Can rear-ported speakers be used in side and rear columns for surrounds? Tried to ask over in the Audio forum but no response there (although it was an existing thread). Thanks.

Probably not a good idea. The speakers were designed to be in free air, so putting them in a box will change the sound characteristics of the speaker. Could sound okay, but logix tells me not. That being said, if you've already got the speakers and no budget for new speakers, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

Covering the ports will most likely effect the lower frequencies of the speaker.
To see the impact roll up a sock and plug the holes and give a listen.

You should also be aware that dipole/bipole side surrounds are generally favored over directs which I suspect your speakers on hand are.

You might want to give a try at swapping the speakers for those more suited for your purpose. It doesn't cost any thing to post a listing on Craig's list etc.

Yep, because it is just for surrounds I might be willing to take the chance in the go what you gotta do approach. What are the recommended speakers to place in 6" deep x 8" wide columns that I should consider if I decide against it?

Many bookshelves come with foam plugs that you put in the rear port which alter the sound of the speaker via cutting low freq extension. Not a deal breaker. What is more important in your case would be boundary issues which stem from the sound reflecting off of the inside of the speaker enclosure/column before it gets out into the room, which in turn changes the imaging and ultimately the sound of the speaker. You can use the bookshelves just make sure you design your columns so the speaker front baffle can be placed all the way to the very front of the enclosure behind the fabric or whatever is covering the column, and treat the inside of the enclosure with some sort of absorptive material.

Hey Max, yes, my speakers did come with the foam plugs. Since the dept of my speakers are about 9", I am only placing 6" into the column with the other 3" remaining outside the column. Then I will put some molding around it to give a finish appearance. I have to do it this way since the column is not deep enough.

Since my columns are already built of drywall, but I have to cut out the hole to place the speaker in, what absorptive material would you recommend that I can hopefully stuff in there?

Thanks.

Doesn't sound like you'll have room for much. Since the front baffle will be out in the room which eliminates alot of potential problems, I would try plugging the ports and giving it a try. Then if it seems something is missing(I don't think it will) you can work on lining the inside of the column with one of a multitude of materials. The only issue I see here is how close your port is going to be to the back of your column/enclosure, and is this going to effectively "plug" the speaker either way.

In general I always pull the plugs out if I happen to have the need to use bookshelves as mains or for music listening, when I know they may need to be crossed over a little lower or not at all. For surrounds, the plugs usually go in.

My rears are in columns of sorts, they are REVEL M22's and are rear ported, Harman Specialty Group told me I would be ok with 4" behind them and I have absorbsion there and it seems to work good.

Keep in mind, if you have surrounds in a room where they are going to be near a listening position, any direct firing speaker is a bad idea.

Curt

Keep in mind, if you have surrounds in a room where they are going to be near a listening position, any direct firing speaker is a bad idea.

Curt

so, to this comment, are rear-ported speakers direct firing?

If not, would placing them in columns "make" them direct firing?

Thanks.

Any speaker that isn't a bipole or dipole is direct firing. The idea is that a direct firing speaker near a listening position will be way too loud and wreck the envelopment - dipoles aren't the greatest for imaging, but it is better than finding yourself constantly staring at a rear speaker that is way too loud.

Curt

If the system is properly balanced/calibrated, this shouldn't be an issue. Doesn't matter if you are using a dipole or not, individual channel levels should all be adjusted to show the same DB from the primary listening position when running test tones during setup. Easily accomplished with a Radio Shack SPL meter. The material itself is what should determine volume levels coming from each channel. Dipoles etc are good for shaping a wide rear/side surround field, but I have heard the same effect from properly installed (ie.not buried too far in the columns)direct firing speakers. IMO, direct firing surround speakers (rears in particular) image much better than dipoles when you are in the sweet spot, which you will be 99% of the time.

Yes, they image better, but it is often the case you are a couple feet from the surrounds, there isn't a level that is going to work well for them if they are firing at you - certainly not a level that will work wel for both the people in the inner seats and the outer seats. Now if you are inclined to only worry about a specific seat that is another matter. It hasn't been mentioned what size the room is or where the speakers are located, but if it is like many, I would still argue for dipoles.

Curt

I originally wanted bi-poles/di-poles but I guess close to a year ago when I had the discussion here it was not recommneded over regular direct-firing. Not sure if that consensus has recently changed but nevertheless, I don't think I want to go and find more speakers at this time unless the is very compelling reason to get the bi/di poles.