Guide
Sealed, bass reflex or passive radiator?
Three common enclosure concepts solve the low-frequency problem in different ways. The right choice depends on the driver, target bandwidth, available volume, excursion and practical construction.
LNGR / Knowledge
HiFi knowledge base
Eight compact guides covering enclosure design, level, room acoustics, crossovers, DSP, datasheets and passive radiators.
Guide
Power, sensitivity and sound pressure
Watt ratings alone do not tell you how loud a loudspeaker will play. Sensitivity, distance, power compression and excursion are equally important.
Guide
How deep should a subwoofer play?
Extension to 20 Hz is not automatically better. Useful bandwidth depends on programme material, room gain, maximum SPL, placement and integration.
Guide
Room modes: why bass changes with position
At low frequencies a room behaves like a resonant volume. The same subwoofer can therefore sound powerful at one seat and weak a short distance away.
Guide
What does a crossover do?
A crossover divides the audio band between drivers and also shapes phase, level and sometimes protection. Acoustic slopes matter more than component labels alone.
Guide
DSP: what it can and cannot fix
Digital signal processing is powerful for crossover filters, equalisation, delay and protection. It cannot repair poor mechanics or a spatial cancellation.
Guide
Reading a loudspeaker datasheet
Driver datasheets contain the electrical, mechanical and acoustic parameters needed for enclosure design. The important skill is understanding which numbers describe which limitation.
Guide
Passive radiators in practice
A passive radiator can achieve low tuning without a long port, but it requires enough moving mass and substantially more excursion capability than the active driver around tuning.