Curved enclosures with off-center drivers minimize acoustic diffraction.

Evidence

The main consequence of these results is that wherever possible, the enclosure should be curved near the drive units and that the drive units should not be mounted in the center of the enclosure. In practice, they will have to be mounted centrally in the horizontal direction, but they do not need to be so in the vertical direction. Under these circumstances, the most appropriate shape is circular. However, for the reasons outlined previously, an ellipsoidal shape is often more appropriate. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 2164

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the physics of diffraction and edge scattering from earlier in the book — the enclosure boundary re-radiating as a secondary source. — connects to: Cabinet edges and centered drivers create diffraction that smooth curves minimize — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 2217
• DEFINE: Gives the practical design corollary of the abstract result that sound diffracts around enclosure edges.