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How many 'listen outside of the box' design?

Whether I owned electrostats or open baffle designs the majority of my audio life I've owned boxless speakers. My choices were made in part due to a logic of removing a 'box' from the equation of having to interact with a room. The more I thought about it it seemed a very logical choice. Why enter a speaker into a box and then have to deal with the resonation of the speaker interacting with the box and the room? I'm not saying successful box designs haven't been built, what I'm suggesting is box designs seem a more complicated way to achieve true room integration. I've discovered, dollar for dollar, I've exceeded most box designs. How many think as I do, or have experienced similar results based upon experimentation?
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jeffjazz
114 posts
 
Have Eminent technology speakers. I wish the macros dynamics was better, but that is it. It does so many things right, I know I would have to spend big bucks to better it with a box speaker. Every speaker design has some limitations. This planar speakers just sounds so pure and real. I think the mid operates from 80 hz to 10khz. No wonder! It does have a box woofer on it but other than the woofer having more punch than the planar drivers, it is very fast and box-less sounding.
bondmanp
1,808 posts
 
The last monkey coffins I bought were my Advent New Larges (actually a gift) in 1978. They still provide sound for the kids in the den. But my first newer speakers were Vandersteen 1Cs, which have a more-or-less boxless design. I liked the openness and lack of cabinet colorations compared to similarly priced speakers I auditioned prior to purchasing them. When it was time to upgrade last year, I went with another unconventional, free-air design, the Ohm Walsh 2000. Being used to these designs has made me very sensitive to box colorations, which I can hear on many speakers. Sure, if you spend enough money, you can get a really inert, sonically neutral cabinet speaker. But in the more modest price range that I inhabit, these non-traditional designs offer freedom from these resonances and distortions that standard cabinet speakers rarely do, IME.
magfan
1,583 posts
 
I don't know what they are called, exactly, but does anyone use regular cone speakers without enclosure? 'Open Baffle'? is that right?

A line source using say.....the Audience driver would be something I'd love to hear. No crossover using fullrange drivers.....

failing that, I'll stick with my panels......
telescope_trade
555 posts
 
Magfan,

Yes, an example open baffle would be my X-Static speakers
from AV123 (now out of business). I love the
sound of them.
drew_eckhardt
394 posts
 
>I don't know what they are called, exactly, but does anyone use regular cone speakers without enclosure? 'Open Baffle'? is that right?

Sure. I built a pair of Orions designed by Siegfried Linkwitz.

Everything good about panel speakers plus the sweet spot is much larger, the bass goes deeper, peaks can go over 100dB, and placement is less finicky.
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