Speaker Port Plugs: Could They Solve Bass Issues in Your System?
Vložit
- čas přidán 30. 06. 2024
- We often get asked about when to use speaker port plugs: should I use them? What do they really do? Why would I want to block a port if you went to the trouble of putting a port in?
00:00 Start
00:25 Speaker Port Plugs
01:20 Speakers close to the wall gives much bass
02:38 Use port plugs here
03:29 Room nodes
04:51 Multiple ports?
05:33 Caution
All great questions, and it comes to this: you can think of the port as another woofer in the system. So knowing that, it makes sense that when you place the speakers close to a wall, you might affect the sound of the bass.
In today's video, Andrew talks about what situations might be helped by a port plug, and what to do with that old sweat sock . . .
❓ Do you call them port plugs or port bungs?
Free Download: Four Sound Improvements That Don't Cost a Dime!
www.axiomaudio.com/four-free-...
Fall in love with your music🎵 all over again❤️
Get speakers you’ll listen to at any volume for hours on end.🎚️
Questions about port plugs for speakers?
Contact Axiom's Friendly, Helpful Audio Experts: www.axiomaudio.com/contacts
-
Subscribe to Axiom: / axiomhometheaters
Facebook: / axiomaudio
Instagram: / axiomair
Twitter: / axiomaudio
Blog: www.axiomaudio.com/blog
Forums: www.axiomaudio.com/boards/ - Jak na to + styl
You see, that's what I like about these videos. While other channels talk about resonators, accoustic panels, absorbers, atomic science and whatever, these easy-to-follow steps can make big differences in your listening room, before talking other routes to enhance the listening experience.
This channel is getting better and we should be around 300k subs!
Really appreciate the support, thank you. Improving audio should always start with working with what you already have, and finding what works best in your room.
Right, small amount of acoustic panels and diffusers don't do a significant improvement.
Great info in this video, was wondering about using plugs and hadn't quite figured out what effect they would have. Now I'll get the old sock and give it a try. Thanks!!
Glad this video gave you a way to test if port plugs will help your system. Thanks for commenting and for watching.
Thanks for that lecture on port plugs, it was quite helpful.
Glad you enjoyed it, thank you!
A really good video! You have confirmed my exact situation. I have floor mounted enclosures with a rear port against the wall, they were just too boomy, so I used the supplied plugs and lo, much tighter bass, they now sound so much better and a good deal more like they did in the shop where I bought them.
P.S. I had terrible trouble trying to find the right speaker location, due to the room acoustics.
I use two small near field monitors and a sub, set up in a corner for my home studio. The near fields are rear ported, and the sub is front ported. I currently just have the sub sitting between the near fields on a desk top to minimze low end phasing between the sub and mains. I'm going to experiment with plugging the mains first to try to clean up the mud that gets fired into and amplified by the corner. Then I'll see what plugging the sub's port does. Then, I'm going to try an entirely different configuration, with the sub on the floor in the corner, and the mains making an equilateral triangle with both the sub and the ideal listening spot. That way, theoretically all three speakers will sound in phase at the sweet spot, i can minimize what gets directed into to corner, and the side reflections from the mains get directed around and past the sweet spot to rather than towards it.
Thanks Andrew! This video solved a big problem for me. On some songs played very loudly the heavy bass made me feel sick in addition to sounding washed out. Using Sox’s as port plugs was a excellent suggestion. Now I can fine tune the setup.
Thanks again!
Glad the tip worked for you. It's so easy to implement and figure out which ports and how many to use port plugs in. Thanks for taking the time to comment, much appreciated.
Very informative video, many reviews exist about false "bass extension" by listeners, seeking bass reinforcement and placing ported or dipole speakers (like electrostatics) too close to a rear wall. Some manufacturers design their cabinets with front porting to allow them to be placed close to a rear wall. The original QUAD ESL, installed a piece of thick felt on the rear of the metal shield to reduce back wall interaction.
Correct, and port plugs accomplish nearly the same thing by “removing” the rear port from the equation.
Thank you for this great video ..... the speakers sound wonderful the way they are I have no need to change the sound output. Great speakers from Axiom. I have a friend, who owns a home movie theater stop by, and he was blown away with my speakers. He has now promised to get new speakers for his movie theater.
Glad you enjoyed the video. Great to hear that you are enjoying your speakers, and sharing them with your friends. Thanks for watching and commenting.
This was really helpful. I have M3 Tis on full metal brackets on side walls within 2 feet of the back wall. (Due to toddler safety) They always had a bass bump I just lived with. The rolled up sock trick worked well. Plugs on order soon.
I’m glad the video helped! It’s such a simple thing to try. Speakers cannot always be put in the “best” location.
Thanks sooo much for doing this video, I had a huge peak on my speakers at 100hz that literally put daylight under my partner as the pyrotechnics were let loose during a Metallica concert from Slane Castle Ireland. As funny as this was, I have to sat the base was too much, so I purchased 2 x 1,3/4 inch rubber sink plugs (£4.50) and pressed them into the rear ports. Using an analyzer on my phone I rechecked the output and it had taken the top off the peak, making it much flatter at 100hz. The overall graph was now much better, with peaks and troughs less pronounced. They sound much better, bass especially sounds more punchy (less muddy you might say) these speakers are right up against the wall in a bay, and now perform far better at all volumes. win win. :)
This is so great to hear! Thank you for sharing your experience.
I bought an older ported sub and it was chuffing pretty hardcore and stuffed a t shirt into the port and it removed the chuff and sounds literally 10x better. Will buy a proper plug next. Thanks.
The vast majority of home speakers are places closer to a wall. Roy Allison was right; design the speaker with bass response that rolls off to compensate for the bass bump that you gain by getting 1/2 or 1/4 space radiation at low frequencies. Of course, less ideal; you could adjust the bass control.
Thanks so much for this! However, I'm just wondering if I can also put a port plug on a down firing subwoofer placed in the corner? Will its bass imaging also improve even though its port is on the bottom? Thank you 🙏
Excellent
Thank you.
Great video. What distance do you find is the minimum the Axiom M100s can sit away from the wall without considering the use of the plugs?
As long as you are a foot or two from the back wall, you likely won't need port plugs, but it all depends on your specific room and speaker positioning.
I have the kef q150 and if I plug the back port because I'm too close to the wall it really makes the speaker super bright
I have three sets of speakers with rear ports so i've had to move them all away from the wall and it's kind of a pain because my place is tiny although in my experience front ported speakers actually leave marks on the speaker grills after a while
Yes, in a dusty environment or just over time you can find a mark appearing on the grilles at the port location. This will normally just vacuum off with no issues.
Would blocking the port on M3's help in blending the low-end with a subwoofer? (My M3s are set to arrive this Thursday... very excited to try them out!)
In some cases, yes, but I would start with setting up the M3s without the subwoofer connected and then add it in once you are happy with the positioning. Have fun with setting them up, and keep me posted.
It would be nice to know what "too close to the wall" means in terms of actual inches.
That will depend on both the speakers, and the room. The sock test is the simplest way to find out if the sound improves with port plugs. Thanks for watching.
Hello Andrew,I have 1 speaker in a corner of a room and the other is to the open side of the room the corner speaker is boomy can I plug the port in that speaker but not the other one
I personally have the speakers 25cm away from the wall but the room modes are so strong I guess they are around 10-20 dB too high aroun 60-80hz. If I move forward from the couch it sounds much better but I cant move the couch more from the wall. Will do some room treatment but an easy way was to half close the bass port on the back. It sounds much more balanced. Finally I can enjoy listening to music. Closing them all up was deleting all the bass. So I left an whole around 3cm.
Bad solution. While I'm certainly not against plugging the ports of a bass-reflex speaker where ever and when ever it makes sense, your particular room challenges to me sounds like they can be addressed by other means, which will not rob you of the experience of good, solid bass reproduction.
So, in your case I'd recommend taking OUT those port plugs, and as aggressively as possible treating the most problematic corner of the room, either with effective (i.e. thick - or mounted at a 45 degree angle) bass-trapping placing in the most boomy corner of the room. Alternatively a subwoofer there. Preferably with variable cutoff frequency.
You won't believe beforehand how much of a difference the latter can make, in the whole room, once fine-tuned. When I did so in my own, current studio: it was one of those "holy cow... is this magic?" - cos it largely SOLVED some intense room modes around 40-43 Hz and 71-73 Hz that bass-trapping (even very thick - 18 inches or so) had almost no effect on, because the room modes are too deep, and therefore would require either an impractically thick fiber/absorbing-type bass-trap, or resonant absorber(s) like limp mass, diaphragmatic, Helmholtz... But I opted for the subwoofer-solution since I already had a spare, good one to deploy. And it satisfactorily fixed those room modes, **balancing and clearing up the bass in the whole room**.
Alternatively, **first try experimenting some more with the placement of the main speakers**. Incl. closer to back walls, or asymmetrically in the room, i.e. (OMG - don 't panic 😺) one in a corner, and the other not.
Trust me. I'm autistic 🤓 and read my first book about (electro-)acoustics when I was 9 or 10 years old. I'm now 43, and have built, and set up, MANY speakers - both PA, hi-fi, and studio.
I hope the above is helpful 🌸🤗💖 If you like HOUSE MUSIC: visit my channel for some of my productions 😎
With more people playing lp records now, we should "revisit" the problem with warped records causing subsonic frequencies-Rumble. this can cause the woofer in bass reflex speakers to over extend and be damaged. My old Cerwin Vega literature states that if a 20hz filter is not practical, an effective solution is to stuff a wad of fiberglass in the port. I used a piece of foam. Thanks
You make a very good point. Sadly, subsonic or rumble filters have disappeared off most phono inputs and external phono stages. Plugging the ports does help, as you have discovered!
Nice 🤩🤩🤩
Sir what efect large or short port size on our subwoofer box
Both the diameter and the length will impact the tuning frequency of the port.
Experimenting with bungs and (something the industry sneers at),tone controls is essential.Cos its very unlikely you will be totally happy with your new systems sound.
So it sounds like the rule here is to just experiment a little and listen to the changes.. thank you !
Exactly, it's going to be different in every room, so the best way is to find out if in your room it sounds better with plugs or not. Look forward to hearing what worked best for you.
@@AxiomHomeTheaters I ended up with a nice improvement just pulling them away from the wall a little and spreading them another foot or so. My room is smaller so these differences helped a lot.
@@g.fortin3228 excellent, great to hear. It's amazing what a small change in position can end up doing to improve the sound.
Interesting
Glad you found it to be interesting.
So if I setup at my bedroom, should I get frontported monitors, or is a port-plug the better solution? My sensibilities say front ported
If you have a choice, I would go with front-ported. However, if you find a pair of speakers with rear ports that you fall in love with you can always try them with and without port plugs.
Hi, how does to plug covering effects the high frequencies and the sound stage ?
Well, port plugs will only directly impact bass output, but the change in bass can lead to perceived changes in the rest of the loudspeaker. If the port plugs significantly reduce bass output, it could make the speaker sound “brighter” with more high frequency energy. This could also make the soundstage seem larger in some cases.
I'd love to hear your opinions or thoughts on systems like Audessy/YPAO.
I’m not a fan, but I do concur that they are often easier to use for setup and they can make improvements at low frequencies, depending on your room. I always recommend trying a manual setup and then comparing the sound.
@@AxiomHomeTheaters FWIW, I don't trust my own ears and as a friend says, if you can't measure something, you can't improve it.
Question what if the bookshelf speakers are your rear surround sound speaker that hangs on the wall should I still port it? There 13ft away on each side.
If it’s rear-ported you might find too much of an increase in mid-bass information, so you may find the sound more neutral with port plugs.
@@AxiomHomeTheaters thank you bro
my monitors hae the port on the front side krk rokit 6s
I bought Cerwin Vega towers With two 8-inch woofers They made my face hurt and my ears It was just overwhelming The bass . I exchange them for 3-way speakers with a 12in woofer And to my surprise there's a port in the back So I'm hoping I don't have the same problem I had three way speakers years ago that came with my Kenwood stereo system and I thought they sounded pretty good with no port. I'm tired of returning speakers.
If your ears are hurting then either you’re playing the system at levels that are too loud, you’re clipping the amplifier, or the speakers have a very non-linear frequency response.
Could you also use a new sock to try the plugging?
Absolutely, but then you've lost a new pair of socks.
@@AxiomHomeTheaters ok thanks, just making sure. ;)
I'm currently having an issue with a set of 3-way 12in speakers I just bought. They are homemade and have a 3in front firing port it make the bass sound like crap I stuffed packaging foam in the hole and taped over that sounds great looks like hell . Where can I purchase port plugs online for a 3in port thank you for your time I really appreciate it.
I’m not sure where you could find dedicated plugs, but you can probably buy a black, soft, closed-cell foam and roll it up tightly. It should not look too bad.
@@AxiomHomeTheaters thank you for your reply I recently cut the packing foam to fit also used some thinner packing wrap for the inside so far so good.
@@timbabyfacesavage377 Sounds good!
Soooo.... are rear ported "Book Shelf" speakers (or any book shelf speaker) not actually designed to sit on a book shelf? Most book shelves are 9" to 12" inches deep, right? That means the back of the speaker is going to be either right up against, or at least very close to the wall. Am I taking the name "Book Shelf" too literally?
Yes, you are correct. I think the term bookshelf speaker just fell into use at some point…probably after the era of the “big bookshelf” 8-inch 2-way that was all the rage in the 80s. Plugging rear ports can work to allow close to wall or bookshelf mounting.
We must be mindful that by doing that it could affect the Tweeter and the mid range.
How so? Tweeters and many mids are sealed units.
How far from wall would be enough for rear ported speakers?
I usually recommend a minimum of 6 inches, but it will depend on your speakers and your room.
@@AxiomHomeTheaters Thank You. I can leave about 3 feet (maybe little more) free space. Should I be fine with home hi fi setup in untreated room?
@@jonrael3443 It’s impossible to know as every room is different, but you have enough space to the wall behind the speakers that you can play with positioning and toe-in to dial in the performance. Many don’t have that luxury!
what if the port is on the front?
No problem
Personally I feel that plugging ports on bookshelf speakers always cleans the Bass up and it sounds better. Way cleaner than with the port open.
That’s why I always recommend trying it both ways, and pick the one that sounds best to you, in your room.
What if speakers are close to the wall, but there's a 4" acoustic panel behind it?
The acoustic panel will likely do little at lower bass frequencies, so you might still get too much mid-bass.
@@AxiomHomeTheaters Thanks, Andrew. I believe I'm going to use the plugs because I'm switching my center channel to an in-wall that has a cabinet and no port. Probably should plug the bookshelf speakers to match, eh?
@@lancemathes319 I would try both and see how the blend sounds with your subwoofer. You might find that not blocking the ports in your bookshelf speakers works better.
Use port will got less bass or more bass?
More bass at some frequencies, but with a faster roll-off below the port/system tuning frequency.
overheating at loud volumes could also be an issue
Exactly…both changes in driver excursion AND reduction in air flow need to be taken into account. That’s why I always suggest checking with the manufacturer first.
So, if speakers are NOT suppose to be placed near walls...why are the ports on the back? The whole reason for ports on the back is for them to bounce bass off of the walls to increase the sound. Some brands actually tote this. And pretty much all subs are designed to be placed near walls, or even in corners. I understand how the science works as far as sound waves, bass reverb, and harmonics go....but it seems to me that too many ppl are spending WAY too much time worrying about this. I had a buddy over the other day to hear my new Zu Omen speakers. Guy doesn't know a subwoofer from a tweeter. But the moment the speakers fired up his only response was "All I can hear is the reverb". I have a 1/3" gap on my speakers (look up these speakers for details, down firing ports). He's SO obsessed with videos like this he has no idea what speakers are suppose to sound like. This feels like a 2000's solution to my uncles 1970's issues....fill the box full of as much insulation as you can...the less air, the more bass you have.
Different designs require different port placements. Sometimes it might be as simple as staying within a target height. Bass from ports does not bounce of walls in the way that mid and higher frequencies do. In some rooms corner placement of subwoofers or near-wall placement of speakers will work well, in other it will be a boomy sounding mess. This is why we have methods to tune for different setups and rooms.
Ports cause mud and you loose a true sound
just plug all ported speakers.
You do realise this is Just extremely silly , right ? You basicly screw up a bassreflex box.
You got eq for a reason.
your voice is eating my ears!
With no lights to illuminate things and just one camera doing nothing and no close-ups of anything -- this should really have been only an old fashioned radio show. CZcams specifically was not invented to stuff this utterly boring.
So if I setup at my bedroom, should I get frontported monitors, or is a port-plug the better solution? My sensibilities say front ported
If you have a choice, I would go with front-ported. However, if you find a pair of speakers with rear ports that you fall in love with you can always try them with and without port plugs.