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Bookshelf Speakers that have to be up against the wall

My very first posting, so be gentle. Looking to upgrade my bookshelf speakers, say to a max of 3k or so. I have an old mcintosh amp and pre. plenty of power. I now have to put my speakers against the wall and the ported ones I have now don’t ‘bloom’ now, they sound a bit muffled - they lost most of their imaging. I think because they are ported in the back also aside from being against the wall. I’d like to hear from anyone who has had that problem and recommendations from those with knowledge of solving this issue.
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Showing 1 response by auxinput

auxinput
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Yes, it is true that putting speakers so close to the back wall would affect sound. Google "speaker boundary interference response" (SBIR) for more reading on this, but the general idea is if a speaker is too close to a wall, it will use the wall to "plane" or "bloom" the wave forms generated from the speaker drivers.

Also, like Erik said, do not get a speaker with a rear port if you are going to push it up against the wall. Make sure it has a front port.
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