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In the Forum: Playback Listening
In the Thread: Remedies the Beauty
Post Subject: LF cont'edPosted by N-set on: 10/28/2022
Looks like the phase response is quite complicated, with two phase flips between the knee and the Fs notch, but the PR phase eventually comes back to be in phase below the Fs:
"I am sure we have all heard that a passive radiator is like a vented speaker. This is true in the region of the box tuning frequency. The passive radiator acts like a mass hanging on the spring and can be used to tune the box compliance to the desired resonance frequency in much the same way as a port does.In both cases, port or passive radiator, the resonance creates a very high internal pressure in the box at this frequency. This pressure, if there were zero losses, would force cone travel to come to zero at this frequency as all output would come from the port or passive radiator at this frequency. However, there are some losses, so in reality we end up with a notch in the woofer's response at the tuned frequency (Fb) and most of the output does still come from the port / PR.Now, as we move below Fb the passive radiator begins to act very differently than a port. Here's why - You still have that image of a weight hanging a spring? Well, a passive radiator is a much more complex mechanical system than a simple port. It has its own moving suspension and it has its own resonance frequency ( which we will call Fsp). So in your image of the weight hanging from the spring, you need to attach another spring to the weight and add an additional weight hanging on it. So, now you have a weight on a spring hanging from a weight on a spring. Got that, right? In a vented system the port output and the cone output are in phase with each at the tuning frequency. Below that both are rolling off at 12 dB/oct. But, the port is moving out of phase with the cone as the frequency decreases. This is what causes vented systems to roll-off at 24 dB/oct. The same thing occurs with a passive radiator until we reach the frequency of Fsp. At this point (Fsp) the passive radiator output is out of phase with the output of the woofer cone and a notch in the summed response occurs. At this point the PR's phase "wraps" or flips, and below Fsp the PR's phase moves back in phase with the cone. This means that at very low frequencies the summed response, unlike the vented system, rolls-off at only 12 dB/oct, just like a sealed system. In fact, it is a sealed system below Fsp. This means we have the added benefit of the box no longer unloading at low frequencies like a vented box does. Excursions of the woofer cone are much better controlled at very low frequencies. With the Passive Radiator, you get the benefit of a vented box at the tuning frequency and the benefit of a sealed box at lower frequencies. You may have never heard this before, which is what makes this a smarter place to hang out."
https://diy.midwestaudio.club/discussion/909/ported-vs-passive-radiator-designs-thoughts

I understand this violent phase change happening in a short freq interval is one suspect why "glueing" bass/reinforcement channels is so problematic and they sound disconnected?

Ed, would love to learn the details of your reverb application. It is in my plans (after sorting the electronics and a basic room treatment).

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