John L Posted July 22, 2002 Share Posted July 22, 2002 Hi Everybody, I just got done listening to some RF-3's and I really liked what I heard. I asked the dealer if they could be placed near the wall, and he said with the rear port it wouldn't be a good idea. What options do I have? I have a very small listening room and the speakers can't be more than 9-12 inches from the wall. My listening position is about 8 feet away. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance, John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted July 22, 2002 Share Posted July 22, 2002 I have some thoughts. Your sales guy is a loon. If you can get them 9 to 12 inches off the back wall, you will be fine. You just don't want the port right up against the wall. Though this placement will not be optimum -- it's certainly not the kiss of death either. Besides, you may run a subwoofer with these someday -- and then it will be a mute point. Perfect placement is 3 feet from the back wall and well away from the side walls. However, few have the luxury of this type of placement. Buy the RF3's and enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WMcD Posted July 22, 2002 Share Posted July 22, 2002 My recall is that Bob G. fielded a question like this. He said, I think, that if the wall is 3 or 4 times farther away than the diameter of the port, there is no interference with the function of the port. On the other hand, he didn't seem to be talking about the extent to which a speaker's output will be influnced by getting close to wall. E.g. the imaging and bass of a Heresy (no port) or even a Bose cube (ahem) will change according to where it is placed in a room. Gil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted July 22, 2002 Share Posted July 22, 2002 He was probably just dealing with the functionality of the port as it relates to bass response. There are two ports on the back of the RF3II, and each is roughly 4 inches in diameter. Looks like I was wrong, and you may suffer some loss of low bass extension. However, the RF3II goes down to 37Hz, and the great majority of the material in music doesn't go much lower than 40Hz anyways. Also, placing a speaker closer to the walls also elevates perceived bass output. So, I still think you'll be O.K. Placing a speaker closer to the back wall will impact the imaging, but all speakers are effected by this, not just ported ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John L Posted July 22, 2002 Author Share Posted July 22, 2002 Thanks for the input. Now I just got an e-mail recommending the RB-5. Choices, Choices! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdm56 Posted July 23, 2002 Share Posted July 23, 2002 bad thing about frontal portals is you are more apt to hear any rude loudspeaker flatulence; port resonance, air turbulance and the like. i once had a pair of ess amt-1b's with a 12 inch passive radiator on the back. owner's manual said to keep the speaker at least 3 INCHES from the back wall. but then again, we were ALL much stupider back in the swingin' seventies. ------------------ JDM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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