Do ribbons need to breath?

[topher_m]

Hi

Hopefully this is not too stupid of question.

I am building a line array and have chamfered the back side of the baffle cutouts for the Seas woofers to not restrict airflow - doubly important I would think because I am using a thick 1 3/4" baffle.

I assumed I didn't need to do the same thing for the Fountek Neopro5i ribbons - the back of the driver is "closed" and I assume the same concept of airflow doesn't apply for a ribbon type tweeter.

But then I start to question my thinking.

Am I right that airflow on the tweeter is meaningless?

Thanks,
Chris

[OzMikeH]

yes, the displacement of a tweeter is very very small.

If the tweeters are less than 1 1/2 inches thick you don't even have to cut all the way through the baffle. Just drill a hole in the cavity for the wires.

Air circulation can help them stay cool but at the power levels in each driver in a line array it isn't worth worrying about.

[topher_m]

thanks so much

These are monster tweeters - something like 4 1/2" wide, 7 1/2" tall and about 4" deep but I have a nice cavity behind them for cooling.

Besides they even have heatsinks on them

Have a great day!!!