Front Ported v. Rear Ported Speakers

You can place the front ported speaker closer to the rear wall.

Read This!

http://www.stereophile.com/content/fifth-element-35-25-cheers-sealed-boxes

If I plug the ports on a ported speaker, will that change the sound characteristics to be more like that of a sealed box? Or is it not advisable because of all the other design considerations, i.e. cabinet shape, crossover, woofer attachment and etc.?

This kind of makes sense now that I think about it. These trade offs must have been at the heart (or close to it) of the design philosophy of M&K; sealed boxes in combination with a sub and bass management. Perhaps it isn't surprising that my search of a replacement for my S-85s includes the NHT Classic Three, also a sealed box.

Don_c55, thanks for posting the link.

FWIW, I plugged my ports (EgglestonWorks Fontaines, dual rear ports) and raised the crossover points on my subs. It did seem to improve the clarity of the upper mids and HFs somewhat, but I lost too much of the "meat" of the sound to keep them this way. After all, they were specifically designed to operate with open ports. I suspect any critically designed speaker with ports would sound better left open, as intended. My unscientific $.02. As always, try it yourself and see. It is a free and easily reversed tweak, unless you stuff too far and your socks (or whatever) fall inside.

Thanks Rockadanny for sharing your experience. I think I might give it a try and play around with plugging the ports. I think I'm also going to purchase a couple room treatment panels and play around with them too.