Hello..!!
I’m new to the world of FR drivers and cabinets so naturally one does research and makes observations. It’s obvious that different enclosures types do different things, construction principles vary, material types and damping somewhat similar. There is something that I have seen that has sparked interest and I cannot seem to find any specific information, this is where the driver seems to be mounted from the inside of the cabinet and the baffle cutout has an outward 45deg (just a guess at the angle) opening. Could someone please explain if this is a thing?? Good / bad / driver specific or just a visual design cue which I wouldn’t think it is..
“picture below for reference”
Pardon the pun but it’s baffling me..😝😝
Cheers
🔫
I’m new to the world of FR drivers and cabinets so naturally one does research and makes observations. It’s obvious that different enclosures types do different things, construction principles vary, material types and damping somewhat similar. There is something that I have seen that has sparked interest and I cannot seem to find any specific information, this is where the driver seems to be mounted from the inside of the cabinet and the baffle cutout has an outward 45deg (just a guess at the angle) opening. Could someone please explain if this is a thing?? Good / bad / driver specific or just a visual design cue which I wouldn’t think it is..
“picture below for reference”
Pardon the pun but it’s baffling me..😝😝
Cheers
🔫
Attachments
Historically, drivers were designed to be mounted from the backside and if you don't bevel the cutout at > 12 deg included (normally folks use 45 deg) it creates a theoretically infinite number of eigenmodes to comb filter with the driver's output, which isn't an issue for a woofer, but a wide/full range driver it can audibly 'color' it with the bandwidth above the cutout's ~13543" (~34400 cm)/pi/diameter. Note too that if front mounted it ideally should also be done on the backside.
Re as a waveguide (WG), it's much too shallow to be of any use beyond dealing with eigenmodes.
Re as a waveguide (WG), it's much too shallow to be of any use beyond dealing with eigenmodes.
Oddly, that example picture in the OP looks like a front mounted driver at the bottom of a small 45-degree recess. As one might usually see in mitigation of a rear-mounted driver... The tiny bevel will do little in terms of being a waveguide. It might reduce diffraction slightly at high frequencies.. but such diffraction would only have been caused by recessing the diver below the baffle-front to begin with. Possibly I'm missing something.
Anyway, if you must rear-mount a driver (e.g. for aesthetics) then yes relieve the edges of the baffle thickness like in that picture; it can help a little bit for some frequencies. But with the exception of low-frequency woofers i wouldn't particularly aspire to it, as flush mounting the front of the driver with the front of the baffle is usually much better IMO. Also you don't need a removable back to the cabinet in order to get the driver in (open baffle designs aside).
Drivers in (properly effective) waveguides or horns are of course different, but there the waveguide/horn still wants to be flush with the surface, and so is still often better being front-mounted. Though you can create an integral waveguide by contouring the baffle itself, if thick and deep enough; then rear-mounting can make sense. But a tiny 45degree bevel is not that.
Anyway, if you must rear-mount a driver (e.g. for aesthetics) then yes relieve the edges of the baffle thickness like in that picture; it can help a little bit for some frequencies. But with the exception of low-frequency woofers i wouldn't particularly aspire to it, as flush mounting the front of the driver with the front of the baffle is usually much better IMO. Also you don't need a removable back to the cabinet in order to get the driver in (open baffle designs aside).
Drivers in (properly effective) waveguides or horns are of course different, but there the waveguide/horn still wants to be flush with the surface, and so is still often better being front-mounted. Though you can create an integral waveguide by contouring the baffle itself, if thick and deep enough; then rear-mounting can make sense. But a tiny 45degree bevel is not that.