Battle of the Open Baffles

The real advantage of the OB design is that the expense of the Baffle is not too demanding on ones pocket to produce, even if a Machine Shop produces the Board for a design.

As for a Board Material, if OB's are keeper speakers, a 25mm (1") Phenolic Resin Impregnated Densified Wood Board is the material that will ,have much improved properties to Dissipate / Damp transferred energies over other materials usually used.   

The advantage of not being caught for substantial monies for a Cabinet Design and Manufacture is also able to be off set toward the Driver Selection. There are Drivers to be selected that can push the build cost toward £1500 - £2K, but such drivers found in commercial products will most likely be close to £15K as the minimum the new purchase price.

There is also the options for Passive or Active. 

My experiences ,have not left me with, any prejudices against any electronics in the signal path. I have learnt that Active for the Bass will be much, friendlier to ones pocket than going down the passive route, (think Plate Amp). 

Xovers can be produced relatively cheap and are easily upgraded with alternate components over time, upgrades can have a substantial influence for the better, especially when Drivers are becoming more settled and presenting closer to how the design is intended. 

The individual selling the Speakers in the Link has a wealth of OB experience and was very very impressed with these speakers for the associated cost. For those only interested in off the shelve options, these as a model are well worthwhile looking into.

If OB's seem too much of challenge to take on as a project, the DML Panel Speaker might be more to ones tastes, still offering all the values of experiencing unconstrained sound, as a result of not having Cabinet Influences to contend with.   

danbro,

Gold buttons open links to drivers. Much more to come as I assemble the speakers and test....and also more general info, including parts and construction details.

http://tweakaudio.com/EVS-2/DIY_Bi-amped_super_speaker.html

I totally get the Post from @ricevs, there is so much to be had when the Drivers are selected using the monies saved from the avoiding the 'mark up' created by commercial ventures. 

Off setting the costs that can be incurred to much better components, catapults a design into a new level of being competitive with much much more expensive models available.

When a 'Build Your Own' model is on offer as a design produced by an individual with credentials that are not questionable when it comes to producing Audio Devices, and build support is readily at hand, the novice has now become quite smart, and their only skills needed are reduced to be ones where a little manual work is required along with basics in soldering.

Either of the above basic skills can be found not too far from a home as a supporting service, so not being too confident should not be a blocker to make in roads to the new discoveries to be had.

The Link will show a Speaker that comes with all the Pedigree that one could want behind the design, the Baffle has a little more complexity than a typical OB, but is already produced to the point of being assembled, there is history to show there is no shortage of build support to be had from the Designer.

Have a listen to Speaker in Post 163, it will hopefully stimulate the want to read through the whole of the Thread. 

I am building the XDS and really hope I can get them to work in my very limited place of residence, full time RV. I added 1.5 to the rear length and stiffened it up greatly so I could have enough space behind them or any speaker design I find the best. I have highly upgraded Edgarhorn Slimlines I would love to use but have little faith will work in this place and a bit big but can work around that, I at least have to try them. I also plan to build other types of speakers until I find the best solution but do love OB, and horns, the best by far.

I opted to go with eight 8" drivers per side instead of the 6.5s to try to get more bass, no sub, now I am thinking of going back to the 6.5s and building very shallow corner subs into place for the two Image Dynamics ID15's I have in storage. I used to use 4 of them in my house, sealed, tons of power, amazing really. Before than I had two of them in a massive horn loaded enclosure that was a major eyesore but they would massage your feet on the other side of house, huge and exceptional clean output.

No room for OB subs or really big OB speakers with dual 15's, etc....but the 8x8 setup would have far more output than needed but might not go as low as I want. The 8x6.5 would  pair with the dual 15's and result in a smaller footprint.

I am considering getting a Claro walnut slab to build the front of the baffle and 3/4 for the sides.

Rick

I have five 6x30 watt AB amps, can be bridged to 4x60 +2x30, etc...so looking at starting out all active until final speaker selection is done. Evenutally I would like to use an SET amp, or at least mids and tweets on the system.