What is the sound of a passive radiator cabinet?
This is entirely subjective, but if they are done correctly they create bass that is as tight as a sealed box cabinet with the incredible output levels and sensitivity of a maximum output ported cabinet. When a PR system is tuned very low, the rise in group delay evident at tuning is pushed lower in frequency, no longer affecting the sound. For an example, look at a 3cf enclosure with pair of 15″ 1400gram PR’s. The tuning is right around 20Hz, and above 35Hz, the group delay of the system is equal to what it would be with the same woofer in a sealed enclosure. Below this frequency, the group delay does not cause any audible effects. This again means that the PR system can sound as “tight” as the sealed enclosure, but with the extra low frequency output. Something important to consider is that most people using passive radiators comment that they do not like regular ported cabinets, but do like the sound of the passive radiators. Passive radiator cabinets really do have a sound of their
