I was curious how low a 4" - 6" driver could get in an open baffle design if I'm sitting close at a desk.
Why it won't? Just use an equalizer! Problems with the rear wave? Enclose it!
Ahhh, now I understand! It's subtle but probably works like that. desktop and computer means that you seat very near to the speaker ( which speaker? a single 4-6" ? On a piece of wood ? 😆) so you'll hear direct from the source, then you hear the backwave ( 100% error signal ) bounced by the surfaces in vicinity, and again the reflections from the front emission, all those emissions not attenuated by distance ( and time, as sound decays...) as usually from stereo sources which we consider good from 1,5 m and up as ( in multi-way) the 'sound image' has to form ahead of the speakers, yes, integration of the sources as well as correct separation between L&R channels ...Oh, stereo!
fullrange ( well, those at Lil Audio sell those 15 or 18" but for desktop it's not feasible) does not marry with OB as basically OB works with HEAVY equalization - a shelving low pass filter. heavy eq means higher excursion which means intermodulation if the driver is asked to reproduce the treble.
The woofer has higher mass which is not well versed in moving fast. The external suspension surround plays a role, either, producing diffraction ( and in the wavelenght that produces issues to the dimension of the surround ) so the need of specialized drivers.
My situation is different than most in that I'm about 8-10' from the rear wall. My desk is sort of in the middle of the room.
How low do you think a quality 6" driver could get if there was no rear wave to contend with?
Such driver doesn't exist.
You can try a 6" like a Tang Band long stroke and pair it with a mid and a tweeter, or a little mid-tweeter.
Unluckily, those (sub) woofers are very low efficiency, but also little mid-tw are in th 82-84 dB sensitivity. Still, a study of how to equalize and split frequencies between the two ( 3?) must be done
intermodulation is the key - 2 ways are a compromise, 3 way is the perfect number
You can try a 6" like a Tang Band long stroke and pair it with a mid and a tweeter, or a little mid-tweeter.
Unluckily, those (sub) woofers are very low efficiency, but also little mid-tw are in th 82-84 dB sensitivity. Still, a study of how to equalize and split frequencies between the two ( 3?) must be done
Monsoon had several models like this I believe they were crossed over to the sub at about 250 hz. I still have an unused pair I was thinking of listing on the swap meet.
They come with a small sub.Sadly Physics Laws apply everywhere.
Lovely 1kHz to 20 kHz reproducer.
Hope you have something to reproduce the rest of the audible band.
With significant EQ below 1kHz to flatten the response. XO was 220Hz.
Monsoons typically ar ein high demand — Least expensive way to get Emminent push-pull electrodymanic planar loudspeaker. Almost as dear as the wired remote control cable/dongle.
Depending on the model the 7 & 9” woofers are quite decent.
I sold literally 100s of these so ghave some experience.
dave
Since the discussion was on near field open baffle speakers :
Even I was looking for replacement for my desktop speakers Swans D1080 . I wanted to build a simple full range OB as I had read a lot about OB set up.
Just to check I pulled out drivers from an old Creative SBS speakers and mounted them on cardboard panel [did a quick simulation using TheEdge before mounting ].
Results were surprisingly good. These drivers sound nothing like before when they were within their enclosures. And dare I say that some of frequencies sound better than the Swans monitors at my desk!
Of course this is not going to be my final set-up. But this experiment has re-affirmed my decision to go for OB set up! 🙂
Even I was looking for replacement for my desktop speakers Swans D1080 . I wanted to build a simple full range OB as I had read a lot about OB set up.
Just to check I pulled out drivers from an old Creative SBS speakers and mounted them on cardboard panel [did a quick simulation using TheEdge before mounting ].
Results were surprisingly good. These drivers sound nothing like before when they were within their enclosures. And dare I say that some of frequencies sound better than the Swans monitors at my desk!
Of course this is not going to be my final set-up. But this experiment has re-affirmed my decision to go for OB set up! 🙂
It would be hard to imagine a worse set of drivers. These are cheap computer speakers! Why not take the drivers out of your Swans and try this? Then you'll hear something great I bet. But the fact that you did this with them crammed up against a corner say much. Try them in the middle of the room for a better test, nowhere near a wall since that's the whole point of open baffle design. Nothing interfering with the rear wave, right? Just using a frame that looks like a T support probably works fine and holds everything in place. It must as I see it used so often in OB designs. You'll get some idea here from these images: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=open+baffle+speakers&iax=images&ia=images
A huge problem with OB speakers for a computer or desk is almost all desks butt up against a wall. So much for open baffle purity when you have a wall a few inches behind the speakers. So the desk has to be repositioned so the sound fires down the wall. Not so difficult really for most setups, especially if your desk isn't huge. If the sound is a lot better surely its worth a few minutes moving your desk around.
Logitech had a line of dipole computer speakers 10-12 years ago. Several dipole designs advertised '360 degrees sound' radiating from both front and rear of the speakers. Some models had subwoofers to help with the otherwise missing bass sounds. Use Google to read about some of their dipole speakers and 360 degrees sound.
Unfortunately, these dipole speakers are not in the current line of Logitech speakers in my local stores so you may have to search for used models.
Unfortunately, these dipole speakers are not in the current line of Logitech speakers in my local stores so you may have to search for used models.
Thanks.
Exactly the point why i tried these out. Not sure of your experience in OB but I'm just starting off and what better way to realise that some el-cheapo drivers can also sound reasonable when compared to their original enclosures.
As to your suggestions of using drivers from Swan , it means i would've to break them out of the enclosure - process will destroy the speakers. Also I'm interested in full range system.
Ofcourse will continue the experiment with better suited drivers, baffles and amps.
As you said OBs on desktop are a compromise, will have to experiment with various combinations to strike a balance.
Built a line source ob for desktop listening. Right after build, they sound open and effortless.
Still burning-in and might need further tweaks .
Still burning-in and might need further tweaks .