Does open baffle suffer from baffle step?

[Drew Eckhardt]

Originally posted by 454Casull
So no BSC circuit is necessary for OB speakers?

Dipole output drops 6dB/octave with decreasing frequency plus there's a +6dB peak where the back and front waves combine in-phase.

Dipole roll-off can be corrected for by using (shelving) low-pass filters on the bass drivers (Linkwitz Orion, Phoenix, etc.) or very high-Q drivers where sensitivity decreases with increasing frequency (Bob Carver Amazing dipoles, probably Gillmore Audio).
Wide baffles can push the effect lower in frequency so you get away without equalization.

You can use notches to correct the peak or just cross-over lower to keep it out of the driver's pass band.

You really want to visit www.linkwitzlab.com

Baffle dimensions being significant compared to typical listening distances mean the cancellation isn't as complete as the math predicts, so you might get away with less correction.

John Kreskovsky and Siegfried Linkwitz both have measurements of this effect.

[Rudolf]

Originally posted by Drew Eckhardt
... plus there's a +6dB peak where the back and front waves combine in-phase.
...
You can use notches to correct the peak or just cross-over lower to keep it out of the driver's pass band.

This peak is only 6 dB for a driver in the center of a circular baffle. For "normal" baffles this peak can be sufficiently attenuated by positioning the driver off baffle center. Again EDGE is a nice tool to accomplish that.

Rudolf