What are the advantages of Soffit mounting?

[Lissajous]

Title pretty much says it all.

Also, is there any advantage to just having the soffit wall on the sides of the monitors but not above or below them (think monitors on stands flanked by walls)?

[TheRealRoach]

Well I know that one of the inherent problems with regular floor standing speakers is that they project sound backwards from the cabinet and this sound reflects off of the wall and then mixes with sound moving forwards toward the listener. The symptom is usually phase cancellation in the lower frequencies.

The drivers in soffit mounted systems should be flush with the wall thereby making any sort of rearward projection impossible. The sound is only allowed to cover a 180 degree field in the direction of the listener.

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by TheRealRoach

one of the inherent problems with regular floor standing speakers is that they project sound backwards from the cabinet and this sound reflects off of the wall and then mixes with sound moving forwards toward the listener. The symptom is usually phase cancellation in the lower frequencies.

This is correct.

[Lissajous]

Originally Posted by TheRealRoach

Well I know that one of the inherent problems with regular floor standing speakers is that they project sound backwards from the cabinet and this sound reflects off of the wall and then mixes with sound moving forwards toward the listener. The symptom is usually phase cancellation in the lower frequencies.

The drivers in soffit mounted systems should be flush with the wall thereby making any sort of rearward projection impossible. The sound is only allowed to cover a 180 degree field in the direction of the listener.

So if you had a monitor that has a rear mounted passive radiator I suppose this type of mounting is moot?

[bit mangler]

How many of the regular monitors have back-firing ports? Not many ..I think it has something to do with coupling

[Lissajous]

Originally Posted by bit mangler

How many of the regular monitors have back-firing ports? Not many ..I think it has something to do with coupling

Mackies do

[Freudian Slip]

BX8 and BX8a's also are rear ported. One of the things I disliked about them. The bass response was realy dependent on the wall proximity.


F.S.

[TheRealRoach]

Originally Posted by Lissajous

So if you had a monitor that has a rear mounted passive radiator I suppose this type of mounting is moot?

Pretty much. You'd suffocate the speaker and totally alter its frequency response. Many "mains" that are supposed to be mounted in wall are designed that way... the ports are always on the front.