Open Baffle Experience

The suggestion to just throw away the box is somewhat simplistic in that the bass and midbass will sound weak. The better sounding open baffle speakers don’t have this issue because the designer selected drivers to compensate and produce a balanced sound. 
 

OB speakers are not inherently better than box speakers… they are different sounding… on some instruments the tone sounds more correct… but as noted the bass pressurizes the room differently. 
 

I’ve heard great box speakers, panel speakers and OBs… and the nice thing about shows like CAF is you can usually hear them all, albeit different rooms and gear. 
 

They are definitely worth a listen. 

@jaytor Thanks for the information. That is really helpful.

To the naysayers, I heard the X4 speakers at the Pacific Northwest audio show, and they were very impressive for their price.  Not out of the park better than any speaker I heard there, but they really stood out for having an organic and natural sound for a lot less money than many of the conventional speakers I heard. I will likely try them out since there is a 60 day audition period, I believe.

secretguy

1,106 posts

11-12-2022 at 04:25pm 

This site desperately needs an eyeroll emoji.
 

🙄

FWIW, I've heard @jaytor 's system (maybe with the old subs) and thought it was among the very best I've heard, including some costing far more. It's clear to me that, if designed and set up carefully, OB systems can be really outstanding.

@erik_squires 

I’ve had Maggie’s, Ohm F’s and I still have Acoustat model X’s and they do project the sound differently. Many times I’d swear the music was coming from behind me. I’m not sure it’s exactly the same as the Spatial Audio’s, but I sure would like to give a pair a try for a few weeks.