All of our speaker designs include a baffle. The baffle is where we mount the drivers (speakers) and often include ports and structural supports. For this post, I will be talking about design decisions relating to our Ported Bass 15″ Modular speaker cabinet.
Our designs, generally, set the baffle back (variable: baffle_setback) 1.5 inches. We use .47″ poplar shop wood and use a layer of cut plywood as the grill. With the grill flush to the front of the cabinet design, the bass driver can move (extrude) up to .75” before touching the grill.
15” bass drivers generate considerable force. At high volume, unsupported, .47” thick plywood could easily break apart. To ensure that we do not blow up our cabinets, attach a driver support ring to the rear of the baffle. Additionally, the port supports add to the baffle thickness exactly where the baffle is the weakest. The images below show the baffle from the rear.
Additionally, while we assemble the rest of the box with finger joints using just under half the depth of the plywood, the baffle uses the entire sheet for added strength. This is illustrated in the image below of the baffle and bottom and the baffle with the left side.
In conclusion: Mounting the driver and including ports requires us to cut into the baffle extensively. While this would normally make the baffle the weakest part of the cabinet, supports make it the strongest. A considerable portion of our design energy is spent figuring out how to create the strongest possible baffle using the least amount of wood.
