Kef R900 rear ports...to plug or not to plug?

reickmey

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Hello Everyone:

I just picked up a pair of Kef R900's and I was wondering which of the four rear ports I should plug.

Currently they are 2.5 feet from the rear walls (toed inward slightly) in a 25ft x 25ft room.

Mostly I listen to electronic, classic and current rock.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Ryan

Equipment:

2x Kef R900's

Rega Elicit Amp

Music Hall II Turntable

B&W PV1 Sub
 

Frank Harvey

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Here, you have a lot of options. Full bungs, half bungs, all combined with bunging or not bunging anything up to four ports. This gives you a lot of choice with regards to setup. If low bass is an issue, I'd suggest concentrating on the lower two ports. Try using just the outer bungs on the two lower ports. If you still have bass issues, put the outer bungs in the two upper ports as well. If this is still an issue, try using a full bung on one of the lower ports. I don't recommend fully bunging a ported loudspeaker.
 

Frank Harvey

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You could try that, but I know KEF did a lot of work on the ports regarding airflow and reducing 'turbulence', and adding anything like straws to the port may produce a negative effect. I'm sure that you will find a solution with the right bung combination.
 

reickmey

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Thanks you guys, I'll start trying things out today.

If anyone out there has a pair of Kef R900's and wants to drop a golden plug combination then feel free. :)

Thanks again you guys!

Ryan
 

alienmango

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David@FrankHarvey said:
You could try that, but I know KEF did a lot of work on the ports regarding airflow and reducing 'turbulence', and adding anything like straws to the port may produce a negative effect. I'm sure that you will find a solution with the right bung combination.

I agree, but if you only ever use <30% of their capacity bass wise it is unlikely to show up and you may prefer the different loading at those volumes. At high volumes 99% of the time the speaker will sound best and be least likely to be damaged in its original setup.

The 30% is arbritary here, some noise may show up well before that.
 

Frank Harvey

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alienmango said:
I agree, but if you only ever use <30% of their capacity bass wise it is unlikely to show up and you may prefer the different loading at those volumes. At high volumes 99% of the time the speaker will sound best and be least likely to be damaged in its original setup.

I'm not sure I understand this statement.

If you use less than 30 percent of the speaker's bass performance, which I presume would be at lower level, you're probably less likely to use the bungs.

You're not going to damage a speaker by using bungs.
 

alienmango

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^ you can damage a speaker using bungs eg cm1 at high volumes with #most# music will start to bottom out before they would unbunged.

With regards to the straws, if you break this down very crudely there are 3 speaker loading ideas here, sealed (bunged) normal (ported) and using the straws is #somwhere# between in terms of the effect.

In different rooms bunging/straws/ported may sound best. I've personally used bungs at lower levels eg when bookshelves are right next to a rear wall.
 

davedotco

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Whatever happened to the idea that you should buy the speakers that have the bass response that you actually want in the first place?

Maybe I'm just old fashioned, buying expensive boomboxes and then trying to make then fit your tastes and your room does not strike me as the way to do this.

Maybe I'm missing something?
 

chrissasfre

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hi ryan,whats the r900 like with the rega amp is it the elicit 2 or 1

i wouldn,t plug the ports i would move the kefs more into the room as they need some positioning but once you find a sweet spot they sound fantastic
 

jiggyjoe

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looking at the kef website it appears that 2 ports are used to load each bass driver. So depending on how much bass you want I would use one of three options.

1. All ports open

2. All ports semi-bunged

3. All ports blocked

And if you are using your main speakers and the subwoofer together you should always use your main speakers fully bunged to get the best integration with the subwoofer.
 

reickmey

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Hey, its an elicit 2...I like the sound so far...I may upgrade the amp soon though to something alittle better.

I'm thinking about moving into the Mcintosh direction...but ill have to save up for that. :)

As far as the ports go...Ive been trying different combinations. I always seem to want less bass for jazz and more bass for electronic music...its strange.
 

Frank Harvey

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alienmango said:
^ you can damage a speaker using bungs eg cm1 at high volumes with #most# music will start to bottom out before they would unbunged.

A sealed speaker has better natural damping of the bass driver than a ported one. A speaker will more likely bottom out quicker if it is ported.
 

hoopsontoast

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David@FrankHarvey said:
alienmango said:
^ you can damage a speaker using bungs eg cm1 at high volumes with #most# music will start to bottom out before they would unbunged.

A sealed speaker has better natural damping of the bass driver than a ported one. A speaker will more likely bottom out quicker if it is ported.

Yup, although people are more likely to play a sealed* speaker louder to counter act the relative lack of bass comapred to without the bungs.

* Its more of an aperiodic loading, or a 'leaky' sealed cabinet with the foam bungs, rather than a sealed cabinet.

A 10" Mid-Bass in an Optimised Sealed box (13Litres) @ 10w input:

10265615563_597ee5a51f_c.jpg


The same 10" Mid-Bass in an Optimised Ported box (30 Litre / 50Hz fb) @ 10W input:

10265521595_4038a65466_c.jpg
 

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