/topics/open-baffle-speaker/ Recent content in Open Baffle Speaker on Decades of Musings on HiFi Hugo en Wed, 21 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 /articles/why-dipole-speakers/ Wed, 21 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 /articles/why-dipole-speakers/ <p>25 or 6 to 4? Or zero to 8.</p> <div style="display:flex;gap:1rem;flex-wrap:wrap;align-items:flex-start;margin:1rem 0"> <figure style="margin:0;flex:1 1 280px;max-width:380px"> <div style="position:relative;aspect-ratio:16/9"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7uAUoz7jimg" title="YouTube video player" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div> <figcaption style="font-size:0.85em">25 or 6 to 4, Chicago. <a href="https://youtu.be/7uAUoz7jimg">Open on YouTube</a>.</figcaption> </figure> <figure style="margin:0;flex:1 1 280px;max-width:380px"> <img src="zero-to-eight.png" width="640" height="350" style="width:100%;height:auto" alt="Polar plots: a box speaker radiates evenly in all directions, a circle like a zero; a dipole radiates forward and backward with nulls to the sides, a figure of eight"> <figcaption style="font-size:0.85em">Zero to 8: the box speaker (monopole) radiates the same in every direction, the dipole front and back, with nulls to the sides. Idealised, calculated.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <p><strong>Q:</strong> Where is the box in that speaker?</p> /designs/transparence-loudspeaker/ Mon, 12 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 /designs/transparence-loudspeaker/ <p>The Transparence is an open-baffle (dipole) loudspeaker. Each speaker is a single 215 mm <a href="https://supravox.fr/en/products/215-signature-bi-cone-35w-94-5db-8-ohms">Supravox 215 Signature Bi-Cône</a> full-range driver mounted on a clear acrylic baffle, with no crossover. It began in 2003 as a DIY project and was then built commercially: ten pairs were made.</p> <p><figure class="fig"><a href="transparence-dimensions.jpg"><img src="transparence-dimensions.jpg" alt="Photograph: a clear acrylic baffle on an aluminium stand, with the driver behind it. Arrows mark the width and height of the panel and the position of the driver centre." loading="lazy"></a><figcaption>Panel size and the calculated position of the driver centre (377 mm from the outer edge, 659 mm above the bottom edge), drawn onto a photograph from the AnandTech review (photo: AnandTech; see below). The arrows are indicative, not measured from the photograph: perspective applies, and the panel stands in front of the stand and driver. </figcaption></figure> </p>