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Speakers VERY close to wall - Cork board useful?

Hi there,

I have a set of Klipsch RP-5's, that have a built in powered sub, and a rear facing port on the bottom of each tower. I have them in a small room (15'x13') with about 6' of separation. Considering the small room dimensions I have them pushed up against the wall because otherwise they'd be in the way. They are at least at a slight angle, but the port for the sub is still only about 4" off the wall. 

Would putting a square of cork board on the wall directly behind the port, cut out so its slightly larger than the port, make any positive difference compared to an ordinary sheetrock wall?  (The cork comes in a roll, so it is maybe 1/8" thick)

Any thoughts, additional suggestions on other common house-hold materials/geometry of cut/ etc, or comments would be appreciated! (other than "move the speakers away from wall" bc unfortunately that's not an option in this room)

:)
thanks!!!
hockey4496

Showing 2 responses by audiokinesis

audiokinesis
2,764 posts
 

Four inches should be plenty of clearance for the ports.  Even a bit less is still functionally fine - as the port gets closer to the wall the effective tuning frequency moves lower, which is the direction you'd want it to go. 

I assume that the controls for the subs should give you a fair amount of adjustability.  If the bass is too boomy and you can't fix it with the controls on the subs, you might try stuffing foam or a rolled-up towel into one or both of the ports. 

Duke

audiokinesis
2,764 posts
 

Willy Wonka’s cowl increased the effective port length and lowered the tuning frequency, which is the direction you want to go to compensate for the increased boundary reinforcement from placement near the wall.  I incorporate variable port tuning into most of my designs to deal with similar situations. 

It is also possible to lower the tuning frequency by decreasing the port’s cross-sectional area throughout its length, perhaps by inserting a smaller-diameter tube into the port. The smaller-diameter tube would be wrapped with tape as needed to get a good friction fit.

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