Loudspeaker enclosures should curve near drive units to reduce 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 earlier enclosure-diffraction physics in this chapter and general acoustics of edge diffraction; relevant to loudspeaker design as applied psychoacoustics. — connects to: Loudspeaker enclosure shape and size alter frequency response via diffraction — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 2198; Loudspeaker enclosures should curve near drivers and offset them vertically; Curved surfaces concentrate sound locally while draining power elsewhere in the room — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1703 (+1 more)
- corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 2164
Related
- Loudspeaker enclosures should be curved near drivers and avoid central mounting. (similarity 0.95)
- Loudspeaker enclosures should curve near drivers and offset them vertically (similarity 0.95)
- Cabinet shape and driver placement materially govern diffraction distortion (similarity 0.89)
- Curved surfaces concentrate sound locally while draining power elsewhere in the room (similarity 0.87)
- Loudspeaker enclosure shape and size alter frequency response via diffraction (similarity 0.87)
- Truncated ellipsoidal speaker enclosures match spherical performance with more design freedom (similarity 0.86)
- Loudspeaker cabinet volume sets the lower frequency limit (similarity 0.84)
- Curved small enclosures produce the smoothest acoustic response, ideally spherical (similarity 0.84)
- Spherical enclosures give the smoothest loudspeaker frequency response (similarity 0.82)
- Sound waves diffracting at speaker cabinet edges distort the frequency response (similarity 0.82)
- Loudspeakers need enclosures to stop back-wave cancellation of sound (similarity 0.81)
- Centrally mounted drivers between two edges cause coincidence effects that degrade sound. (similarity 0.79)
- Low-frequency room response depends on woofer distances to floor and walls (similarity 0.78)
- Curved surfaces can focus reflected sound and enhance its intensity (similarity 0.78)
- Centrally mounted drivers between two enclosure edges worsen response via coincidence effects (similarity 0.78)