Foam Plugs

There are two main factors that when combined as in EBP = Fs/Qes.

If you have a low Fs (around 15 to 25) and you have a high Qes (expensive large motor light cone) then you will end up with a low EBP suited for a sealed enclosure (less than 50).

My subwoofer is sealed and uses Fs = 21 and Qes = 0.49 for a EBP of 42. It is a tight sounding (aka musical) subwoofer that sounds quite different from ported designs.

See this

Eldartford, your understanding of the subject is a textbook case of "right church, wrong pew".

Trelja...Kindly explain what you mean. And. please. no pontification.

Eldartford, "no pontification." Do you have something against us Catholics?

Seriously, though, what I mean is that your statement, "A true "acoustic suspension" speaker system involves a woofer with a free air resonance of about 15 Hz" is incorrect. It really is as simple as that.

AS woofers were not always 12". They were often 8" or 10", with an Fs of 25 - 40 Hz. While certainly not high, not the 15 Hz you stated as being a requirement, either. Fs in and of itself was not what made the driver suited to the task - or not. Instead it was some of the other things you mentioned.

Trelja...I concede that the Fs of 14 or 15 is what I would expect for a 12" or 15" AS driver. 10" or 8" would be higher, which is perhaps why such drivers are less successful as AS drivers.

Note that my point is not that you can't achieve a rational sealed box alignment with a tight driver, but rather that the linear quality of the cone spring is degraded, affecting distortion, about which T/S has little to say.

My affection for acoustic suspension goes back to the AR1. This was a woofer-only box. The better-known AR2 was created by adding a tweeter.

Pontification is not unique to Catholics. In fact it refers to people who are not the holy father talking as if they were.