Would there be any advantage in having a cabinet floating independently around a speaker unit that is rigidly fixed in space? I believe Naim and Mordaunt-Short used to make such devices years ago. Now that the Foam Core Crew have shown us how to make lightweight cabinets, and with the easier availability of strong sealants such as silicone, it should be simpler to DIY such a device. Imagine a base ported enclosure such as a Metronome, with a speaker unit mounted on a pole up the middle, flexibly sealed at their interface. This may be too much trouble for too little return, but worth thinking about? It would mean that your baffle could be arranged for best sonic result now it is relieved of the structural duties of housing a heavy vibrating object.
Cheers Steve
Cheers Steve
It's exactly the opposite
The speaker has to be firmly fixed on something
and let only the membrane move
Otherwise...
( that's why I don't put any sealant between the speaker and the 'baffle', because it allows movement; speakers with 4 holes
for screws are also mechanically instable )
The speaker has to be firmly fixed on something
and let only the membrane move
Otherwise...
( that's why I don't put any sealant between the speaker and the 'baffle', because it allows movement; speakers with 4 holes
for screws are also mechanically instable )
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Have you seen the "floating" speaker where there is a second surround on the outside of the speaker frame and the speaker is attached to the enclosure by the outter surround letting the whole speaker move as a sub bass unit while the cone still produces full range as used in some portable wireless speakers . See http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/full-range/236219-clever-bass-small-wireless-portable-speaker.html
let's see - wouldn't that be "suspended" (or even "hung"
) ? "floating" suggests resting on the surface of a liquid or in mid air, without any additional physical support
That's really just the latest incarnation of the Altec Biflex system. I think the op was talking about fixing the driver to something like and OB board that was somehow wrapped by an enclosure that somehow sealed off the front and back waves and was not rigidly attached to the driver basket. Off the top of my head, I can't see how that could be done without allowing interference between the waves. ChrisB would know more about a possible benefit, I am just thinking about its construction.
well, the virtual images of reproduced music might "float" (as in rest in space) , but I tend to think of music as "flying" i.e moving dynamically
Cal: methinks you accredit more to my understanding than is due
Chris, floating is right
It gives an exact idea, since it is a matter more terrestrial
as flying is over our heads, floating is subjected to gravity
It's also more predictable...are we talking about ufos ?? Something that floats in the air - if not a pure tone (sinus), everything (music) created by instruments has a start, a duration and an end . Like each note has an attack-sustain-decay in time
It gives an exact idea, since it is a matter more terrestrial
as flying is over our heads, floating is subjected to gravity
It's also more predictable...are we talking about ufos ?? Something that floats in the air - if not a pure tone (sinus), everything (music) created by instruments has a start, a duration and an end . Like each note has an attack-sustain-decay in time
Mordaunt Short 552 took this approach. The drivers and baffle were attached to a fixed frame which formed the floor stand. The rest of the cabinet was then suspended on this, with rubber seals to ensure sealing. It must have been expensive to make and only lasted one version, as far as I know.
The Eclipse does something similar - at least, I believe the speaker is coupled directly to the stand.
Hi-Fi speaker | ECLIPSE Home Audio Systems
The Eclipse does something similar - at least, I believe the speaker is coupled directly to the stand.
Hi-Fi speaker | ECLIPSE Home Audio Systems
OK, so we don't really have a floating cabinet, simply one that is loosely attached via seals. Again, I'll leave the possible benefit of that in Chris' hands, he really is the smart one.
One question though: At what point do we recognize the value of the exercise going from a fairly loose cabinet which would have at least wave cancellation to a more rigidly attached one with little to no cancellation? I'm yet to see where this is beneficial.
One question though: At what point do we recognize the value of the exercise going from a fairly loose cabinet which would have at least wave cancellation to a more rigidly attached one with little to no cancellation? I'm yet to see where this is beneficial.
That's the one Colin. Driver rigidly coupled to the floor, cabinet floating around it.
Cal, as well as possible sonic optimisation of the baffle, cabinet vibrations should not feed back directly to the speaker chassis. I'm thinking that the purpose of the cabinet is no longer structural, holding the drivers in position, but simply a device for containing and controlling a volume of air. Of course, moving the whole unit around would be difficult, which was probably one reason for the demise of the M-S, but we're DIYers; what do we care?
Cheers Steve
When I saw this thread, I thought wow, I can contribute here...
Pah! Frat boy bass.....As an ex swimming pool attendant, I will blow my whistle for bombing (cannonballing?), running, eating, petting and any music with Autotune. Currently staring at a tiny Karlson enclosure in foamboard. Then will return to this thread with a foamboard floating enclosure.
Cheers Steve
These are a pair of floating or suspended types .
I made them -the stand is I-kea Adapted -2 years ago
I made them -the stand is I-kea Adapted -2 years ago
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
This floating/hanging them is quite popular now. I've been thinking about it myself too. The bass (up to ?Hz) must have a solid foundation for heavy coils and membranes pumping the air. But let's say above 3-400Hz I can't see any movement of membranes, and they could be very light Al or Mg cones 4" or like that (or electrostat). Then it makes sense to hang them! The force of the coil movement is small compared to mass (and mass can be added). A driver without a frame acts as a dipole and that has it's own consequencies - good and bad . Some people make a board with 2-3 drivers and hang them in air, not so good for resonances.
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