Linkwitz Lab Loundpeaker baffle

Does a dipole driver need the same inert baffle as a box design loudspeaker?  I don't know, but apparently one of the truly great loudspeaker designers doesn't think so.  Why doubt a master?

Linkwitz used to design microwave antennas for HP.  He looks at loudspeakers as if they were sound wave broadcasting antennas.  Chances are he knows what he's talking about.

Danny Richie, open baffle loudspeaker and woofer/subwoofer designer at GR Research, is a strong advocate of baffles built to have their resonant frequency outside the passband of the driver(s) mounted on them. He routinely uses two layers of 3/4" MDF on his baffles. Ric Schultz of EVS, who builds OB/Dipole subs and speakers using GR Research woofers and their related Rythmik Direct Servo Control Plate Amp, builds his OB baffles with three layers of MDF----2-1/4" thick!

To onhwy61. The answer is yes. Very,very basic. Any movement of the driver from an absolutely immobile position results in time smearing, distortion of the sound wave.There is no debating this fact.It's because this is so basic that I posted this serious question.

Silly boy. The midrange drivers in the Orions--where it matters--is mounted to a rear support and held in place by the speaker's magnet. The driver doesn't touch the front baffle.