size matters...

Posted by: ken c on 03 August 2001

do you guys envisage a time when, with advances in modern technology, speakers will actually becomes smaller and smaller and also better? or is it the case that physics will always conspire against this? i.e. if you need to move more air -- you need big speakers period?

i love "small" speakers.

enjoy

ken

Posted on: 03 August 2001 by Mike Hanson
Air is air, so I think that physics will always play a part in producing "correct" sound. There are tricks here and there, but I don't know how far they'll go.

For example, Bose's trick of routing all of the bass to a single cabinet is cute, but it falls flat. However, Wilson Benesch's new Discovery stand-mounted speaker is supposedly "full range", and it does this in part because of a ported isobarik low-end driver configuration.

-=> Mike Hanson <=-

P.S. You're getting pretty close to that 1000 message mark yourself, Ken.

Posted on: 04 August 2001 by ken c
Air is air, so I think that physics will always play a part in producing "correct" sound. There are tricks here and there, but I don't know how far they'll go.

i fear so. but i would not be surprised if someone, thinking "outside the box" comes up with a different way of looking at things which will allow designers to produce better smaller speakers. i dont believe speakers are that good as pieces of furniture in the home, no matter how well they are made. so in the end, i think we accept them grudgingly becauise they sound good to us.

we have a piano -- i would argue this is both a musical instrument and a very nic piece of furniture too -- these are probably just pre-concieved notions surfacing...

enjoy

ken

Posted on: 04 August 2001 by Don Atkinson
Ken c,

I don't know the physics of even simple speakers, but when you said 'thinking "outside the box"..' I began to wonder.........

Boxes need to be ridgid-lets do without them!

Boxes need to be big because the back of the driver needs to 'breath' when it moves-lets get rid of the box and give it the whole room in which to breath!

Car hi-fi buffs seem to use the entire boot (trunk for our American cousins!) of the car to vent their woofer sized speakers

etc etc

Why not use a purpose-built, ridgid, floor to ceiling frame (or Fraim ?) on which to mount the drivers in free space. More drivers could be added as funds become available etc etc

Ok, you would need to get the position right first time etc etc but you could let the little lady grow pretty vines up the sides of the frame etc etc

Just a silly thought ???? big grin

Cheers

Don

PS not far to that magic 1,000 as Mike says !!

Posted on: 04 August 2001 by Allan Probin
quote:
Why not use a purpose-built, ridgid, floor to ceiling frame (or Fraim ?) on which to mount the drivers in free space.
Yeah, and we could call it a "wall" or something like that !

Don, your thoughts are not that silly, its already 'fairly' common practice to mount speaker drive units into the wall and use the cavity space behind as the enclosure. I understand that 12" concentric drive-unit Tannoys are the drive unit of choice for this application.

The theoritical perfect environment for a drive unit is to be mounted on a plane that extends infinitely in all directions. A sealed box enclosure (so called 'infinite baffle') is a bit of a compromise. An entire wall is far better !

Allan

Posted on: 04 August 2001 by Rico
quote:
i love "small" speakers.

OUT HIM!

OUT!

OUT!

.... bloody cliff richard fan.

Ken, I expected more from you. Really. confused

Rico - let them eat Kans.

Posted on: 04 August 2001 by Don Atkinson
Hello Rico

I love LARGE speakers, from a distance and i'm loking forward to my summer holiday on the beach in a wonderful land. Will miss you nights....

Cheers

Don