looking to start experimenting with open baffle speakers

[bonsai171]

Hello, i have read quite a bit on this forum about open baffle speaker designs, and have been wondering what all the excitement is about.. The concept of open baffle seems like a great way to go- it is used on Vandersteen speakers.. a while back i heard a pair of the 1C's and the 2ces, and liked the openness of the midrange and overall clarity of the system, so it seemed like open baffle might be something to try. Is there a simple way to try the drivers in my current speakers on an open baffle? Also, how do you know what size baffle to use? Unfortunately i have no way to take measurements of the woofer, but i have specs for the tweeter.. The woofer is an 8" Advent from model 2002 speakers .. any info or advice about this idea is appreciated! Also, would it be possible to use some thick plywood as a temporary baffle to try this idea, without it affecting the sound too much? Tia

Dave

[sreten]

The simple answer if your c/o is designed for boxes , no.
(But its not that simple)

A standard good two-way with baffle step compensation will sound
mid bass heavy on an open baffle big enough for decent bass.

Conversely a cheap speaker ( or a less then well designed
expensive box speaker ) with no box BSC will have better mid
bass balance on a large open baffle.

For a 2 way - the bigger the baffle the more low bass you get.

The Vandersteens only have open baffle midrange in a 3-way,
and the sound is also due to adherence to 1st order crossovers.

sreten.

[bonsai171]

The crossover is even more simple than that. There is a single capacitor to crossover the tweeter- 4uf, and a coil to crossover the woofer. So are you saying that the crossover would have to be completely changed in order for it to work correctly? tia