COBIES – Cheap Open Baffle Speakers

This project was inspired by the “Big Air” open baffle system by Jim Strasser (please contact me for additional information regarding that system). That Big Air open baffle is a simple good sounding system based on a different woofer, smaller baffle and does not incorporate a few other things that I have added.

My target cost was to build a pair of open baffle speakers for under $150US. In exploring the possibilities of open baffle speaker systems I reviewed numerous sources to gain an understanding of how they function. I additionally used the worksheet xbaffle.xls (ZIP 692kB) (written by Thorsten Loesch and permitted only for non-commercial use) and the LDC7 worksheet (from the Loudspeaker Design Cookbook by Vance Dickason) to test various aspects of the speaker system before actually constructing it or making changes. I ended up with a larger baffle, a different woofer, a symmetrical crossover, and the inclusion of a rear firing tweeter. Clearly not as simple as the original system but I felt the changes worth the effort. I normally listen to MartinLogan Vista electrostatics and I have come to like the sound field they present. To date I have not found any “box” speaker systems that can equal the electrostatics’ ambiance. Thus was at least part of my desire to explore the open baffle concept.
 
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