Battle of the Open Baffles

I have both open baffle subs and speakers in my painfully square room.

The whole dipole concept has soo many advantages over box speakers especially in non optimal rooms (the figure 8 sound pattern allows you to put then very close to side walls) You do need space and diffusion to make them sound their best, and as with any system, room correction never hurts.

I do not see myself returning to anything sealed except, maybe a couple of subs to enjoy the earth movimg pounding you get in movie sound effects.

For music however, the accuracy of the bass is beyond anything I haven heard in boxed subs including the JL Gothams which are fantastic in their own right and nicely compliment any system.

OB excels in vocals and while very well suited for jazz (which I listen to a lot of especialy horns - Miles or Chet Baker are near religous experiences), I am still awe strucked by "Killing in the name of" by Rage Against the Machine and another one of my favorite mind numbing songs by Tool - "Chocolate Chip Trip".  The drums sound like drums should sound and the deep bass is so clear.  Victor Wooten on "Flight of the Cosmic Hippo" gets into to some very deep bass, and hearing those really low notes through the OB subs is something to behold.

In my opinion, you cant go wrong with any open baffle implemention, but only if you have the space. They require a minimum of 3f toff the wall behind them, but despite potentially low WAF they are eally special. (I have mine at about six feet)

I have become a fan of open baffle designs. Had a pair of Spatial X5 a few years ago, and just received my Caladans, the audio bargain of the century. They are replacing speakers that cost 3x their price, which they significantly outperform. 

@markmuse I think the audio bargain of the century for speakers would be the Magnepan LRS.

@willywonka  so I hear, but haven’t heard. Doubt they would be sufficient in a room of my size though.

As I have been preaching....he he....make your own Caladan or use a $50 planar instead of the $39 dome tweeter in the Caladan for less than $1500 using the worlds best parts and construction.  A simple version can be built in a day......Home Depot cuts the wood and all you have to do is jig saw some holes and screw it all together.....super easy.  I just ordered the woofs and planars and in a few weeks will have it all done and will have pics on my website and if it is as good as I imagine, I will invite serious bay area people over to listen (I am not making or selling speakers....just promoting the idea).  Info on my website.