Summed efficiency-method for efficient vented box speaker design

Loudspeakers are inefficient and conventional design methods does not consider the efficiency in the design process. With the rise of Digital Signal Processing (DSP) the frequency response can be corrected with pre-filtering. Based on a frequency domain analysis of vented box enclosures this paper proposes a new method, the Summed efficiency-method (Ση-method), for designing vented box enclosures.

The method focusses on mapping the efficiency and SPL output vs. volume and tuning frequency enabling the designer to perform knowledge based trade-off decisions in the design process. A design example shows how the method can be used to improve the efficiency with over 70% compared to a conventional maximum flat alignment for a compact Public Adress (PA) subwoofer application.