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time-aligned speakers: stepped fronts vs. sloping fronts

Let me first say my understanding of these things is rudimentary.

But I was thinking about manufacturers who used stepped back fronts (several vertical planes) to achieve so-called time-alignment, vs. those who slope back the whole front baffle at a certain angle/rake.

Thinking about, for instance, the tweeter driver mounted on a sloped baffle, won't its axis of radiation be shooting at a corresponding angle upward, meaning that a listener located directly in front of the speaker and with ears at tweeter height would already be listening off-axis?  Or am I missing something?  Or is that the point?

twoleftears

Showing 1 response by millercarbon

millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
No, you got it right. Which of course the effects of this radiation pattern is just another in a whole long list of things they try and use to get the sound they want.

The slope by the way is used so often because its a whole lot more cost-effective. Cabinetry already accounts for a large share of total speaker cost, and stepped-front is a lot more expensive to build than a single sloping baffle. 
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