Chapter 3

Loudspeaker cabinets

3.1 The concept of the infinite baffle

When the diaphragm of an open-framed driver moves forwards, the compression of the air at the face of the diaphragm is accompanied by a rarefaction at the other side of the diaphragm, and the natural tendency is for the pressure difference to equalise itself by a movement of air around the sides of the driver. At frequencies whose wavelengths are large compared to the circumference of the diaphragm, the equalisation is almost perfectly accomplished, and so almost no sound is radiated. It is therefore necessary to discourage this pressure equalisation if low frequencies are to be radiated. The simplest means of accomplishing this is to mount the loudspeaker in a large, rigid ...

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