Open baffle speakers

@mijostyn the wall behind the speakers is not supposed to be damped with the apogee speakers, which are dipole. You are the only person I have ever heard say this.

@vetsc5 +1 The DQ10 is a remarkable design that 50 (!!!) years later can still compete with today's over-priced speakers. I have a nicely upgraded pair on custom stands. I find the bass adequate though a sub does help if playing pipe organ recordings. 

My woofer towers are H-frame open baffle with four servo-controlled 12" drivers. There is obviously cancellation at the lowest frequencies where the backwave wraps around, but the circuitry in the amp does an excellent job compensating for this. The measured response in my 29'x17'x8' room is not without some room interactions, but considerably less so than my previous conventional subs and is the deepest, tightest, and most natural sounding bass I've ever had in my system. 

To say that open baffle subs can't create excellent bass is hogwash. Yes, you need more power and more radiating area to compensate for the backwave cancellation, but if done properly the bass is superb.

Open baffle speakers need some room to sound their best. Most of the manufacturers say 3ft to the wall behind them, but in my experience you really need more than this. I have mine set up approximately 7ft from the front wall and 4ft from the side walls. The side wall distance is less critical since the backwave cancellation helps reduce side wall interactions. 

As long as I have the space for them, I wouldn't consider switching back to box speakers after living with the speakers I have now. 

@mijostyn : I have a nicely upgraded pair of DQ10's and have no complaints about the 3-D imaging qualities. Go read Harry Pearson's 1975 review in TAS. He praised them for their life-like presentation of space!

The Carver Amazing Platinum is a successful open-baffle speaker using four high-Q 12" woofers crossed over at 100hz to a 60 inch ribbon driver. They sound fine without the need for active amplification for the woofers.