Question Put a sock in it

[Fandango Andy]

Has anyone tried putting a bung in the rear port on a pair of stereo speakers?

I will be changing the speakers in my main system soon, and thinking of moving my current speakers - Tannoy Mercury M1 - into my bedroom. They are rear ported and not as forgiving over positioning as the Missions I currently use, but their diminutive size makes them better suited to the location.

My only experience is the Q Acoustic speakers I have in my AV system came with foam bungs for when they are placed next to a wall. As rear and side speakers they aren't doing that much work and I can't tell the difference.

Before I start experimenting, has anyone tried stuffing something into the rear port? What did you use, foam bungs, or some sort of cloth?

 

[Deliriumbassist]

Rear ported is not nearly as fussy as folks make out. If positioning less than twice the width of the port from the wall, then you probably want to plug the port. Besides that, every other consideration of placement is identical, no matter what bass reflex type.

 

[davidf]

Quite a few bungs don't stay in the ports due to the sheer velocity of airflow - I find placing the bung in sideways helps it stay in, and doesn't slow the airflow fully, which many do. Fully bunging a speaker that's designed to work as a ported speaker usually sucks the life out of it and destroys the intended balance - some speakers deal with this better than others.

 

[Cork]

I used a port plug on my center channel because I was placing it into a cabinet; I haven't noticed any major difference.

According to the manufacturer of my speakers, you would use them if you're getting too much mid-bass reinforcement. Here's some links; the second is to an informative video (which I didn't listen to).

Port Plugs

Port plugs can reduce boundary effects and give you clearer, faster imaging.

www.axiomaudio.com

When Should You Use Port Plugs?

What are port plugs and what sound qualities in your loudspeakers indicate that you should try these accessories out? Axiom engineer Andrew Welker explains them.

www.axiomaudio.com

 

[The_Lecht_Rocks]

I used a natural sponge on my DALIs in my small study. Cut them to suit…….
It certainly worked but I found the sound characteristic absolutely awful, couldn’t live with it.

 

[RTHerringbone]

When I resurrected the Hi-Fi habit a year or so ago, I first used a pair of Monitor Audio Silver RX7s that had been sat in the loft for 15+ years. In that time I lost the original foam bungs so we countered the bass boom from their rear ports with one single balled up sock in each rear port.

It worked and made no noticeable difference to the overall sound, but we ended up ultimately moving them a touch further from the wall which allowed us to get rid of the socks altogether. If socks don't appeal, it's easy to source proper foam bungs online in a variety of sizes for not much money at all.