Basic Enclosure Types

The enclosure is an Acoustic Circuit for the Loudspeaker

            An essential part of any loudspeaker system is the enclosure in which the loudspeaker is to be used. An enclosure for a loudspeaker is often called a baffle, and perhaps technically speaking, baffle is a more descriptive word than enclosure, as the reader will soon see. The prime purpose of any enclosure is to provide the proper acoustic circuit for the loudspeaker to work with, so that maximum efficiency and best performance may be obtained from the combination. In the effort to provide this acoustic circuit, the sound coming from the loudspeaker is routed into certain paths and prevented from going into other paths by blank walls put in its way.

            Thus the term “baffle” as used in technical sense connotes a means of routing the sound energy. Since most of today’s baffles are built into more or less complex box-like structures (even though the box may contain a horn), the words enclosure and baffle are used interchangeably. However, in certain instances, we shall specifically use the word baffle, because in no sense will the word enclosure describes the function of the unit. This situation will arise in the discussion of horn tweeters as baffle crossover elements, for the horn is directly and precisely a baffle rather than an enclosure.

            The choice of the proper enclosure or baffle for a desired loudspeaker system is governed by several factors. These factors are, the speaker size, the performance range expected from the speaker – enclosure combination, and the manner in which the speaker is to be operated. The speaker- enclosure combination may be of the direct radiator type (such as the horn), or a combination of the two.