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Open Baffle. Why are they mostly limited to DIY?

I see a few hybrids from Vandersteen and Spatial Audio, but not much else. 
seanheis1
wolf_garcia
4,650 posts
 
The ultimate "Open Baffle" system involves simply hooking up "raw" drivers and giving them the freedom to bounce around on the floor unattached to anything but the wire from the amp. Anything else is simply baffling.
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seanheis1 OP
359 posts
 
thanks for the suggestion on the gtaudioworks. Those look like Magnepan killers. 

Yesterday I received some Betsy open baffle speakers made by caintuck audio from an Agon seller and I can't stop listening to them. They are laughably good for the money.

It does sound like the band is playing in the room. When you hear a speaker without a crossover, you learn what coherence is. When you hear a speaker without a box, you learn what the box sounds like. When you hear a good speaker without a box or mid/tweet crossover, you begin to question conventional designs.

This speaker does need bass reinforcement though. At some point today I plan to add my REL to see how it blends.  



   
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
4,908 posts
 

@gnjtack. you are SO right about the OB sub and dipole speaker pairing being a great one. There are a number of us Maggie/Eminent Technology/Quad speaker owners using a pair of the GR Research/Rythmik OB/Dipole Servo-Feedback Subs with them. But as you said, it is a DIY product, the woofers and dedicated servo amp available as a kit only. However, there are a few woodworkers making flat pack OB frames to install the parts in, the flat packs pretty easily assembled.

Linkwitz Lab offers it's own OB/Dipole sub as part of complete OB speakers systems, but again as a kit only. The top model is tri-amped, the consumer required to provide three stereo amps (or six mono), including the one for the woofers. That can get expensive!

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