Sealed/infinite baffle speakers

[matthewpiano]

Why have manufacturers seemingly abandoned sealed enclosure speaker designs and moved pretty much wholesale to front and rear ported designs at the affordable (below £500) end of the market? It seems they were all the rage at one time with excellent models like the KEF Coda III, KEF C30, Mordaunt Short MS15s and MS25Ti but now they are conspicuous by their absence.

I really like the sound of good sealed designs and feel that they tend to have a more cohesive overall sound. Does anyone else have any thoughts on this?

 

[plastic penguin]

Not too sure - I know from years ago, most speakers were sealed, manufacturers believing at the time that a (so called) airtight cabinet produced a purer sound. Whether that was true or not, I don't know. maybe this synthesis of thoughts come in and out of fashion. Like most things some will say it does imrove the sound, while others will rebuke the notion.

 

[Anonymous]

It's a good question. Infinite baffle designs reproduce bass more accurately with better timing and so should be an attractive proposition for designers. The loss of a port does mean that less bass extension is available, particularly when using room acoustics for reinforcement. I would guess that the market demands the extension available with ports over and above the timing from sealed units.

I remember being told that sealed speakers are harder to drive, whether that's because of not having a 'vent' or whether it's down to the need to push a driver harder to get the bass I don't know. Either way, it doesn't help a designer make a speaker compatible, especially when designing smaller sizes. Think of the SA1 and it's sensitivity of less than 83dB W.

I'm with you Matt, infinite baffle designs sound excellent. I compared the SA1 with Proac Tablette Reference 8 Signatures and although the latter went down to 38Hz (or so), the SA1s sounded stronger in the bass. I was stunned when I saw the spec of 75Hz! I don't like using walls to reinforce port output as things can get a little unpredictable and rough.

 

[floyd droid]

I think that your 'guess on market demands' isnt a million miles away igg. The regularity of posts on here titled "how do i get more bass" "my system is bass light" " i need more bass" etc etc ad nauseum. Of course the room is a major factor in this dept but i suppose manufacturers monitor forums and take note of this and churn em out accordingly.

 

[Anonymous]

I think that the PMC DB1i comes in this category and is a very good speaker......

 

[Anonymous]

I didn't think transmission line was infinite baffle but open baffle.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks igg I'm baffled now

 

[chebby]

The PMC DB1i is a 'transmission line' design so neither port reflex nor sealed box.

{Oops sorry. I should have refreshed the page.)