Quote Originally Posted by ronning
Hello all.

The short: Side-firing woofers: good or bad?

The long:

I've been exposed to loudspeakers for a long time and despite much reading loudspeaker how-to books and playing around, I still remain a novice at this. But it's still fun.. ;-)

I'm a product designer by trade and thought for a fun project I'd try to design some GOOD LOOKING, INNOVATIVE, but not necessarilly the greatest-sounding speakers in the world (I still haven't figured out crossovers). Sacrilege, I know. But bear with me.

If I can sell my ideas I may be able to get some engineers on my side to help with the gritty stuff.

So here's my concept: 3-way system. dome tweeter, dual mid-basses (5-6"), side-firing woofer (10-12"). Floor standing. This configuration (a la Infinity prelue, Genesys 6.1, etc) works well for cosmetic fun. It will be a PASSIVE system. Are there any disadvantages to a side-firing woofer? What about dual in-phase opposing woofers? (like the Genesys)

Thoughts, suggestions, wild ideas welcome!
I've owned two speakers with side firing woofers, the Gallo Reference 3, and the Cambridge Soundworks T500. Both were well designed and great speakers in their respective catagories. I would recommend a room larger than 12' across though, as you can develop some unusual room nodes with a side firing woofer, and narrow room.

Your concept sounds fine, but it's not something that I would want to try for a first project. Speaker building, like anything else, is best learned from the ground up. Your project is pretty advanced for a first time project.