Open baffle speakers

Where does all the dust go ?

:grimacing:

Same place as any speaker without grilles! And there’s minimal top to have to dust (or for annoying people to place things on).

Richard Vandersteen has been doing open baffle designs for 40 years now. He covers them with a rectangular shaped grill cloth and supporting structure, so they look like a box. He has gotten several best in shows, back in the day when there were shows.

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And the dust on the back of the drive units… ? :smiley:
Looks like it would be a right dog’s dinner cleaning them !

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That’s what vacuum cleaners and hair driers were made for.

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IMy previous post was referring to both front and rear.

Jusyt don’t let a nozzle end press against the cone. Hair drier would simply re-suspend dust in the air!

This interview of Danny Ritchie who runs GR Research is fascinating.

The brothers who interview him have just heard Danny’s reference system for the first time and they are visibly awed.

The system has battery powered, heavily modified Mac mini, pre and dac, plus open baffle speakers.

This is a very positive review (just posted) of Spatial M4 Sapphire open baffle speakers by Steve Guttenberg (in which he gives an informative comparison to his Cornwall 4s):

Are you going ‘open baffle’ Jim? ATB Peter

I have never heard any.

But I plan to hear some asap.

If I could order a pair in the UK from Spatial sale or return I would do it.

When I move house (if I can afford it) I will consider a pair of Duet15 Prelude from PureAudioProject…

Jim

I just looked up how the Pure speakers home demo works.

In short, you pay international transport costs for the home demo if you decide not to buy them, which adds a small financial ‘stick’ to the demo that would not help to relax the decision-making process.

"There are two options:

  1. ‘Audition Set’ in Near Mint condition, coming in dedicated flight cases (see photos), or
  2. Brand new set, originally packed.

In case of an ‘Audition Set’ you will be required to pay a deposit of 80% of the set list price and it will be shipped to you. You have 21 days from receiving the set to decide whether you will keep the set as is, get a brand new set, or to return the Audition Set to us.

In case you decide to keep the demo set we will pick up the flight cases. In case you decide to swap it for a new set, you will be required to pay the 20% + shipping costs for the new set.

Once you receive the new set, we will pick up the Audition Set from you. In case of a return, we will pick up the Audition Set from you and will refund you the deposit minus $390 (partial shipping costs).

In case of a brand new set you will be required to make a full payment as a deposit and the set will be shipped to you. You will then have 30 days from receiving the set to decide whether you will keep it.
In case of a return you will be refunded for 90% of your deposit and will be charged for $390 (partial shipping costs and we will pick up the set from you."

Hi Jimdog, there surely must be somewhere in the UK, where you can go and listen to a pair of open baffle speakers?! The open baffle speakers I’ve heard have a very alluring set of qualities, which on the right music draws you in, but there a some trade offs in my view. I owned a pair of Dalis open baffle speakers in the early 90s ( I’m sure things have improved since back then ), but I do remember my then olive 250 shorting out and getting very hot on occasions ie they need plenty of juice. I also remember resorting somewhat to mainly playing recordings, which played into their intimate qualities. Just my 2 cents :+1:t3: ATB Peter

PS. I should add that Bailyhill is probably your man :wink:

thanks Peter

v useful input

yes, Bailyhill (iirc) designed the Apogee Scintilla, and is extremely knowledgeable and experienced in (esp. US based) hifi matters.

[I think the mighty Apogee Scintilla is an electrostatic panel speaker - so not an ‘open baffle with drivers’ design.]

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Guttenberg also reviewed the PureAudioProject speakers a couple of years ago (review on YoTube) and I remember him saying “these speakers changed me at an atomic level” … not quite sure what that meant but suffice it to say it left you with the feeling he was very impressed …

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But in terms of being a dipole radiator, and having a relatively limited baffle size resulting in significant cancellation of bass, and all the considerations those factors bring, they are alike - the difference then is just electromagnetic and (most commonly) some variant of conical paper or other rigid ‘cone’ radiator vs electrostatically driven flat membrane

JimDog, if you were wanting to experience open baffle speakers without too big a financial outlay, Monacor offer an open baffle kit (the Katana M1) which looks attractive and is sensibly sized. I think they are priced each rather than for a pair (I might be incorrect) but they could be worth investigating.

I find the idea of open baffle speakers intriguing but I have read about them requiring very careful placement and some claim that DSP is essential but perhaps that is to compensate for less than optimum positioning?

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Troels Gravesen made an open baffle DIY design and I almost pulled the trigger to buy the kit and build one a while back. He says that it out performs every other speaker on his site regardless of cost and size. It’s interesting to read his writing on baffle size. It seems many designers use a slimmer baffle (probably for aesthetic reasons) with two bass drivers, to achieve the low frequency output but sensitivity is sacrificed. A larger/wider baffle means higher sensitivity can be achieved due to less cancellation from the rear but the sacrifice is obvious.

A 15" coaxial driver in a sheet of mdf and you are done. It is worth the try.

That’s funny.

After looking at the Monacor design mentioned by Alex above, I went over to Troels site and found the same speaker (OBL15) and came back to post it.

Can I come and learn how to do it from you? 🪚:balance_scale::hammer_and_pick:🪛:nerd_face: