How does bass reflex work

The Music Listening Benefits. Bass Reflex Speakers Improve Sound. What's the difference between 2-way and 3-way bass reflex speakers? Which is better: bass reflex or acoustic suspension?

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These choices will be signaled globally to our partners and will not affect browsing data. As long as you stay within the zone dictated by this formula, you can put the port anywhere on the enclosure without affecting frequency response.

Mark the center of the port's location with an X. Make sure it's in the same spot on both enclosures. Determine your port diameter.

Look up the bass speaker size and Xmax rating in the user manual. Go to an online tuning tool and enter these numbers in the corresponding fields to get the minimum recommended diameter for your port. Use a tape measure to adjust the pencil compass to this port diameter and draw a circle on the enclosures with the X marks at the center. Drill a hole on these circles as a starting point for your jigsaw and then cut out the circles. Find or buy a PVC or cardboard tube with this diameter.

Determine the port length. Passive radiator enclosures are very similar to bass reflex units, but in passive radiator enclosures, the backward wave moves an additional, passive driver, instead of escaping out of the port. The passive driver is just like the main, active drivers except it doesn't have an electromagnet voice coil, and it isn't connected to the amplifier.

It is moved only by the sound waves coming from the active drivers. This type of enclosure is more efficient than sealed designs and more precise than bass reflex models. Some enclosure designs have an active driver facing one way and a passive driver facing the other way. This dipole design diffuses the sound in all directions, making it a good choice for the rear channels in a home theater system.

These are just a few of the many enclosure types available. There are a huge range of speaker units on the market, with a variety of unique structures and driver arrangements. Check out this page to learn about some of these designs.