Free Air
Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: General Discussion
Forum Discription: General Mobile Electronics Questions and Answers
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=571
Printed Date: June 13, 2024 at 8:18 AM
Topic: Free Air
Posted By: illmattix
Subject: Free Air
Date Posted: May 02, 2002 at 4:26 PM
I've noticed in a lot of magazines recently that people are starting to mount their subs in what looks to be a free air arrangement. Everything I've ever learned said that this doesn't work to well. Is the sub firing into a sealed enclosure or some other type of enclosure? How does this work? Thanks ------------- Matt James
Replies:
Posted By: NyxBass
Date Posted: May 02, 2002 at 4:56 PM
You'd have to give us specific examples. Sometimes, a woffer will be mounted with the basket out, instead of in. I sounds the same, just makes mounting easier sometimes. That may be what you're seeing.
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/NyxBass
Posted By: the12volt
Date Posted: May 02, 2002 at 5:00 PM
Hi Matt, what you might have seen are woofers mounted with the magnet structure facing out rather than the cone facing out. These could be in sealed or vented enclosures. The advantage is the ability to mount more woofers in a smaller or shallow enclosure where mounting depth is at a minimum. While they may look as if they are in a "free air arrangement", they aren't. the12volt
Posted By: illmattix
Date Posted: May 02, 2002 at 10:51 PM
Thanks for the replies. So if the magnet is mounted out, is the woofer firing into a sealed enclosure that's the same size that is recommended? Also, if this is the case, how does the sound get out? Is the speaker wired with reverse polarity? Thanks ------------- Matt James
Posted By: NyxBass
Date Posted: May 03, 2002 at 2:03 AM
The speaker is firing into a sealed, ported, bandpass, transmission line, etc. The sound gets out the same way it does from a normal box - If sealed, from the back of the cone mostly. From ported, from the back of the cone and the port. Bass is so omni-directional, it doesn't matter that the magnet structure is ion the way. The speaker is wired in normal polarity usually, but if it's in a multi woofer arrangement, it may be out of phase so it hits in the same phase as the rest. Phase should be determined by sound and which polarity you like better, not only instructions and labels.
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/NyxBass
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