19-05-2011, 05:39 PM
(18-05-2011, 04:40 PM)tiv48 Wrote: speaker cabinet design is a bit of a black art
I agree, there is still a degree of black art is loudspeaker design, but I would say that the cabinet is the "least black" part of the process; certainly, it's pretty easy to get the basic parameters right (box volume, port tuning if applicable). Yes, there is scope to experiment with differing dimensions and shapes and materials, but these have been fairly well characterised in recent times. The BBC did a lot of good work in this area, many many moons ago...
Driver design is becoming more "converged" now as people know what they can expect from different cone materials and shape, magnet and motor design and basket construction. Again, the BBC did a lot of research in these areas decades ago.
The final area is crossover design. Here is where computer modelling can only get you so far, and there is still an awful lot of subjectivity in the final analysis. It's fairly complex, and I know that I can only scratch the surface with my limited knowledge. But at least I know enough to know that I don't know much
Some years back, a certain Dr Bose publicly stated that cabinet materials didn't affect the overall sound quality. Bear that in mind when deciding whether to buy any of his products
Cheers,
Mark