Yes, This is so very true as these are just theory's and idea's that have yet to be tried.
I discovered the OB design back when I was a kid in the mid 70's and I had found that the small drivers that I tore out of old radio's ranging from 2" to 8" all sounded so much better when I took them out of there enclosure and instead held them next to my ear.
I listened to these for a very long hours like this with a very tired arm, But the sound was so much better.
It wasn't until recently that I now completely understand the concept.
One of the main reasons is that when drivers are operated in free air and not loaded in a box of some sort, They are able to move more freely and the result is a much lower THD factor than one that is put into a box.
I have tested this with some drivers of my 8" sub drivers and the results were very impressive and I was very surprised at what I had found.
The Second ( as you already know) is the reduction of the level of excited room modes and this equates to a reduction of early reflections, Although this was not an issue when I was holding the driver next to my ear.
Yes, I am aware of the very high bias voltages of the Dayton/Wright drivers.
I am very fascinated by this and have been on many search's for inert gasses and how to get my hands on them, I just never got as far yet as to get any.
The one thing I meant to mention is that when I put the woofers in the corners out of phase (Dipole if you will) I get a much cleaner low end but at a much reduced volume as well.
So, I kept them in phase (bipolar), it is too bad that the system is not functional anymore.
I had stuffed the cabinets full of insulation and kept the ports open only so that they can breathe and the result was a very clean (due to the many drivers) and highly dampened and very tight transient bass, The kind you could feel in the chest with out being at all muddy what so ever.
Listening to the bass in Johnny Joe Whites "Polka Salad Anne" was euphoria!!!
The system was flat down to about 25-30Hz and the THD was the highest in this range but only about 5% as it dropped off sharply by 50Hz or so.
I have the measurement curves still but they are not on this machine, But I can dig them up if you wish to see them.
I do have them posted in one of the threads as well.
I am hoping that my idea of such a large area of ESL's in the corners will produce this kind of bass as well.
Being that they will be close to the wall I am expecting a compression type of action to excite the room with and will be strictly for bass frequency's.
Cheers !!!
jer
