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narrow and wide baffles and imaging

According to all the "professional" audio reviews that I've read over the last several years, narrow baffles are crucial to creating that so-desired pin-point imaging.

However, over the last few weeks, I've had the opportunity to audition Harbeth 40.2, Spendor Classic 100, Audio Note AN-E, and Devore O/93.  None of these had deficient imaging; indeed I would go so far as to say that it was good to very good.

So, what gives?  I'm forced to conclude that modern designs, 95% of which espouse the narrow baffle, are driven by aesthetic/cosmetic considerations, rather than acoustical ones, and the baffle~imaging canard is just an ex post facto justification.

I can understand the desire to build speakers that fit into small rooms, are relatively unobtrusive, and might pass the SAF test, but it seems a bit much to add on the idea that they're essentially the only ones that will do imaging correctly.



128x128twoleftears
kalali's avatar
kalali
1,977 posts
 
"No matter how you cut the cake, big baffles aren't good if they're anything resembling flat with corners. "

That's not necessarily true. The size of the driver and the frequency range from the driver is more important since that determines the wavelength and for high/mid frequencies the wavelength is not long enough to be affected by the (large) baffle size. Low frequencies with longer wavelength behave completely differently.
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cleeds
5,909 posts
 
josh358
The problem that I had with the imaging of the IRS Betas that my friend had was that each frequency range came from a different height. Maybe his listening seat was too close, but it used to drive me crazy. Very cool plasma tweeters, by the way!
The IRS Beta system is highly adjustable, which is a double-edge sword. On the one hand, it  makes it possible to achieve excellent results in rooms with very different characteristics. On the other hand, it makes them easy to setup incorrectly, and it sounds like that's what happened with your friend's system.

The Beta system used planar tweeters, not plasma. It looks like your friend's system was modified.
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cleeds
5,909 posts
 
melbguyone
Re: the IRS-Beta’s ... I don’t think the narrow wood frame of the mid/high panels was completely adequate to tame the resonance of the dual L-Emim drivers as they would ’rattle’ at high volumes.
Huh? I've never detected any rattling at all with the IRS Beta system, with the exception of when the woofers need to be re-foamed.


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cleeds
5,909 posts
 
melbguyone
All I can say is i’ve read several reports from other owners who have experienced this behaviour at high volumes. With the Beta’s ...
There are a lot of poorly maintained, poorly modified and even abused Infinity IRS Beta systems out there, so there's nothing you might read that would surprise me. I bought my Beta system new and haven't had any of these issues. That's not to say that I haven't had issues, of course - the system is about 30 years old - but it plays loud with aplomb, and has actually been quite serviceable.
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