Front Ported v. Rear Ported Speakers

In general, front ports should do better closer to walls in theory, but a lot regarding best sound in any case depends on room acoustics and other factors case by case. So its quite possible in some cases rear porting could work best.

The most common truism about speakers is that soundstage depth is almost inevitably compromised when placed closer to the front wall. Second most common is that bass levels will usually be higher as well.

So you can see that specifics case by case will determine what works best, even if certain general trends apply.

Also most good ported speakers are designed to work best in general with ports open to extent designed, but again, obstructing port to various degrees can be a useful tweak in some cases nonetheless.

BEst to make decisions based on what you or some other knowledgable resource most familiar with your situation thinks, will work best in general, but be prepared to think our of the box as needed from there in order to get best results.

I love the way Duke thinks.

Damn, I would love to hear a pair of his speakers someday!

Agree with Kidman.

Duke is a fantastic out of the box thinker, especially when it comes to considering dispersion and soundstage related design considerations, delivering value, and other things, and an exception, but I do think that in general most rear ported speakers are designed to work best in genral further away from the front wall whereas most front ported or sealed designs tend to work better closer to front wall.

So worth keeping in mind, but not a hard rule that will always prove true.

Bass response will be a big determining factor. Proximity to walls in most cases results to more bass re-inforcement regardless of design.

Distance to walls in general helps with soundstage and imaging. How much will vary depending on many factors, dispersion characteristics being one of the bigger determining factors.

Most every speaker will sound different close to front wall versus further away. Which is better depends...on a lot of things. GOtta listen and compare to know for sure in each case. Always be willing to tweak and change something when needed. What changes need not always be the gear itself.