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How good are open baffle loudspeakers ? (Read 31 times)
Randy in Caintuck
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Alexandria, Caintuck
How good are open baffle loudspeakers ?
Yesterday at 18:19:46
 


I receive emails on a regular basis asking me if open baffle loudspeakers are really worth considering and why would a music lover want a pair in their listening room .....

For a fact, there are NO perfect loudspeakers, as everyone in the audio hobby is well aware.

Every loudspeaker is a tradeoff in one way or another.
I am constantly amused when reading the "testimonial pages" from loudspeaker manufacturers claiming that their products are the best thing since sliced bread .....

That is why I do not have a "testimonial page" on my website, despite hundreds of emails from customers telling me that the Caintuck Audio baffles are the best loudspeakers that they have ever owned.

However, I would encourage anyone who is curious about open baffles to try this simple and reasonably inexpensive experiment .....

Order a pair of Lii Song Audio drivers and make a simple square or rectangular pair of baffles from cheap plywood.
Mount the drivers and listen to them in your main audio system for a few days, giving the drivers about 200 hours to break in.

I am fairly certain that you will hear some things in the music and in the presentation of the music that you have not heard before.

As a bonus, if you are using a low wattage amplifier (such as the Decware SE84UFO), you will find that you have all of the power that you need ..... even in a larger listening room.

Then, if you like what you are hearing, you can build a nice pair of baffles for the drivers from hardwoods ..... or contact me to build a nice pair for you .....

The Lii Song drivers can be ordered from my website.

It's also interesting that quite a few of my customers also own Klipsch, Zu, Omega and other brands of loudspeakers in addition to the Caintuck Audio open baffles.

They tell me that it's nice to have a "change of pace" and different loudspeakers for different genres of music.

At this point in time, I have shipped 800+ pairs of open baffle loudspeakers and many of my customers stay in touch via email and even visit me on occasion.

My listening room is always open to visitors who would like to hear some of the various drivers I build baffles for.

Just let me know when you would like to visit and we will make it happen .....

Visitors are welcome to bring their own amplifier (hopefully Decware) if they have something different than the SE84UFO I have on hand.

Happy listening,
Randy

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Cambridge Audio Azur 851N Streamer
Holo Audio Cyan 2 DAC
Schiit Audio Kara preamplifier
Decware SE84UFO amplifier
Caintuck Audio Betsy Open Baffles
Caintuck Audio Lii Song Fast-15 Magnum Open Baffles
Caintuck Audio Lii Song W-15 Magnum Open Bass Baffle
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HockessinKid
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Delaware
Re: How good are open baffle loudspeakers ?
Reply #1 - Yesterday at 23:21:03
 
Randy,

Thank you for sharing such a houghtful approach for folks to experience an open baffle speaker set up.  I would also encourage folks to attend Decfest to for a listen if possible. That is where I fell in love with your F15 baffles. I don't think I'll ever go back to box speakers again.

HK
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Nottingham Interspace TT > MWI PH9.0XT or MWI modded Cambridge CNXV2 > CSP3-25th pre > STL STR-1002 Super Rectifier > Vera-Fi Snub Station Zero > PI Audio UberBUSS > ZMA-25th amp > Ecoflow R2 Max > Caintuck Lii15 speakers > Rythmik F12G sub > SRA & ZenWave cables
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Randy in Caintuck
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Alexandria, Caintuck
Re: How good are open baffle loudspeakers ?
Reply #2 - Today at 04:03:57
 


Hello HK,

Many thanks for the kind words .....

Yes, by all means everyone should make plans to be at Decware Fest 2026, if possible.

I will have baffles for audition with a variety of Lii Song drivers, as well as a pair of baffles with the Audio Nirvana Super 15 drivers.

There will also be a pair of Lii Song Ting tweeters and a pair of baffles with the AMT high frequency drivers that I'm working on.

This Fest promises to be something special with three dedicated listening rooms and Steve deserves a ton of appreciation for making this event happen.

I'm looking forward to seeing some old friends and making many new ones .....

Randy

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Cambridge Audio Azur 851N Streamer
Holo Audio Cyan 2 DAC
Schiit Audio Kara preamplifier
Decware SE84UFO amplifier
Caintuck Audio Betsy Open Baffles
Caintuck Audio Lii Song Fast-15 Magnum Open Baffles
Caintuck Audio Lii Song W-15 Magnum Open Bass Baffle
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MM
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Olympia, WA
Re: How good are open baffle loudspeakers ?
Reply #3 - Today at 05:34:32
 
Quote:
I don't think I'll ever go back to box speakers again.


+1. I’ve been fortunate to have heard a lot of different speakers in my life and the F-15’s in open baffle were a game changer for me. I’ve since voiced my entire system around them. At ~$400 a pair it’s just uncanny how good they are.
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Cambridge CXN100 | DSR3 IC | SEWE 300b | Crown XLS1000 | ZSTYX SC | Lii F15 & W15 in open baffle | Puritan PSM156
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