A General Question About Speakers

[Jack Russell]

[This is a spin off of the DIY Speaker thread.]

Suppose you are building a 4x10 cabinet. Is it better to make the cabinet square of a little bit rectangular?

Does a square speaker enclosure have some undesireable wave resonance, or does it matter?

[Lt. Boob]

hmmm ...... good question.
You can put a large brace in the middle that would break up any standing waves and have the added benefit of making it heavier.

[TMatt142]

I thought it had more to do with the amount of airspace/efficiency of the speaker. Doesn't really matter HOW it looks, more so, if the speakers have the proper amount of airspace....?? Does that make sense?

[Aloisius]

Originally Posted by Lt. Boob

and have the added benefit of making it heavier.

lol. yeah, because heavier cabinets are always better to lug around.

[Lt. Boob]

Originally Posted by Aloisius

lol. yeah, because heavier cabinets are always better to lug around.

he needs the weight bearing exercise to keep his bone density up.

[Ginger]

Make it octagonal with an Ovation roundback design.

[Jack Russell]

To port or not to port? The speakers I purchased are supposed to work "equally in a ported or non-ported enclosure." If that is true then what is the reason for putting a port into a custom cabinet?

O.k. I don't know what I'm doing. Duh....

[Lt. Boob]

Originally Posted by Jack Russell

To port or not to port? The speakers I purchased are supposed to work "equally in a ported or non-ported enclosure." If that is true then what is the reason for putting a port into a custom cabinet?

O.k. I don't know what I'm doing. Duh....

well, a port will give you more low end extension at the cost of lowering power handling.
An unported cab won't go as low as a properly tuned ported cab but since the trapped air reduces cone excursion ..... they can handle the bass at higher levels without the voice coil 'bottoming out'.

[travis]

sounds like you're stepping into speaker enclosure design territory. good luck (a&a ain't got the strongest diy forum).

[Upstate]

Open back, closed back, it is kind of up to the ear of the player.

Each has it's own benefits, and what you get for sound depends a lot on how the speakers are driven, or by what.....

if an amp is pushing 100 watts, then you do not want 1000 watts worth of speakers,...
Matching the output closer to capacity will give you optimum sound from any speaker.
Meaning, again if the amp pushes 100 watts, a cabinet capable of peaks of 400 watts would be more than enough....

better efficiency would be one at 200 watts. cleaner at light touch, more dynamic at harder attacks.

I would put 4 40-60 watt speakers in there for a 100 watt pusher, or adjust accordingly using the amps output as a guide.. I would have to know just what kind of sound you are looking for, or what music you are playing to recommend a specific brand, or name.

More sound comes from open back cabs, just because you are obtaining sound from both sides, and furthermore if an open back cab is positioned where the sound gets reflected towards the front you will get a much BIGGER sound.There are even boxes out there that do that for you,

Closed back cabs will direct the sound, and give you more bottom, by porting any cab you get a boost in the midrange, and also better dynamics with touch sensitivity.

Hope that gives you some direction.

s