"The acoustic-suspension woofer uses the elastic cushion of air within a sealed enclosure to provide the restoring force for the woofer diaphragm. The cushion of air acts like a spring or rubber band. Because the air in the cabinet serves to control the woofer's excursion, the physical stiffness of the driver can be reduced.
Unlike the stiff physical suspension built into the driver of conventional speakers, the trapped air inside the sealed-loudspeaker enclosure provides a more linear restoring force for the woofer's diaphragm, enabling it to oscillate a greater distance (excursion) in a linear fashion. This is a requirement for clean and loud reproduction of deep bass by drivers with relatively small cones....
Acoustic suspension woofers were once very popular in hi-fi systems due to their low distortion. Compared to bass reflex cabinets, acoustic suspension has a flatter frequency response and slower rolloff below their resonant frequency. Bass reflex cabinets are generally more efficient, however, and the use of a vent or port in the cabinet provides improved low-frequency response."
I don't guess there are too many fans of acoustic suspension speakers anymore, but I still have and love my Boston Acoustics T-830s from the 1990s. They claim 90 db efficiency; but they take more amp power to drive than my big 90 db bass reflex Cantons with 2 more woofers.