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Physics Question: Why does cabinet volume matter so much to bass response?

If you put the same 8' woofer into a bookshelf speaker or a floorstander, you will get a different frequency response.  Does anyone know what's happening with the air pressure on the inside of the cabinet to cause this to happen?  Does the woofer in the bigger cabinet have greater excursion, and therefore produce more amplitude?  

marined

Showing 2 responses by marined

marined OP
6 posts
 

I asked this exact question to Richard Vandersteen a few days ago.  I own his 5A's, and he literally has a section on his website called, "Ask Richard."  So i went ahead and asked him.  This was his response:

There are 100s of books and unlimited resources available online that will explain speaker design in detail for you.  I’m very busy and don’t have that kind of time.  RV

I managed to actually piss off Richard Vandersteen! Oops!

marined OP
6 posts
 

Are you guys saying that a woofer can extrude further into the room and therefore play louder in a larger cabinet?  Is that because the air pressure is lower in a larger cabinet, so it pulls less on the woofer as it moves foward?

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