The following Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) packages have been recommended by many of the same people who've recommended drivers. All are used to design speaker systems, including box design and crossover design. They range from freeware hobbyist packages to full-blown professional systems. They are listed in order of increasing cost. All have been recommended by at least one individual. Those recommended by multiple people are noted as "Recommended". Those with the most recommendations in their price or technical range are noted as "Highly recommended". Note that "Win32" indicates Windows 95, 98, 2000, and XP.

1. Unibox (Win32 w/ Excel 2000, Mac w/ MS office). This free download (from the author's web site) offers a comprehensive set of tools for designing sealed, vented, and PR systems. This is the premier spreadsheet-based CAE tool available. *Highly recommended*

2. SEALED.XLS/PORTED.XLS/BANDPASS.XLS (Win32 w/ Excel 9x/2k, Mac w/ MS office). These easy-to-use Excel spreadsheets may be downloaded for free from Brian Steele's Subwoofer DIY web site. Using the standard Thiele-Small models for sealed, ported, and bandpass enclosures, these implement the standard textbook formulas and may be all many hobbyists will ever need. *Highly recommended*

3. BlauBox (DOS). Free download, written by Blaupunkt. Designs sealed, vented, and bandpass boxes using single or double isobaric drivers. Basic passive crossover calculator for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd order designs. Download it from Steve Ekblad's web site. *Recommended*
4. Boxmodel (DOS). $40 from Old Colony Sound Lab, or free download. demo version Extremely capable bass box modeling program. No filter design capability. The current version is 4.0. Previous versions are available as free downloads from many sites and are quite popular where cost is the top priority. The free version is *Highly recommended*
5. Speaker Pro (DOS). Written by Visaton, a free version is available for personal use. The latest English version is 6.0, although a 7.0 version is available in German. Quite capable for designing complete systems and passive crossovers. The full commercial packages are: English 6.0 - $24, and German 7.0 - $91.
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6. Easy Suite (Win32 w/ Excel 9x/2k, Mac w/ MS office) by B&R Acoustique. A comprehensive set of Excel spreadsheets. The complete suite is available from Old Colony Sound Lab for $129. Individual components are: EasySPEAK, $69 - designs a variety of sealed, vented, bandpass, passive radiator, transmission line boxes, with or without mass loading and equalization. Computes cavity and panel resonances, coincident frequencies, and baffle step correction for a variety of box shapes and enclosure materials. EasyROOM, $49 - calculates room modes for a variety of surface materials and number of occupants. EasyTEST, $69 - a companion to Joe D'Appolito's book, "Testing Loudspeakers". Follow the book's directions for data acquisition, input the data into the spreadsheet, and all results are calculated automatically. *Highly recommended*
7. Calsod Standard (DOS). A complex and powerful modeling package with optimization capability. The optimization capability is unique in low-cost packages. Available from Old Colony Sound Lab for $70.
8. WinSpeakerz (Win32)/ MacApeakerz (Mac). A comprehensive design tool with outstanding graphics and an easy to use and learn user interface. Models a variety of sealed, vented, and bandpass enclosures. Models box effects for a variety of different-shaped boxes. Models a variety of passive crossover network topologies. Large (>1000) driver database included. A great value, both versions cost $129 from the True Audio web site. *Recommended*
9. LspCAD (Win32). An excellent tool for designing sealed, vented, and bandpass enclosures, and 1- to 4-way active or passive filters. The system includes a network optimizer as well. LspCAD is sold by the same people who produce the outstanding LAUD measurement and testing software, allowing easy import of LAUD data into LspCAD. Costing $129, the same as WinSpeakerz, LspCAD lacks a few of its features, but adds others - most significantly its optimizer. The newest feature to be added is a significant step in crossover design, aural-emulation. This allows the user to hear the crossover you are simulating on the screen. It emulates what you are doing with a DSP crossover and plays your music in mono or stereo from a 2, 4 or 8 channel sound card. Distributed in North America by Liberty Instruments and Phil's Audio, or go directly to the LspCAD web site. *Highly recommended*
10. BassBox Pro/X*over Pro (Win32) by Harris Technologies. Although available separately, these should be purchased together for a powerful system design suite. BassBox Pro can model the same enclosure types as WinSpeakerz or LspCAD plus passive radiator, aperiodic systems, and Bessel arrays. The capabilities of X*over Pro are likewise similar to Winspeakerz and LspCAD, except that there is no optimizer and baffle step correction must be done manually. Like WinSpeakerz/MacSpeakerz, this package is strong on graphics and ease of use features, and is regularly updated with new and significant features. The package price is $199. In addition to buying directly from Harris Technologies, BassBox Pro/X*over Pro are also sold by Lambda Acoustics and Street Soundz *Recommended*
11. Calsod Professional (DOS). With all the features of Calsod Standard (see above), Calsod professional adds more options designed to appeal to professional designers. Available from Old Colony Sound Lab for $269. *Recommended*
12. SoundEasy V 4.00 by Bodzio Software (Win32). Very powerful, but with a bit of a learning curve (but not as much so as Speak_32, listed below), SoundEasy automates the design of complete systems in both the frequency and time domains. Notably, it can handle up to 5-way designs and can produce polar plots for tilted drivers or off-axis response. Also notably, it includes a crossover optimizer. Available from E-Speakers and Old Colony Sound Lab for $199. *Recommended*
13. Speak_32 (Win32) by GedLee Associates. This defines the entry-level of professional quality CAE tools. Unlike other packages, Speak_32 is based on Finite Element Analysis (FAE) techniques rather than Thiele-Small small signal parameters. This is a quite new package, with a daunting number of features to learn before you can fully exploit its capabilities. The previous demo version tended to be somewhat confusing without a written manual/tutorial, and initial reports suggest that the full commercial learning curve to be similarly steep. Potentially the most powerful package available, its $199 (reduced from $299) price reflects the fact it needs some time in the market to develop its full potential. At that price, it's a great "ground floor" opportunity. *Conditionally recommended*
14. LEAP (DOS) by LinearX Systems. The most complete, powerful, complex, and expensive package currently, there's almost nothing you can't do with LEAP. Complex and designed working pros, the learning curve is steep. Despite Speak_32's potential, lower price, and more user-friendly Windows interface, LEAP will probably remain the standard for a while. LEAP is sold as a $395 base module with add-ons. The minimal useful configuration would include the Passive Network Library, Optimizers, and Crossover Designer, bringing the total to $920. The complete package with all optional modules costs $1195. *Highly recommended*

Other web resources to check out include:

Steve Ekblad's Free Audio Software and On-Line Design

The home of Josh Madison's convert.exe, an incredibly useful utility for converting between various (e.g. English and metric) units of measure

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