speakers in a cabinet? (1 Viewer)

to meet the WAF, I had to buy an enclosue for my HT stuff. the "theater wall unit" is made by hooker. It houses in a very pretty cherry cabinet set up my hit 65swx20b, denon 3803, rp82, paradigm cc370 and where the prblem lays - the mini monitors.

the minis are each in a part of the cabinet with grille cloth on em. they are 24 wide, 23 deep and 16 high. the speakers are rear ported.
the sound now seems "boxy" or sort of hollow. they have to stay in the cabinet cause of WAF and cause outside now would place em >10ft apart and with a 12" seating position, inaging would suffer.

question - how to modify the inside of the cabinet to improve the sound?

thanks
Brian

Have you tried plugging the rear ports? It may limit the bass extension, then again it may distort the sound. I would try it in the interim to see if it yields better than present results.

Also, if they are behind grill clothes, try to raise them on a book to clear the bottom of the enclosure, and put a small wedge under the back of the speaker to aim the front slightly downward. Keep them as close to the front as possible too.

You could also "enhance" the rear of the enclosure. Note to self - check with wife first or make sure she doesn't know!

Also, is there space to sit them on top of the unit and aim them down? You can only satisfy the wife so much before you need to put the foot down. Compromise works both ways.

Good luck

thanks for the f/u.
what about insulating the interior of the cabinet with egg crate or like material.
or cut out back of cabinet?
or "seperate" speaker from cabinet with padding?
anyone had any success with these measures or the plugging of the rear port?
thanks

Is the grill cloth you mention part of the entertainment center or part of the actually mini monitor?

I think you'll only get rid of the boxy sound if you:

1. plug the port

and

2. Make sure the front of the speaker is sticking out past the edge of the shelf it is on. This posses a problem if the grill cloth you mentioned is part of the entertainment center.

It might still sound boxy, but this will probably be the best you can do with your situation. I would think some of the boxy sound is not coming all from the rear port but also from the tweeter being placed back in a hole.

I had the same issue with building a center channel. I did some test before building it, and it sounded real boxy unless I moved the front of the speaker out past the front of my TV, and front port the enclosure.

Here is a pic:


Ronnie

The port should be plugged with foam. No ifs, ans or buts.

You should also try to stuff the area around the speaker with absorptive material. The reason for the boomy sound is a) the port and b) the fact that you have put a box (which was NOT designed for its current application) within a box. Good luck.

thanks for the replies, I'll give it a go with all the stuffing. the cloth is part of the cabinet ergot the speaker cover is removed.
Brian