How close to the wall can you place rear ported speakers?

2FlyingYorkies said:

My current Focal Sopra 3's are bottom ported, and are therefore reasonably forgiving at being close to a rear wall. We still keep them well off the wall since there's room for it, but I'm used to how they interact with the rear room boundary.

For speakers with rear ports, how close is too close, and what is the side effect of getting them too close?

I ask because nearly all of my speaker candidates for my new basement theater room seem to have rear ports (some with front and rear!), even the center channel units. I'm hoping it's ok to get the rear face of the speaker within a foot or so of the wall. If it has to be more than that, I may have to rethink things considerably.

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If the ports are for the bass and assuming that you will have dedicated subwoofers in the theater, you could actually cover the ports. In fact that is what JL Audio recommends for many ported speakers.

18-24' will work fine especially if you are crossing them over to subs. What speakers ended up being your finalists?

I think we can work with 18", so that's a good number to hear. Obviously final placement will be done in-room by ear, but it's good that we should be able to make a rear port work.

The final list to pick from is: Focal Aria 948 or Kanta 2, Monitor Audio Gold 300, and Fyne F702 or F502SP (which are down-ported). We ended up expanding the budget a little, as my wife likes the look of the more expensive Kantas (the room will have a mid-century vibe, and in bakelite blue they would certainly fit the bill). We've been able to audition and reject the KEF R / Reference series, Revel F206/208, GoldenEar, Sonus Faber, Paradigm Prestige, and a few others. We have an audition with the remaining candidates except the Monitors next weekend, so I think we'll have it wrapped up shortly. The room itself is still a work in progress, though.

Like Nicoff said if you are going to use subs and an electronic crossover in a HT processor you can alway plug ports if it becomes an issue. I think the Fynes would be an interesting choice with the 502SP's a speaker I want to hear.

If the rear port is too close to the wall the speaker will sound boomy. As mentioned, plugging the ports and/or when you run your speaker set up of the processor it should crossover the mains to provide a flat response, or flat as possible.

Here in my area, Home Theatre Designs has Monitor Audio Gold on display. I think just one pair but at least you'd get a listen if that wasn't too far. I think they are 300's.

I also wonder if you have noticed a new high end store just opened in KC? I forget the name, maybe Audio Connection. I need to check.

The new store in KC is Sound Environment, out of Omaha. That's actually where we heard the Sonus Faber Sonetto V (and a nifty pair of Wilson Sasha DAWs that added an extra zero to the original budget, but did sound quite nice).

I'm well aware of the Monitors in StL - I've already visited Dave from At Home Theater Designs, but unfortunately it was right before his Gold 300s arrived. We did get to hear his KEFs and a pair of Monitor silvers that left us wanting to hear the higher line. It's a ~7 hour drive, so a full weekend trip at a minimum. Hopefully the stars will align so I can make the trip again before I have to make a decision.

In layman's terms, when everything turns to shit, go back 2 moves. Thats about the perzackery

LOL, you are on top of it. That's the store I was talking about in KC. If you get this way again give me a heads up and maybe I can make it out to Dave's while you are there.

2FlyingYorkies said:

The new store in KC is Sound Environment, out of Omaha. That's actually where we heard the Sonus Faber Sonetto V (and a nifty pair of Wilson Sasha DAWs that added an extra zero to the original budget, but did sound quite nice).

I'm well aware of the Monitors in StL - I've already visited Dave from At Home Theater Designs, but unfortunately it was right before his Gold 300s arrived. We did get to hear his KEFs and a pair of Monitor silvers that left us wanting to hear the higher line. It's a ~7 hour drive, so a full weekend trip at a minimum. Hopefully the stars will align so I can make the trip again before I have to make a decision.

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Jeff, my 4367's are front ported, although large, have you considered JBL? They do have a new HDI line coming out, I'd have to check to see what other models in the Synthesis line might be front ported.

In this setup, aesthetics are at least as critical as the sound. It's a mixed media/living/theater space, with emphasis on living. So the traditional JBL look won't make it past the aesthetics committee. The newer HDI line might, but they're rear ported, so no help there.