Open Baffle vs Box

@james_edward 


thank you. I appreciate your input. It was
Described to me before that you ”get the punch but not the rumble”. do you agree with that description?

Above 100 Hz open baffle speakers can be great given the right drivers. It is much easier to build a plate that does not add colorations than a box.
All of my favorite speakers, the ones that I would own are boxless. Under 100 Hz is a different story. The problem is that building a SOTA subwoofer is an expensive and difficult task and the end result will be a device that is very heavy and expensive to ship. Most manufacturers cut corners resulting in flaws that for those of us who have experienced the best bass find intolerable. I believe those of us with DIY capability can actually do a better job than most manufacturers but in forms that could not be competitively priced. 

I own several dipole speakers one pair being the Spatial Audio M3 Turbo S.. I think “punch without the rumble” is a decent way to describe some of what good open baffles do. They remind me of my Maggie’s in some ways but with significantly more punch. 
NO RUMBLE... 

@birdfan
Thanks.  that what my dilemma is with the Spatials. I live in an apartment so subs are not advisable but it seems to be the only way when dealing with music that has lots going on below say 50hz.

If your room is smalliish... you won’t need subs unless you are listening to a lot of EDM( which at times I do and I add stereo subs)... additionally the bass you do have is very fast .. no overhang, no bloated farts, no boom.. just clean fast right low end. Admittedly open baffles need a lot of surface area to get really low, but I love my Spatials even without subs... imaging is open full of air and well defined. You have to make sure you have the space to pull them away from the walls at least 2 feet.. I was disappointed I didn’t get to hear Claytons new sapphires model this year at Rocky Mountain audio fest.. they look nice... AND when your neighbors are gone they can literally shake the house off the foundation .. it’s one of the speakers I own I feel do every genre of music justice. Jazz, big and small classical, rock, edm, acoustic guitar, everything... fantastic imaging...