Date: May 07, 2001 at 14:02:28 From:Richard Greene, [ncache1.ford.com] Subject: Spherical enclosure not a good shape
Ignoring the difficulty of a DIY speaker builder constructing a sphere: This is a moot point for subwoofer drivers, but for other drivers you'd get all the benefits of low edge diffraction using a hemispherical shape for the front half of enclosure that transitioned into a different shape for the back half of the enclosure (perhaps a golden ratio rectangle?) -- not that this shape would be any easier to construct than a sphere.
It seems counterproductive to build a spherical enclosure that encourages loud internal standing waves, forcing the use of stuffing/sealed enclosure to control those standing waves. I would not count on thin fiberglass wall linings typically used in ported enclosures to fully control internal standing waves.