A theoretical and experimental investigation of photoacoustic (PA) signals in a resonant multipass PA cell with high background absorption (up to 29m-1) is presented. An analogous electric transmission line model including discontinuity inductances at cross section changes was used to model the first longitudinal acoustic mode of the multipass PA cell equipped with two buffer volumes. This model was validated with experimentally obtained results and used to predict the behaviour of the PA cell for different multipass arrangements and different buffer volume diameters. The highest PA signal is obtained for high pass number and large buffer radius. Increasing the absorption coefficient of the medium enhances the PA signal until a maximum is reached, leading to a minimum for the PA signal sensitivity. For a given background absorption, the number of passes required to maximise the sensitivity depends on the absorption coefficient. The model allows the determination of the best-suited number of passes for a given absorption coefficient and cell geometr
