Sloped baffle

Sometimes sloped baffles are cosmetic only. My understanding for 1st order crossover speakers is the broad frequency overlap between drivers, requires a sloped baffle to keep the drivers on a single axis. When off axis the shared frequencies between drivers will cause cancellations/nulls depending on the distance.

I should have stated, "PART of the reason for a sloped baffle..." There is the time domain as well.

Psag, I don't think the last couple of comments posted before your comment (mine included) deviated from the OP's question about sloped baffles. I say that because sloped baffled may be used to address (in whole or part) issues relating to using multiple speakers and electronic crossovers.

Bombaywalla and others have provided us with a cornucopia of information about time and phase coherance -- sloped baffles just being a subset of the larger issue. Quite honestly, I didn't realize that the time and phase alignment problem was so difficult to solve.

Having said that, admittedly, I do not fully appreciate to what extent a speaker's sonic performance is compromised by time and/or phase errors. Perhaps, as Sounds_Real_Audio just posted, the issue may be more hype than real. I just don't know.

Al and Ralph .... where are you??? :)

The sloped baffle is to align the voice coils.... perfect voice coil alignment is the big draw of a point source driver. (proper coax mount)
Tim

Tim, although I don't understand the science, I recall reading that a sloped baffle is one component of achieving phase coherence. The proper cross-over order (1st, 2nd, and so forth), plus maintaining a specific listening position, plus, setting the cross-over frequencies at the right points, and so on and so forth also contribute to maintaining optimal phase coherence.

In addition, assuming that the drivers are in proper phase alignment in the overlap region of the cross over points, presumably there should not be phase cancellation or augmentation which will mess up the frequency response. That is frequency response should remain flat. But what about maintaining the proper harmonic structure of complex musical passages?

What other benefits are gained by locking one's head in a head vice in order to maintain the precise listening position, which presumably will enable the wave fronts from the various drivers to combine in an optimal phase coherent fashion at the listening position.

So ... how much of this is hype? What other characteristics make for a good sounding speaker? I used to think I had a handle on this this issue ... but no more.

BIF

Al and Ralph ... are you catching any of this?? Throw me a line. I'm sinking in techno quick sand.