Transmission line loudspeaker
A transmission line loudspeaker is a loudspeaker enclosure design which uses the topology of an acoustic transmission line within the cabinet, compared to the simpler enclosures used by sealed (closed) or ported designs. Instead of reverberating in a fairly simple damped enclosure, sound from the back of the bass speaker is directed into a long damped pathway within the speaker enclosure, which allows far greater control and use of speaker energy and the resulting sound.
Fig. 1 - Relationship between TL length and wavelength
Fig. 2 - Frequency response (magnitude) measurement of drive unit and TL outputs
A loudspeaker enclosure or loudspeaker cabinet is an enclosure in which speaker drivers and associated electronic hardware, such as crossover circuits and, in some cases, power amplifiers, are mounted. Enclosures may range in design from simple, homemade DIY rectangular particleboard boxes to very complex, expensive computer-designed hi-fi cabinets that incorporate composite materials, internal baffles, horns, bass reflex ports and acoustic insulation. Loudspeaker enclosures range in size from small "bookshelf" speaker cabinets with 4-inch (10 cm) woofers and small tweeters designed for listening to music with a hi-fi system in a private home to huge, heavy subwoofer enclosures with multiple 18-inch (46 cm) or even 21-inch (53 cm) speakers in huge enclosures which are designed for use in stadium concert sound reinforcement systems for rock music concerts.
MTX Audio loudspeaker enclosures (with rear panel reflex port tubes) which can mount 15-inch woofers, mid-range drivers and horn and/or compression tweeters. In this photo, only one driver is mounted.
A Lansing Iconic multicell horn loudspeaker from 1937.
Medium density fiberboard is a common material out of which loudspeaker enclosures are built.
A small "bookshelf speaker", an LS3/5A, with its protective grille cover removed.