List of Acoustic Suspension Monitor Speakers

F1nut
F1nut Posts: 49,708
I'm interested in compiling a list for reference, so please post the maker and model of any current or recent offerings. Price is irrelevant.
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    edited October 2017
    Not to be persnickety, but are you interested in truly "acoustic suspension" alignments or any and all sealed boxes?

    I am thinking,e.g., of the BBC LS3/5A nearfield monitor specification, which is a small sealed box but not (???) strictly speaking acoustic suspension.

    All this being said, the modern-day LS3/5A clonies are the only sealed box loudspeakers that leap to mind. :|

    8opzzsg6a0yw.png

    Heck, even KEF's modern "visualization" of the LS3/5A -- the LS50 -- is ported.
    Go figure.
    https://www.stereophile.com/content/kef-ls50-anniversary-model-loudspeaker

    kcpoun9drqdp.png


    So -- this should be an interesting list; good question! :)

  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,708
    Sealed design examples are welcome too.

    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."


    President of Club Polk

  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,708
    A few for the list.

    NHT C3
    DC10 Audio Berlin R
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."


    President of Club Polk

  • codycatalist
    codycatalist Posts: 2,662
    edited October 2017
    Didn't read post all the way through. Corrected my post.
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  • OleBoot
    OleBoot Posts: 2,065
    I think all ATC speakers are sealed box.
  • rooftop59
    rooftop59 Posts: 7,952
    Please explain sealed vs acoustic suspension.

    And not passive radiator designs, right (which I know is a kind of port)?
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    edited November 2017
    I haven't heard the LS50s (perhaps I am the only 'audiophile' who hasn't?), so I cannot say.
    rooftop59 wrote: »
    Please explain sealed vs acoustic suspension.

    And not passive radiator designs, right (which I know is a kind of port)?

    Without actually knowing the answer, I believe that the Villchur/Acoustic Research acoustic suspension alignment represents a way to get low bass from a small box and a woofer with a highly compliant suspension, using the air in the box as a 'spring' for the restorative force -- as opposed to a "springy" surround, like the accordion-pleated paper or treated paper surrounds common in the 1950s on consumer woofers, and still found on many 'sound reinforcement' drivers.

    Having said this, I suspect there are precise definitions of the "space" that constitutes acoustic suspension loading (i.e., combination of box parameters & driver T/S parameters) -- but I am naive of them & too lazy to look 'em up! :neutral: It might be instructive to look at Villchur's early patents, but then again the Thiele/Small model didn't exist at that point, so it might be hard to translate Villchur's approach to a modern point of view informed by the work of Thiele, Small & others in the intervening decades.

    Nice Villchur overview from the AES:
    http://www.aes.org/aeshc/docs/recording.technology.history/villchur.html

    As to "other" sealed box alignments (and these are only my opinions; I am no expert!):

    Even in the early days of hifi, very large sealed boxes were used with the then-common low-compliance woofers to get (fairly) deep bass (with high sensitivity). This alignment was/is known as the infinite baffle. Electrovoice, for example, in their speaker driver technical documents, often recommended installing their big drivers in a conveniently located closet to serve as an infinite baffle :) -- although they noted that the availablity of two appropriately located closets for stereo was often not available in the hifi enthusiast's home ;) The woofers used in the classic infinite baffles had their own springy suspension (accordion pleat surrounds), of course -- they're the same woofers used in ported (vented) enclosures in those somewhat naive times ;)

    There are also (very) small sealed boxes that probably don't meet the formal definition (assuming there is one!) of acoustic suspension. The more I think about the resonant, "lossy" boxes of the LS3/5A monitor specification, the more I figure they're not really "sealed" in the sense of F1nut's request... although I may be treading on the slippery slope of semantics here.

    :blush:
    Post edited by mhardy6647 on
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    rooftop59 wrote: »
    Please explain sealed vs acoustic suspension.

    And not passive radiator designs, right (which I know is a kind of port)?

    Right. Passive radiators are a special case of the Helmholtz resonator/"bass reflex" ported enclosure design. The mass of the PR takes the place of the mass of air in a Helmholtz "port" in loading the woofer at low frequencies. Note that either approach results in a deliberately resonant enclosure for the woofer. This serves to augment low frequency output at certain frequencies, but does not load the woofer as well (at really low frequencies) as would a sealed enclosure. At least, that's the way I remember it :/

    vsh8ws4duebx.png

    All things being equal (I think!), the rate of bass output roll-off of a PR loaded woofer is faster (steeper as a function of frequency) than an bass reflex loaded woofer. Either alignment gives steeper bass roll-off than an acoustic suspension alignment.

    Is this at all helpful? ::p


  • halo
    halo Posts: 5,616
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  • rooftop59
    rooftop59 Posts: 7,952
    Yep2 wrote: »
    NHT M6's.
    Totally sealed.
    Stereophile "Class A".
    3p9gazxwgq8s.jpg

    Well those are LONG out of production, but the last time i checked they were doing a a small run of a special edition...
    Living Room 2.2: Usher BE-718 "tiny dancers"; Dual DIY Dayton audio RSS210HF-4 Subs with Dayton SPA-250 amps; Arcam SA30; Musical Fidelity A308; Sony UBP-x1000es; Squeezebox Touch with Bolder Power Supply
    Game Room 5.1.4:
    Denon AVR-X4200w; Sony UBP-x700; Definitive Technology Power Monitor 900 mains, CLR-3000 center, StudioMonitor 350 surrounds, ProMonitor 800 atmos x4; Sub - Monoprice Monolith 15in THX Ultra

    Bedroom 2.1
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