Powered speakers show audiophiles are confused

@thespeakerdude wrote:

Hence bracing, The large the panel dimensions, the greater the bracing. A superior shape is of little benefit if we cannot manufacture it, added shipping costs ameliorate the benefit, or it causes difficult in use for the customer. ...

Hence DIY; in principle every design, shape and size (and weight) can be pursued. I’ve gone the horn route with subs where the horn "innards" are elaborate bracings. Large behemoths, but constructed in 13-ply BB with CNC-cut and interlocked panels they’re very sturdy. Further damping can be applied and accommodated as one deems necessary.

Distortion isn’t only cabinet vibrations but as well mechanically induced noise from the direct radiating and exposed woofer(s) during high excursions. Horn-loaded woofer cones, while concealed inside the horn, move very little for a given SPL, potentially both due to high efficiency and the way the woofer cone can have minimum excursion at the tune (via Tapped Horns; not the more traditional Front Loaded Horns where the woofer is usually placed in a sealed chamber). Avoiding mechanically induced noise here is not trivial.

Very few audiophiles have been "exposed" to the sound of horn-loaded subs (or their variants), not least for the reasons you outline as a MFR, which is a shame, because they deliver a very smooth, enveloping and effortless bass reproduction when carefully implemented - certainly audiophile qualities in bass reproduction to aspire to. Their ability to produce truly prodigious SPL’s is part of their perceived prowess here (and so not only about loudness per se), because significant headroom equates into cleaner/less distorted and more relaxed bass.

@mijostyn re: sub setup I set mine up per Earl Geddes. He actually recommends at least 3 and to have one above the midline level of the room if possible, see pg. 236. I only have two and use the opposing corner setup:

@phusis , the main issue is that most of my customers are not willing to expand the size of the control / mixing / listening rooms to accommodate the required size of a horn subwoofer in order to get a sufficient efficiency boost at the frequencies the subwoofer is expected to cover. Even for a subwoofer I need to be careful about dispersion as well.

@thespeakerdude , I do not care if you can produce a complicated enclosure or not. I am not limited by financial and space confines. I can build whatever I want. That is the beauty of DIY. If you have the tooling, you can make just about anything. I already have a technique for building cylindrical enclosures and the beauty of it is that the wall thickness varies continuously repetitively between two inches and 1.5 inches 10 times. 

@phusis , that is absolutely correct. The smaller the excursion the lower the distortion. It is why bigger drivers have less distortion than smaller ones. The problem with horn loading is size and the difficulty building a large dampened enclosure. The alternative is using multiple drivers. Every time you double the number of drivers you increase efficiency by 3 dB which requires 1/2 the excursion. In a 16 X 30 foot room 8 12" drivers in corners and against the front wall will do admirably. 

@kota1 , Earl is trying to do the distributed bass gig in his own way. Drivers against a wall on the floor are 3 dB more efficient than drivers not against a wall. Drivers in corners are 6 dB more efficient. More efficient drivers = less distortion. It is also important for the drivers to be less than 1/2 the wavelength at the crossover point apart. Say you want to crossover at 100 Hz. That wavelength is about 10 feet. You do not want your subs more than 5 feet apart. Within 5 feet they are acoustically operating as one driver. If you look at my system page, the front wall is 16 feet. The subwoofers are 4 feet apart forming an infinite line source. This makes them even more efficient and sonically more powerful. 

@mijostyn , thanks. I EQ them with Audyssey in my processor. I have a question for you. I run two subs because my processor has two sub outs. I would still like to add a third one as Earl describes. I am thinking of getting a DSPeaker or miniDSP to EQ them. Should I skip it and just stay with two? I don't need more volume and the bass is satisfying. I am just wondering if it would be OTT good if I add another one. Thanks