Sounddoctor & port bungs!

thank you mannyjarnai.

myspeakers are kef R500 floor tandars, R200c center and R100 rears. the packagecame with portbungs so i pressume the manufacturersupports the idea ofportbu gkng with no issues. any how i welcome your further research and feedback in thisaspect.

Hi Robin,

what I meant was the distance settings in your AV reciever to introduce delay to the front speakers so as to match with the sub:

"In the instance of Home Theater processors, there is an easy method. We can take advantage of the somewhat flawed concept of "speaker distance settings" to perfectly fix the sub timing issues. Simply set ALL the top speakers ( L C R Ls Rs) to 7 feet where they belong, and set the sub distance to 18-19-20 feet.Now, because all consumer equipment operates backwards (!!!) you are introducing 10 msec delay TO ALL THE TOP SPEAKERS. Now you can fine tune the phase control on the sub to add a bit more delay to perfectly match the mains and the results should be spectacular."

I added this into the configuration when I was changing back to small & 80hz cross over. Found it interesting to learn about the way most AV recievers work in reverse in this aspect.

TBH I couldn't really tell any difference, but I had added one more sub as well as changing the size/crossover so it might have been too many things at the same time. I'll have a play around with shifting the distance back & forth to check any difference.

David  do you have any thoughts on this particular trick? Sorry keep looking at the shop name instead of your signature!

Like most ported speakers, I wouldn't fully bung them. The speaker has been designed to be a ported speaker, and fully bunging it is asking it to perform in a very different way. By all means use the outer part of the bung and remove the centre of it. I recommend this to all R Series users.

Does yr advice David to not fully bung apply to my Mezzos? I am continuing to experiment with distance settings and sub phase as the doctor suggests

Generally, yes. After a conversation with a speaker designer, a manufacturer will choose or build a driver to be used specifically in a sealed or ported design. The needs of the driver I'm told are different, so when a manufacturer chooses or makes a driver to be specifically used in a ported design, and the sound has been tailored to work with a port, bunging it will change the sound drastically. This is why some speakers sound pretty awful when fully bunged in comparison to when it isn't. I think if people are going to buy a ported speaker and use the bungs, they should audition them this way so that they know exactly what they're getting. As an example (based on speakers I have had at home), the KEF R300's are quite a transparent sounding speaker producing an excellent three dimensional image. Bung them, and while they still sound acceptable, they lose a lot of what they're about, which is why I only ever recommend using the outer bungs. Other speakers just seem to fall apart.

Having said that, it is something you can try to see if you get on with. If you prefer them bunged, bung them. Bass will be tighter and be more detailed, but you have to weigh up whether you're prepared to live with the trade offs. Because there will be some.

The reason he is recommending using bungs with speakers is so that they are acting like a sealed speaker - sealed subs will integrate better with sealed cabinet speakers. This is the THX way of doing things, using relatively small sealed satellite speakers that cut off at 80Hz and using a capable sub to fill in the rest. The end result of this type of set up is predictable, and won't vary anywhere near as much as a package using ported speakers when used in different rooms. The bigger the ported speaker, the greater the scope for a very different sound in a different room. Also, EQ doesn't have to work so hard with sealed subs and speakers.