Square boxes bad?

[NYR36 10+ year member]

Or is this an urban legend?

I mean boxes that are the same dimensions inside. Like 13x13x13.

Click to read more...

 

[mikescanlon 10+ year member]

yeah, really bad, the sound waves just resonate inside.

theoretically if you could get a sphere and mount a speaker on top of it, that would be the best possible.

but not very practical.

the more rectangular the better.

 

[azbass 5,000+ posts]

yes bad

 

[dvrmstrng 5,000+ posts]

huh...my brothers xxx 12 is basically in a 14x14x14 square

 

[fwb_1234 10+ year member]

Are you guys just shitting him?

 

[azbass 5,000+ posts]

no its NOT an ideal enclosure to have it a perfect cube

 

[mikescanlon 10+ year member]

his xxx would do better in a different box.

using a square box would be equal to going to the moon on a series of ladders.

 

[Rawr-DQ 10+ year member]

There is a golden ration that is ideal for a retanglular box. I dunno what it is, but I'm sure others could tell you or just by a quick search on these forums.

 

[Immacomputer 10+ year member]

That ratio is for reducing panel resonance. The square enclosure isn't too bad for subs (although not ideal) but it's not as bad as people make it. Now if you're playing frequencies above 100hz, things will start to get pretty nasty with buzzing and standing waves from first, second, and even third order harmonic distortions. Polyfil is a good way to help with that though.

For sub duty, the xxx should be just fine.

 

[snb778 5,000+ posts]

yeah, really bad, the sound waves just resonate inside.
theoretically if you could get a sphere and mount a speaker on top of it, that would be the best possible.

but not very practical.

the more rectangular the better.

The technical explination as far as perfect acoustics say that you DO NOT want ANY wall to be parallel with another, or equal distance....ACTUALLY, A SPHERE would technically have parallel walls at ANY point in the entire enclosure. Now in the real world...you would have to build one F-ed up looking box to make no wall parallel to another, but I believe that is the acoustically correct explination..... I think like a lop-sided diamond shape could work??

But NO, to answer your question, you do not want a perfect square....I think the most realistic design would be like a trapezoid

 

[ngsm13 5,000+ posts]

It's really not that bad...

Really.

nG

 

[Immacomputer 10+ year member]

The technical explination as far as perfect acoustics say that you DO NOT want ANY wall to be parallel with another, or equal distance....ACTUALLY, A SPHERE would technically have parallel walls at ANY point in the entire enclosure. Now in the real world...you would have to build one F-ed up looking box to make no wall parallel to another, but I believe that is the acoustically correct explination..... I think like a lop-sided diamond shape could work??
But NO, to answer your question, you do not want a perfect square....I think the most realistic design would be like a trapezoid

I don't think you understand why you should not have parallel walls. If you understood, you would understand why a sphere IS perfect for reducing resonance. First, spheres are self bracing and the most energy efficient shape as far as wall integrity goes. Second, the inner shape of a sphere reflects sound waves away from the source. This is what breaks up the standing waves. If you don't believe me, go fill a glass of water up about 3/4 of the way to the top. Then put a steady flow of drops into the side of the glass. Watch for waves -- you won't see any distinct waves but just a disturbance in the water. Then go find a square tupperware container. Do the same thing and you will see waves forming and bouncing around.

You're correct about the panels not being parallel and about all points being parallel with another point in a sphere but those points are infinite which makes them infinitely small. Infinitely small means they don't exist.

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

For subwoofers it doesn't matter.

Having a perfectly square enclosure doesn't have any bad effects. The sound waves are far too long compared to the dimensions of the enclosure to be affected.

For midrange drivers, however, it's a different story.

 

[ngsm13 5,000+ posts]

WINNAR!

nG

 

[Immacomputer 10+ year member]

WINNAR!
nG

Pfft... more like a distant third.