Speaker design myths revealed


I found this at the Jordan web site. Maybe the experts can say whether this is true or not. I will say I have not heard the big improvement with a narrow baffle vs. wide baffle that I am "suopposed" to.
Q: In your VTL box design, why is the JX92S fitted in the wide face when it is common knowledge that the box should be as narrow as possible?

A: 'Common knowledge' and scientific fact are often very different. The narrow front face is a fashion concept supported by some very questionable marketing rational. The indisputable scientific fact is that the ideal mounting for a loudspeaker is an infinitely large flat baffle and this is the concept used for all loudspeaker analyses. A wide baffle always sounds better.

Q: What are the recommended advantages of positioning loudspeakers as close to the wall as possible?

A: This positioning secures, to some extent, the advantages described in the previous question. In addition it minimises the time delayed reflections from the rear wall which contribute to confused imaging.

Q: Will placing next to a wall ruin the stereo image?

A: We cannot see any reason why this would impair imaging. Possibly more than any other manufacturer, we have concerned ourselves with accurate and stable imaging and certainly would not promote a design that would impair this.
cdc
I can take the big Lexan baffles out of our coat closet, lean them against the smaller, wooden Koa baffle/driver, slipping the hole in the big baffles over the Lexan donut & driver for a really nice fit
Good waf idea! Tried something similar with a friend (using plexi for the "normal" baffle). The problem was securing together the two baffles, if you will, without transmitting too many vibrations from the driver baffle to the outer baffle. The compromise was to use 3 screws, two bottom one on top with a very thin layer of damping matl around the connection points. Of course, the "outer" baffle was calculated to be flush with the driver... Cheers
Thanks for the tip, Gregm. That is terrific food for thought! Shouldn't be very hard to experiment with.
That should work. Try to make it so that it won't have buzzing vibrations where it contacts the ring behind the driver. That is a point which may vibrate, if not affixed in some way.

It sounds like a very cool idea, which offers alot of options, and fits the WAF, and looks cool, and should sound good too.

I'm interested to hear how you like it overall, after break in.
You might test it out using clamps... we actually drilled the appropriate holes on both baffles
In an open baffle scenario the lowest frequency transmitted depends on the smallest(!) distance between driver edge and baffle edge, thats why they are usually circular!
The baffle needs to extent a quarter wavelength in every direction,ie. to achieve 32Hz cut off the baffle has to have a radius of 8feet8inch or a diameter of 17ft4inch.
Thats why they stopped being used sometime prior to WW2 and have been replaced by the infinite baffle otherwise known as the closed box design.
From the top of my head Fiddlers use of 30inch board should result in a bass roll off starting between 300 and 400 Hz.