Open Baffle. Why are they mostly limited to DIY?

I love open baffle speakers. All of the speakers I would own are open baffle and I have been using nothing but since 1978. Having said this open baffle or dipoles subwoofers is a silly notion even from a DIY perspective. The way you control bass dispersion into a room is by careful placement against walls and into corners using multiple drivers. 
In 1982 or so I built dipole subwoofers for my Acoustats falling for the reasoning that they would be easier to match up with dipole speakers. The experiment lasted 6 months and was a total and complete failure as far as real low bass was concerned.

I recently got some Lii Audio F15 full range drivers. I fashioned some some 3/4 inch plywood sheets to hold them. This is the first time trying full range speakers and open baffles. 

I am struck how a lot of tracks now sound very different, with instruments seeming to disappear or are playing in a different room of the studio than the rest of the band. Example the harpiscord jangling in the left channel of Van Morrison's Cyprus Avenue is very faint, almost not there. Or the lead guitar on Neil Young's Unknown Legend from Harvest Moon, which is like a distance echo. Again Bob Dylan's voice on Queen Jane Approx is fantastic but the rest of the bad seem to be in room next door. This from a mint copy MFSL of Highway. 

This very off putting. Is there something very easily explained going wrong? I am delighted with the sound of Stan Getz's sax on the Girl from Ipanema. Its the best I ever heard. 

Any ideas? Or should i just adjust my expectations from the sounds i was familiar with from listening only on cabinet speakers before. 

I am struck how a lot of tracks now sound very different, with instruments seeming to disappear or are playing in a different room of the studio than the rest of the band. Example the harpiscord jangling in the left channel of Van Morrison's Cyprus Avenue is very faint, almost not there. Or the lead guitar on Neil Young's Unknown Legend from Harvest Moon, which is like a distance echo. Again Bob Dylan's voice on Queen Jane Approx is fantastic but the rest of the bad seem to be in room next door.

@sevenseasofrye Check your hookup. Based on what you're saying here it sounds like the speakers aren't hooked up correctly from the amp.

 

 

The main reason we see so few Open Baffle designs is one that most designers will happily explain.

Noted designers such as Russell Kaufman (RussellK) and Peter Comeau (IAG) will explain the importance of market demand when embarking on any new design.

To succeed with any new design it must be domestically acceptable.

It’s no accident that the likes of PMC and Totem have succeeded with mainly tall slim floorstanders, is it?

As of November 2021, demand for Open Baffles remains too low for many to consider serious manufacture.

I did own the Lii Audio F15s OB for a short bit. That may be the amp out of phase as Atmosphere mentioned. It could also be due to wide frequency response dips and peaks, with missing treble off axis. The person I bought them from was using Mini DSP to correct for Baffle Step (rising response) and also to boost the bass to compensate for bass cancellation from front and back wave.....I could never get them to sound as good without DSP and I am generally an anti-DSP person otherwise.

If you buy a USB measurement mic and use REW measurement software (free) you can see exactly what is going on with the response. IMO a great $100 investment.