'Open baffle' means 'not closed'. The baffle may be a narrow plate (of MDF of other wood) just large enough to hold the drivers, or it may be somewhat elaborate, as my angled-back wings attached to 11"-wide frontplates are. But the defining principle is 'not closed'.
The other day I saw a system composed of a half-dozen 6X9s with a tweeter between the 3rd and 4th drivers...I guess it was a hybrid of line-array and MTM principles...with no baffle or plate whatever; the 7 drivers were fastened to 4 vertical rods. Unfortunately this system sounded very thin in the lower frequencies and required lots of support in the lower-midrange and bass via 2 powered woofers; it sounded anything but coherent.
You're certainly correct that the slimmer the baffle, the more the lower frequencies generated by the drivers are lost to wrap-around cancellation.
AudioCircles has an Open-Baffle Forum... http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/index.php?board=90.0 . You might look around there and see what others have done.
I think I sent you pics of my system; the next (= 3rd AND LAST!) version of the baffles will be much narrower overall, which will require more equalization to flatten the response and create the tonality I want.
.
The other day I saw a system composed of a half-dozen 6X9s with a tweeter between the 3rd and 4th drivers...I guess it was a hybrid of line-array and MTM principles...with no baffle or plate whatever; the 7 drivers were fastened to 4 vertical rods. Unfortunately this system sounded very thin in the lower frequencies and required lots of support in the lower-midrange and bass via 2 powered woofers; it sounded anything but coherent.
You're certainly correct that the slimmer the baffle, the more the lower frequencies generated by the drivers are lost to wrap-around cancellation.
AudioCircles has an Open-Baffle Forum... http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/index.php?board=90.0 . You might look around there and see what others have done.
I think I sent you pics of my system; the next (= 3rd AND LAST!) version of the baffles will be much narrower overall, which will require more equalization to flatten the response and create the tonality I want.
.