Anyone try stuffing their ports?

The anthropomorphic features of loudspeakers were explored recently in another thread.

"I've been cooped up too long. I read 'tried stuffing your port" and expected an entirely different discussion."

Don't be ashamed steve59. We all like different things...  

@roxy54 wrote:

"I do not understand the idea of manufacturers or reviewers suggesting that ports should be stuffed with plugs if the end user is having problems with the bass. After all. speakers that are sealed boxes were designed to be sealed, and speakers that are ported were designed to be ported, so how is it not wrong to change that by stuffing the ports?"

The in-room bass response is ALWAYS speakers + room. So the net result varies from room to room and also varies as either the speaker (or listener) position changes within a given room. The designer picks the tuning frequency he thinks is most likely to give the best results in the sort of room acoustic situations anticipated for those speakers.

But sometimes the speaker position + room acoustics = either a lot more or a lot less bass energy than what would be ideal. Being able to change the port tuning frequency (and correspondingly change the shape of the speaker + room response curve) can be beneficial.

Also, certain amplifiers such as single-ended triode and output transformerless tube amps tend to have a much lower than normal "damping factor", in which case a lower port tuning frequency (and in some cases even all ports plugged) often results in better bass response.

Finally, many people (including myself) usually prefer that the sound err on the side of "too little bass" instead of "too much bass", if it's either/or.  

Duke
designer of speakers with multiple pluggable ports

Hello rockadanny,

     The relevant question you need to ask yourself is whether or not you want your Eggleston Works Fontaine speakers to produce less bass with less bass extension?  
     The speaker designer decided to incorporate dual ports in your speakers to relieve the excess volume of accumulated air, called air pressure, within each speaker's cabinet that develops due to the repeated pistonic, forward and back motion of the bass driver.
     You are currently perceiving the excess internal air volume or air pressure being released into your room, through the 4 combined ports in your speakers, as a marginal increase in overall bass in your room that is also marginally deeper in bass extension.  Plugging these 4 ports will result in you perceiving marginally less overall bass in your room that is also marginally less extended or deep.
     As I stated earlier, you are the individual that needs to evaluate and decide.

Best wishes,
     Tim