capable of making a healthy amount of low end if you compensate for the low end drop with an EQ. Both of my OB go down into the 30s and kick drums sound huge on them. I dont know if its specifically the fact they’re open baffle, or simply the diameter of their woofers, but kick drums through literally all of my other speakers I have or have owned sound small in comparison. They’re also both extremely tight and have very even response in the low end and midbass... hilariously I think one of the best types of music for open baffles are dance music and modern pop like Tate McRae, when most people running these speakers are listening to orchestral and jazz. The quality and size of low end and midbass is just so good, and the trend in recent productions are large reverb washes and stereo fx that sound great on an open baffle’s soundstage.

Also on both of my OB vocals sound very big.

The R909s dont need it because of their design, but open baffles are capable of making a healthy amount of low end if you compensate for the low end drop with an EQ

@phasey Why do Reference 909 not need EQ because of their design? As far as I recall they're plain-jane, drivers-in-a-plank-style open baffle speakers. Although their woofers are quite substantial they should have the same low-end behavior as other, similarly designed open-baffle speakers like Caladans and such. Thanks!

Jamo R909 uses unusually sensitive woofers so they’re louder than the other drivers by default with a rising response, then a filter in the crossover is used to drop the level of the woofers at exactly the rate of their low end rolloff. The result is a passive open baffle speaker that doesnt need active EQ to make up for a drop in low end.