Cabinet shapes

[Rockin Mike]

I'm no cabinet designer, just a bassist, but surely this has occurred to someone before...

If the shape of a speaker chamber doesn't matter, and we desire high rigidity and low weight, why doesn't anyone make a spherical speaker enclosure?

Obviously it would need some kind of stand so it doesn't roll over, but that's a solved problem, look at a bass drum.

Thanks in advance to the cab design experts on the board.

[msaone]

Wouldn't the head fall off?

[silky smoove]

There was a guy making cabs out of bass drum shells. There's a thread about it if you do a search.

[RufusB]

Cool idea!

[bassmeknik]

Interesting idea, If you look at modern studio monitor designs they are rounding over the front edges to minimize the front baffle area. I believe that is only helpful with higher frequencies however so although your idea would work I'm not sure it would have any measurable benefit over most squarish or rectangular boxes used for woofers.

[David1234]

Rectangles will always be easier to stack in the van. But however impractical, something round could certainly be cool!

[rollerberg2000]

I've seen this topic covered before in the past, someone has tried it.....

The biggest drawback I see for the hobby builder is walking into Home Depot or Lowe's looking for board footage in pi...

[superjesus]

A rectangular prism maximizes volume for a given area of square footage more so than non-rectangular shapes.

[bassmeknik]

Originally Posted by David1234

however impractical, something round could certainly be cool!

+1 indeed it would be

[esa372]

Here are a few quotes from someone who knows what he's doing:

Originally Posted by billfitzmaurice

A hemispherical or semi-cylindrical rear chamber is a very good shape for strength to weight, resonance control and internal reflection control. The problem with those shapes is the small internal volume relative to the external linear dimensions. That's why you see them used in small hi-fi satelllite midrange speakers that don't need much interior volume, but not in bass cabs that do.

From What is the best cab shape?

Originally Posted by billfitzmaurice

Odd shapes are of some use with midranges and tweeters but they're generally a bad idea with woofers, as they usually result in less box volume for a given footprint, the result being less sensitivity and LF extension.

From Abnormally shaped speaker cabinets

[T-Bird]

Hi.

Originally Posted by Rockin Mike

I'm no cabinet designer, just a bassist, but surely this has occurred to someone before...

If the shape of a speaker chamber doesn't matter, and we desire high rigidity and low weight, why doesn't anyone make a spherical speaker enclosure?

There's been a few spherical speakers over the years, but as the sphere is -in the speaker enclosure design POV anyway- among the worst, those have been very short lived in MI field.

Regards
Sam

[dspellman]

Originally Posted by Rockin Mike

If the shape of a speaker chamber doesn't matter, and we desire high rigidity and low weight, why doesn't anyone make a spherical speaker enclosure?

It's come up, but it's an inefficient use of external space for a given internal cabinet space. In short, it's going to take up a lot more space on the back seat of your Honda Civic.

[bassmeknik]

Originally Posted by dspellman

It's come up, but it's an inefficient use of external space for a given internal cabinet space. In short, it's going to take up a lot more space on the back seat of your Honda Civic.

Thinking about it geometrically, the diameter of a spherical cab would be larger than a single side of any similar volume cube for a given volume, so just getting it through doors could be a problem. This also means you could only use drivers that can perform well in small enclosures.

[Passinwind]

Originally Posted by Rockin Mike

If the shape of a speaker chamber doesn't matter, and we desire high rigidity and low weight, why doesn't anyone make a spherical speaker enclosure?

Follow the links here to see one aspect of why cab shape does in fact matter.

[chadds]

Originally Posted by David1234

Rectangles will always be easier to stack in the van. But however impractical, something round could certainly be cool!

Then your drummer would have company when it was time to roll around inside the van.

[1958Bassman]

Originally Posted by bassmeknik

Interesting idea, If you look at modern studio monitor designs they are rounding over the front edges to minimize the front baffle area. I believe that is only helpful with higher frequencies however so although your idea would work I'm not sure it would have any measurable benefit over most squarish or rectangular boxes used for woofers.

The rounded edges reduces diffraction of the sound and the problems this causes. Narrow baffles need special compensation in the crossover in order to minimize that effect, too.